Seeding Our Future: Young Entrepreneurs as Infrastructure for Resilience

Why BAM Ventures Is Investing in the Builders of Tomorrow, One Idea at a Time

Why Seeds Matter

A few years ago, I was invited to speak during Career Day at a local high school. I rotated through four different classrooms that day, each one packed with about thirty students. The chairs were too small, the energy unpredictable, and the questions unexpected.

I came prepared to talk about my own career path, maybe field a few questions about resumes or choosing a major. But in every session, without fail, at least a handful of students asked the same kind of question.

“How do you start a business?”

“Do you have to be rich to be an entrepreneur?”

“What If I have what I think is a good idea, but I don’t know what to do about it?”

These weren’t scripted questions from a teacher’s worksheet. These were real. Raw. Earnest. I saw the hunger behind their curiosity. Some had ideas already. Some just wanted to know if it was possible, if business ownership was something they could claim for themselves.

That day, I walked out inspired but also unsettled.

These students had ambition. They had questions. What they didn’t have was infrastructure. No clear pathway. No ecosystem. No one saying, “Yes, you can build something of your own, and here’s where you start.”

That was the moment that resonated most for me when Karl Boroski, of ROPE Youth, called asking if I was interested to work on this particular project, the Midland Youth Entrepreneurial Challenge. We didn’t create YEC because students lacked potential. We created it because potential without a pathway too often becomes potential that goes nowhere.

Entrepreneurship isn’t a luxury. It’s a language of problem-solving, creativity, and resilience. And it’s one we must teach early, not someday, but now.

The Midland YEC — A Prototype in Motion

When we launched the Midland Youth Entrepreneurial Challenge, we didn’t just want to run a program. We wanted to test a blueprint. Could we take students — many of whom had never heard the word “pitch” outside of baseball — and guide them through the process of identifying a problem, designing a solution, and presenting it with clarity and confidence?

The answer was yes. Resoundingly yes.

Created using AI. Facilitator leading the discussion.

The Midland Youth Entrepreneurial Challenge is designed to bring together a coalition of committed partners: R.O.P.E Youth, Project L.A.M.B.O., UT Permian Basin, and BAM Ventures. United by a core belief that entrepreneurship is teachable, creativity can be structured, and young people, when equipped early, rise beyond the limits society too often places on them, these partners form the foundation of a new kind of youth infrastructure.

The structure is simple by design. Over ten weeks, students meet weekly on their campus. With the Co.Starters Generator curriculum as a guide, they move through the essential stages of business thinking, customer discovery, market fit, value proposition, and pitch development all while learning to think like problem-solvers, not just participants.

At the end, students present their ventures in a live showcase, competing for seed funding and earning the attention of local leaders and potential mentors. The event blends the pressure of a pitch competition with the energy of a community celebration. It is part Shark Tank, part science fair, part civic renewal.

What sets the YEC apart is not just what is taught, but how it’s delivered.

Facilitators are not required to be business veterans. Many are educators, nonprofit leaders, and community members with no formal entrepreneurial background. What matters most is presence, empathy, and the ability to walk alongside students as co-learners. The curriculum provides the framework. Relationships provide the spark.

Each facilitator receives a modest stipend as recognition of their time and commitment. We are not hiring instructors. We are resourcing trusted adults to serve as community infrastructure.

What emerges is transformation. Not only in students, but in facilitators. In classrooms. Across the local ecosystem.

The Midland Youth Entrepreneurial Challenge will not just teach business. It will redefine what is possible when young people are seen, supported, and invited to lead. Entrepreneurship is not a rare skill reserved for a select few. It is a mindset, a toolset, and a pathway. And it belongs in every high school in America.

Mentorship as Infrastructure

What does it take to guide a young entrepreneur?

Not status. Not a résumé stacked with exits. Not a corner office or a title. More often, it begins with something quieter. A question. A hand raised in the back of a classroom. A glance that says, I think I have an idea, but I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say it out loud.

In the Youth Entrepreneurial Challenge, our mentors are not the usual suspects. They are teachers, nonprofit leaders, and community members who have never pitched to investors but have stood in front of students long enough to recognize potential before it speaks.

They come not as instructors, not as experts or gurus, but as guides. To ask better questions. To help a teenager wrestle with uncertainty, iterate an idea, or step to the front of a room when fear wants them to stay seated. Some bring business knowledge. Others bring something just as valuable - patience, belief, and the courage to say, I don’t know either, but let’s figure it out together.

We do not pay facilitators to deliver expertise. We invest in them to hold space. A modest stipend affirms that time is valuable, and so is care. This is not about hiring content experts. This is about forming a scaffolding around ambition, one adult at a time.

As the program expands, we will be cultivating people who understand that mentorship is not a moment but a mindset. That showing up consistently for someone else can change the shape of what that person believes is possible.

In time, we want to ensure that wherever this program grows, it remains rooted in what makes it matter: human connection, mutual respect, and the radical act of believing in someone before the world gives them permission.

Mentorship is not the decoration on top. It is the structure beneath. The part that holds when everything else is still forming.

