Our Dream Foundation Inc

Mission
The Our D.R.E.A.M. (Developing Resources to Empower All Minds) Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which strives to encourage and support entrepreneurship amongst youth in underserved communities. Through our programming students gain access to information, resources, and mentorship that develops their business acumen, communication skills and fuels their entrepreneurial spirit. It is our DREAM to be a launchpad for the business and community leaders of tomorrow, while providing present outcomes for personal economic growth. The organization was founded by entrepreneurs and former college classmates Dr. Johnny Graham and Justin Peters, Esq. in 2015. During the summer of that year, the foundation rolled out its inaugural program, the Y.E.S. Program in Baltimore. Since then we have developed a variety of programs and partnerships to empower youth entrepreneurs in Baltimore and beyond.

The YES Program
The Y.E.S. (Youth Entrepreneurship Startup) Program is a summer entrepreneurship camp for Baltimore youth. Now in its sixth summer of programming, this initiative is designed to introduce students to the foundational principles of business, to help cultivate the students’ own ideas and overall entrepreneurial spirit.Throughout the program, the students receive instruction in various key business concepts, participate in various interactive activities, workshops, and panels, and receive mentorship from local business leaders. YES students have started a variety of different businesses including an oral health company, a smoothie business, a tech startup, a landscaping business, a fashion line, a hygenine-based subscription service and much more. To date the program has impacted over 100 youth entrepreneurs from Baltimore, with participation and mentorship from over 70 local black entrepreneurs and business leaders. 

From the Students:

“The YES Program has increased my confidence in my idea immensely and they have helped me follow through with my dream of being an entrepreneur.

"While in the program, I learned more about business than school could ever teach me, all while meeting new people and building connections with business leaders and future leaders (students) in a relaxed environment."

“Informative, life, and mindset changing” 

The EMPOWER Accelerator
The EMPOWER Accelerator is our summer entrepreneurship program for Black college students. This program which started virtually in 2020,  provides curriculum, mentorship, and funding to our young innovators and entrepreneurs,  with a particular emphasis on building and modeling businesses for the digital marketplace. The program's inaugural cohort featured 25 Black college students from colleges and universities across the country including Morehouse College, Howard University, North Carolina Central University, Drexel University, UMBC, Alcorn State, Prairie View A&M, Tennessee State University, and more. 

From the Students:
“The EMPOWER program allowed me to refine my business in a tremendous way. The principles I learned about digital marketing and understanding the importance of how to effectively do a business pitch for my brand was invaluable. I truly recommend this program for all entrepreneurs.

"My experience with the EMPOWER program has been nothing short of amazing. This program gave me a clearer direction to the benefits of being an entrepreneur and the tools necessary to grow and scale my business."

Dream Scholars
Starting in 2019, The DREAM Scholarship was established to help aspiring youth entrepreneurs further pursue their ambitions in their college years. College can provide much support and many resources to help a young person start or grow their business. But while higher education can be very beneficial to an entrepreneur, gaining access to it can be a burden for some. This $1,000 scholarship is awarded every May to graduating high school seniors or current college freshmen or sophomores  who are attending or attended Baltimore City or County Public Schools.

The Future: Dream Labs
Starting in the 2020-21 school year, our organization will be entering our first DREAM LAB partnership, which embeds the creation and operation of a student-led business in a Baltimore City High School curriculum and activities.  We are excited to start our first DREAM LAB site at Green Street Academy in West Baltimore.