Tom Tom Founders Festival invites students and youth across the State to “Take charge of your education.” Inspire and be inspired. Join hundreds of other creative problem solvers at the student-planned and student-led 2018 Youth Summit. Build businesses, launch organizations, and start projects that will positively impact your customers, your community, and society at large, creating value for all. Each year, students, educators, entrepreneurs, civic leaders assemble for this high-energy, student-planned, student-led experimental program. The Youth Summit is possible with efforts from the University of Virginia Curry School of Education and ReinventED Lab.
The Youth Summit activates and engages high school students to think entrepreneurially. Last year, 1,050 students and educators collaborated at The Paramount Theater and community-friendly IX Art Park for the 2nd Youth Summit!
On Thursday, April 12, 9am-2:30pm, students, educators, and entrepreneurs from across Virginia will assemble to hear inspirational stories from young speakers and participate in high energy competitions that inspire entrepreneurial thinking and creative problem-solving. Speakers on the stage are younger than 25 years old, making their experiences more relatable to audience members.
Admission is FREE for K-12 students. Tickets are available for the general public. Purchased tickets at tomtomfest.com and join us at The Paramount Theater for the Youth Summit on Thursday, April 12th.
Business Pitch Competition (9:30am-12pm, The Paramount Theater)
Teams of students will present their best ideas for new businesses. These presentations will last for a few minutes each and will be pitched directly to the community and leading entrepreneurs from across Virginia and the Nation. Some students have realized their companies after their presentations at Tom Tom! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a dream come true and put your thoughts into action.
Community Innovation Idea Challenge (9am-12pm, The Paramount Theater)
Other teams of students will share their innovative ideas to improve their local community. This year, we have guests from CODE2040, ReinvetED Lab, Totem, and several student-founded companies represented! The varied talks and panels will offer challenges to the community to come up with probable, compromising solutions.
Makerville (12-2:30 pm, IX Art Park)
The IX Art Park will be transformed into a high-energy space with musical performances, art creations at interactive booths, trade-skilled showcases and services, pop-up dialogues, and more! This is a new installment in the Youth Summit program, and we are excited by the prospective creative energy that will be born, and inspiration that will come from the event. Applications to join are currently open for organizations, students, and other participants!