The ROI of Youth Entrepreneurship

Return on investment is often measured in charts and margins. In growth curves and percentages. In what can be counted, presented, defended.

But some returns are quieter. Slower. Measured not in profits, but in posture. In the way a student begins to speak from their chest instead of their throat. In the shift from “Can I?” to “Here’s what I’m building.”

This is the kind of ROI we see — and will continue to see — through youth entrepreneurship.

For students, the gains are both practical and profound. They learn how to frame a problem, design a solution, and speak clearly to the value they create. They learn the discipline of follow-through. The grace of starting over. The humility to take feedback and the courage to stand by their ideas when it counts. They begin to see themselves not just as learners, but as builders. That mindset shift stays with them.

For the local economy, the returns ripple outward. Students with entrepreneurial skillsets grow into adults who create jobs, solve problems, and remain adaptable in a changing world. The program becomes more than a classroom experience. It becomes a talent pipeline, a spark for future ventures, a source of homegrown innovation. The community gains not just businesses, but business-minded citizens.

And for us — at BAM Ventures — the return is legacy. This is where mission meets movement. Where theory becomes practice. We gain not just credibility and brand awareness, but clarity and focus on our mission. The entrepreneurs we hope to fund, partner with, or support ten years from now may very well start here, in these rooms, at these whiteboards, learning to take themselves seriously.

This is not about placing bets on the best ideas. It is about building the conditions in which good ideas, and good people, can grow.

The ROI is not just future-facing. It is present-tense. It is the quiet work of shifting culture, one student, one facilitator, one idea at a time.

Building Together

This work belongs to all of us who believe in the power of our young people, the future generations to shape what comes next.

You do not have to be an entrepreneur to get involved. You do not need a business plan, a pitch deck, or a title. What you need is a willingness to show up. To ask questions. To care about students not for what they might become, but for who they already are.

We are inviting community members to become facilitators. We will train you. We will support you. What matters most is your presence and your belief. If you can hold space, listen deeply, and walk alongside a student learning to trust their own voice, you are already qualified.

There are other ways to contribute. Schools can partner. Local businesses can sponsor. Civic leaders can advocate for programs that connect education with economic imagination. If you carry knowledge, share it. If you have resources, lend them. If you have time, we will help you use it well.

You can also help us spread the word. Talk to a teacher. Share this post. Invite someone into the conversation who might not see themselves in it yet.

Because here is the truth. The students are ready. The ideas are already forming. The only question is whether we will create the conditions for them to grow.

If this resonates with you — if something in you is saying yes — we invite you to join us.

You can reach out directly to learn more, volunteer, or begin the path to becoming a facilitator. The door is open. The work has started. And the future is already waiting.

The Legacy We Create

We often talk about the future as if it is far away.

As if it arrives on someone else’s schedule, shaped by forces beyond our reach. But in truth, the future is already here. It lives in the questions students are asking today. In the risks they are willing to take. In the ideas they are brave enough to share out loud.

The question is not whether they are ready. It is whether we are.

When we invest in youth entrepreneurship, we are not just teaching business. We are practicing a form of care. We are telling young people they are seen, they are capable, and they belong in the rooms where decisions are made.

This is not charity. This is strategy. This is love in motion. It is responsibility sharpened by imagination.

We may not see the full return of this work for years. Some of these students will build companies. Others will lead in different ways. But all of them will carry something forward — a belief that they can shape the world, not simply survive it.

That is the legacy we are building. Not headlines. Not handouts. Infrastructure. Belief. A deeper kind of resilience that outlives programs and transcends markets.

If you believe in this, we invite you to act. Not someday, but now.

Because the seeds are already in the ground. And the harvest depends on what we choose to nurture.

Call to Action

If this work speaks to you, as a parent, educator, business leader, or someone who simply believes in the power of young people, we would love to connect.

Whether you want to mentor, facilitate, sponsor, or learn more about how youth entrepreneurship can serve your school or city, we’re here to have that conversation.

Contact us at info@yecmidland.org or visit www.yecmidland.org to explore partnership opportunities, facilitator pathways, and upcoming student programs.

The future is not waiting. Let’s build it together.

About BAM Ventures

BAM Ventures exists to build ecosystems that support entrepreneurs from every walk of life — especially the ones who are often overlooked. From youth programs to adult founder coaching, from curriculum design to community empowerment, we help people turn ideas and dreams into reality.

Our mission is rooted in authentic compassion, driven by data, and powered by belief. We don’t just support business growth. We support the people behind it.

Learn more at www.bamventures.online

About the Author

Angel Garcia, MBA, is the Founder & CEO of BAM Ventures – Your Business Sidekick! As an AI Consultant and Certified Flow & Growth Coach, Angel has helped countless entrepreneurs and business owners cut through the noise, build solid foundations, and scale with clarity. With a unique blend of strategic coaching, AI-driven innovation, and proven business fundamentals, Angel partners with leaders who are ready to grow smarter, not harder.

🚀 If you’re ready to streamline operations, unlock growth, and finally take the weight off your shoulders—let’s connect.

📩 Reach Angel directly at angel@bamconsulting.com or call 432-247-8841.

🌐 Learn more at www.bamventures.online