"Knight Foundation Grant to Help Overtown Youth Start Small Businesses ," Press Release, January 29, 2004.

Overtown and East Little Havana - Thanks to a three-year, $90,000 challenge grant recently awarded by the Knight Foundation to local nonprofit KidVentures, Inc., inner city youth in Overtown and East Little Havana have the opportunity to start their own small businesses. Founded by businesswoman and designer Alice Horn, KidVentures’ mission is to bring the real world into the classroom. Students in the program develop and run an actual business; first designing, then marketing a line of artistic products. In the process, they are exposed to a wide range of entrepreneurial and team building skills, while giving back to the community by donating program profits to a cause of their choice.

First started in the South Miami area in 1999, KidVentures has since facilitated 21student-run businesses, supporting over 400 young entrepreneurs. The program has expanded to Liberty City and Little Haiti as well as Overtown. Current Overtown partnerships include an after-school entrepreneurial program at Jose de Diego Middle School, and a summer program at the Mattie Koonce Learning and Technology Center. Through the Knight Foundation grant, KidVentures will have the opportunity to deliver additional programs at the Overtown Youth Center, the Intel Computer Clubhouse and other locations.

Anitra Harris, a teacher at Jose de Diego Middle School, is excited to be starting this new venture with her students: “This gives kids the opportunity to really put their classroom learning to good use.”

The Knight Foundation aims to improve the quality of life in 26 U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. In Miami-Dade County, the foundation’s geographic focus areas are Overtown and East Little Havana. Key objectives include improving the lives of individuals by helping them gain the knowledge and skills necessary to reach economic self-sufficiency, and providing children and youth with opportunities for positive growth and development. Through its entrepreneurial program, KidVentures gives young people a strong head start towards self-sufficiency in a positive, creative learning environment.