After our exhilarating VIP day at USC
JSES is a student-run, university-sponsored program for middle & high school students ready to dive into social entrepreneurship. Over the course of a week, students work in teams to learn how to turn their original idea for a product or service into a sustainable business. JSES participants are mentored by some of the best social entrepreneurship faculty and SE leaders in the world at universities in Xi'an, Los Angeles, and Berlin.
Luca Poutoa Pistor started JSES in 2010 in 3rd grade as a "cultural think tank for kids". Seven years and 11 weeklong programs later, Pistor is a high school sophomore in Southern California, where he directs JSES workshops and weeklong camps in Xi'an, Santa Monica, Samoa, Fiji, and Berlin. In April 2017, he launched JSES Xi'an where he was presented with the Nathan-Zuntz Prize 2017 for "Founding and Directing JSES International, a Bi-lingual Youth Program for STEM-based Social Entrepreneurship". He shared the prestigious prize with his 150 JSES Ambassadors in Africa (The Seychelles), Canada, China, EU (Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Spain), India (New Delhi, Mumbai), Israel, Kuala Lumpur, United Kingdom, and the United States (LA, Miami, New York). JSES Ambassadors, their schools, parents, and mentors, have helped JSES bring teen social entrepreneurship to thousands of youth and teens in their schools and communities.
Luca Poutoa Pistor started JSES in 2010 in 3rd grade as a "cultural think tank for kids". Seven years and 11 weeklong programs later, Pistor is a high school sophomore in Southern California, where he directs JSES workshops and weeklong camps in Xi'an, Santa Monica, Samoa, Fiji, and Berlin. In April 2017, he launched JSES Xi'an where he was presented with the Nathan-Zuntz Prize 2017 for "Founding and Directing JSES International, a Bi-lingual Youth Program for STEM-based Social Entrepreneurship". He shared the prestigious prize with his 150 JSES Ambassadors in Africa (The Seychelles), Canada, China, EU (Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Spain), India (New Delhi, Mumbai), Israel, Kuala Lumpur, United Kingdom, and the United States (LA, Miami, New York). JSES Ambassadors, their schools, parents, and mentors, have helped JSES bring teen social entrepreneurship to thousands of youth and teens in their schools and communities.
- Sponsors JSES Santa Monica has been generously sponsored by USC's (University of Southern California) Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, mentored by Dr. Elissa Grossman. JSES Berlin 2013-2017 has been sponsored by two top universities under the mentorship of Sonja Jost, CEO and founder of DexLeChem. JSES Xi'an 2017 was hosted at a top university in China, the Northwestern Polytechnical University, and was mentored by Dr. Professor Hanns-Christian Gunga.
- Sustainability Last year's JSES Santa Monica theme was Ocean Sustainability. Ed Begley Jr., Dianna Cohen, and other experts spoke on the topic, and this summer Shari Sant Plummer, Founder of Planet Blue Foundation, will be the Keynote Sustainability Speaker. Pistor plans to study environmental science as a high school junior next year and is developing a speaker series during the school-year.
- Supporters Ashoka has generously hosted JSES Berlin each summer and their Ashoka Fellows have given generously of their time and SE expertise. Supporters in LA (Farmshop LA and Berlin (DexLeChem, Center for Space Medicine Science and Extreme Environments,
- Instructors Top teachers, coaches, professors, and industry leaders in the field of entrepreneurship, and social entrepreneurship, teach the emerging-curriculum workshops on a volunteer-basis. Luca leads 1-2 modules per session and JSES alumni over 16 years old are interns and project coaches. Dr. Peter Strasser, an international expert in fuel cells, was the first professor of JSES Berlin 2013, which was a STEM-based program, and our team of teachers and professors grows each year!
- Mentors for the JSES program are: JSES Santa Monica: Dr. Elissa Grossman (USC), JSES Berlin: Sonja Jost (CEO DexLeChem), JSES Xi'an: Hanns-Christian Gunga (Director Space Medicine Science Center, Berlin). Specialty mentors (i.e., Dr. Karol Watson MD, UCLA cardiologist who mentors our Teen Heart-health project) mentor solo and group projects.
- Tuition/Fees: To join JSES it is FREE. Join us for our Teen Heart-health lunches, and many events. To attend the weeklong summer camps: Santa Monica $800, Berlin is 100% covered for EU residents and is US$800 for U.S. residents. Other nationalities please inquire. Scholarships and sliding-scale is available for all sessions
- Community JSES supports Junior Statesmen of America (JSA) since 2015, Special Olympics, Wheelmap.
- Peace/Compassion/Empathy Peace, compassion, and empathy are important components of JSES. Peace First Prize 2013 awarded JSES Berlin 2012 (prototype) in June 2013 "for creating a program that promotes peace by teaching cultural understanding".
