Help Rochester’s Youth Prosper!
Who are we?
ProsperRochester, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, facilitates collaborations between youth service organizations and schools to guide youth on how to get a job and keep a job. At its core, programming focuses on social and emotional learning and basic business peer-to-peer job training translated by youth into their style and culture through the arts.
Active Initiatives
WellVentions
Over the past 10 years, we have delivered programming to 750+ Rochester youth from a variety of city, suburban, and charter schools. Our youth entrepreneurs field train and operate their “Mini Me Mart” at their permanent indoor retail location at the Rochester Public Market. There they sell their specialty food products, print on demand masks and T-Shirts, and acquire the confidence, business skills, and stamina to successfully transition into a work environment. To date, over $125,000 from pasta, sauce, smoothie, mask, and puppet sales have been reinvested in training, student stipends, and new product development.
Mask Up ROC
After producing a video for Governor Andrew Cuomo’s “Mask Up NY!” PSA Contest, a virtual team of 40 volunteers from 5 generations remained determined to continue inspiring our community to MaskUp and stay healthy. And what better way than to create a chain of mentorship to help our youth job train through the process of developing a community awareness campaign.
These aspiring young entrepreneurs are the next generation of socially conscious leaders. They are putting down roots for a social enterprise, where they see their ideas realized on retail products and gain confidence as the public celebrates their work.
MaskUpRochester.com serves as a platform for educating and updating the community on COVID-19, showcasing inspiring mask messages developed by the youth, and promoting helpful information and guidelines.
Self Awareness Nature Series
Developing self-awareness skills are essential to business training. Youth in our program first experience the quiet power of nature, connect with their surroundings, then open their awareness to observe their own behavior. As youth learn to understand their emotions, they become aware of the consequences of their actions and how to manage their behavior with others.
Business & Life Skill Training
Getting a job is hard enough, but keeping a job is one of the biggest challenges youth face today. PR/WellVentions youth internalize our job training modules by interpreting what they learn into workshops, games, products, and media to share with their peers.
Innerspace
Self Awareness is key to success both personally and in business. WellVentions young entrepreneurs learn about their emotions, and create ”edutainment” style programming to share what they learn with their younger peers. They branded their new programming and product lines “Innerspace”, and through the process of developing curriculum and inventing products focused on Social Emotional Health, students not only learn valuable business and leadership tools to help manage their emotions, but also inspire their family, friends, and the broader community to take the journey with them.
Student Testimonials
Kwan Moore
WellVentions Alumni 2015
Fashion Designer, Non Profit Leader
”WellVentions inspired me to build leadership skills and I took with me in my life. I was able to stop a young individual from committing suicide so I traveled to be interviewed on national news stations like Good Morning America and radio shows to talk about the aftermath I formed a non-profit organization targeted to people who have suicide issues. I have a fashion line called Calvino collections and just got a gig where I will be styling Jacob Latimore, a famous actor and song writer. WellVentions helped me believe that I can be a leader and a role model in my community.”
Selena Ragland
WellVentions Alumni, 2016
Facilitator - Baden Street Settlement House
”WellVentions showed me how to accept and work with people from all walks of life. By working with the program at the Public Market and the Rec Centers, I experienced first-hand the importance of building community and collaborations.”