- Social Impact JSES's teen-reach is in the thousands. Along with developing 11 weeklong summer camps for civic-minded kids & teens (6 in Berlin, 4 in Santa Monica, 1 in Xi'an), JSES has inspired and developed in-school programs in schools and community centers in LA, NY and Berlin. Over 100 projects have been launched as businesses or community projects.
- Press Press from Santa Monica Mirror and Santa Monica Daily Press and Berliner Morganpost (upcoming May 2017 article) helps spread our #SocEnt message. If you'd like an interview, please email Luca.JSES@gmail.com.
- Teen Health Teen Heart-health Initiative, is our top teen-powered health initiative, mentored by UCLA cardiologist Karol Watson MD., and her team. Learn more at UCLA Health.
Dear JSES Community, April 17, 2017
JSES Xi'an 2017 rocked over spring-break! We had a great time discussing the cultural aspects of China, the United States and the EU, and how social entrepreneurship can be a bridge between our countries and communities. If someone had told me when I started JSES in 3rd grade that one day I'd be invited to speak at a university in China about social entrepreneurship, I wouldn't have thought that it was possible. Thank you Dr. Gunga, our four year space science mentor, for inviting JSES to Xi'an!
Santa Monica Daily Press articles about our JSES Teen Community in LA have kept us in the local news -- and there's some international news from the EU coming our way soon!
Last month, we hosted our 2nd Annual Teen heart-health roundtable in Santa Monica with our heart-science mentor Dr. Karol Watson MD, an esteemed UCLA cardiologist. Dr. Watson awarded JSES with a UCLA Community Health Heart Award 2017 for "Teen Impact". We share our awards with all the schools in LA and Berlin who have worked with us to promote teen social entrepreneurship and teen heart-health!
Ever since JSES Berlin 2012, our pilot program, our JSES mentors have helped us put on dozens of weekend SE workshops, and 10 weeklong summer programs. Our warmest thanks to our generous sponsor, USC's Marshall School's, Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, to the program's director, Dr. Yli-Renko, our JSES mentor, Dr. Elissa Grossman, Professor.Adlai Wertman, for all of your Social Entrepreneurial inspiration.
Our mission is to share social entrepreneurship with as many students as possible before 2020, and our community health goal is to spread the word about our Teen Heart-health Initiative so teens can make a positive, and early change to their health. Since cardiac disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S., helping teens get a handle on it early is a worthy goal.
On behalf of all of our 150 JSES Ambassadors, we thank our mentors, sponsors, supporters, families, and our incoming summer class of JSES 2019! Our JSES Community has helped us realize our big ideas, incubate those ideas at JSES, and become "changemakers". By working together, we can make a positive difference in our communities, and in the world!
Warm regards,
Luca
Founder, Director JSES International (2010)
CoFounder Teen Heart-health Initiative (2014)
JSES Xi'an 2017 rocked over spring-break! We had a great time discussing the cultural aspects of China, the United States and the EU, and how social entrepreneurship can be a bridge between our countries and communities. If someone had told me when I started JSES in 3rd grade that one day I'd be invited to speak at a university in China about social entrepreneurship, I wouldn't have thought that it was possible. Thank you Dr. Gunga, our four year space science mentor, for inviting JSES to Xi'an!
Santa Monica Daily Press articles about our JSES Teen Community in LA have kept us in the local news -- and there's some international news from the EU coming our way soon!
Last month, we hosted our 2nd Annual Teen heart-health roundtable in Santa Monica with our heart-science mentor Dr. Karol Watson MD, an esteemed UCLA cardiologist. Dr. Watson awarded JSES with a UCLA Community Health Heart Award 2017 for "Teen Impact". We share our awards with all the schools in LA and Berlin who have worked with us to promote teen social entrepreneurship and teen heart-health!
Ever since JSES Berlin 2012, our pilot program, our JSES mentors have helped us put on dozens of weekend SE workshops, and 10 weeklong summer programs. Our warmest thanks to our generous sponsor, USC's Marshall School's, Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, to the program's director, Dr. Yli-Renko, our JSES mentor, Dr. Elissa Grossman, Professor.Adlai Wertman, for all of your Social Entrepreneurial inspiration.
Our mission is to share social entrepreneurship with as many students as possible before 2020, and our community health goal is to spread the word about our Teen Heart-health Initiative so teens can make a positive, and early change to their health. Since cardiac disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S., helping teens get a handle on it early is a worthy goal.
On behalf of all of our 150 JSES Ambassadors, we thank our mentors, sponsors, supporters, families, and our incoming summer class of JSES 2019! Our JSES Community has helped us realize our big ideas, incubate those ideas at JSES, and become "changemakers". By working together, we can make a positive difference in our communities, and in the world!
Warm regards,
Luca
Founder, Director JSES International (2010)
CoFounder Teen Heart-health Initiative (2014)