Staten Island Tech Sophomore Wins 2022 YEA! Investor Panel
On Thursday, May 26, 2022, the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce hosted the 2022 Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) 2022 Investor Panel, the first in-person YEA event since 2019. The Investor Panel, sponsored by Amazon, Broadway Stages, Empire State Bank, National Grid, Northfield Bank, and the Small Business Development Center at CSI, is the culmination of the 2022 YEA class, in which students pitch their business plans to a panel of “shark” investors.
This year’s winner was Staten Island Technical High School sophomore Youwei (Anthony) Zhen, who pitched PrivacySavior. PrivacySavior is a Limited Liability Company that sells electronic devices that protects user privacy. When an intruder is within the vicinity of the user’s computer, the computer’s applications and files will automatically minimize and be hidden away from the intruder. Zhen’s recorded pitch can be viewed on this page, courtesy of Andy Levison, Staten Island Community Television.
Zhen’s mentor was Eric Campione of P.A.C. Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning.
As the winner, Zhen will advance to the Saunders Scholars Competition, where he will compete virtually in the regional semi-finals. The winner of the semi-finals will move on to compete in the national competition. Both the semi-finals and finals will take place via YouTube Live on Saturday, June 4, 2022.
The event was moderated by Victoria Manna, Staten Island News Reporter, Spectrum News NY1. The panel of judges consisted of Dean Balsamini, Regional Director at the Small Business Development Center at CSI, Laurie Guinta, Vice President Regional Manager of Staten Island for Northfield Bank, Frank Lombardo, Director of NYS Resource Planning for National Grid, Michael Sanicola, Senior Operations Manager for Amazon at the JFK8 facility in Staten Island, and Esmerelda Xheleshi, Vice President, Director of Marketing Empire State Bank. Frank Scarangello, Chairman of the Board of the Chamber, introduced the event.
Businesses pitched included:
CarryOutDeal - Anika Rao Thakkar, Saint Joseph Hill Academy, 11th Grade
SyriAid - John Pierre Alkhoury, Staten Island Technical High School, 10th Grade
THOCK - Jordan Chen, Staten Island Technical High School, 10th Grade
MiniSkin - Mandy Chen, Staten Island Technical High School, 10th Grade
The Most Random Game - Zihan Lin, Staten Island Technical High School, 10th Grade
Adept Web Services - Harrison Zafrani, Staten Island Technical High School, 11th Grade
StageKid - Nikita Chernin, New Dorp High School, 10th Grade
PrivacySavior - Youwei (Anthony) Zhen, Staten Island Technical High School, 10th Grade
3D-Easy - Joshua Chen, Staten Island Technical High School, 10th Grade
Vehsi - Zayana Sandzhieva, Susan E. Wagner High School, 10th Grade
Chef in a Box - Joshua Kim, Staten Island Technical High School, 11th Grade
Skinbare - Enyu (Amy) Zhu, Staten Island Technical High School, 10th Grade
FactSpace, Christopher Ferrera, Moore Catholic High School, 11th Grade
WoodWorks Gear - Joseph Masica, Staten Island Technical High School, 12th Grade
The 2022 YEA! Class was made possible by our presenting sponsor, Con Edison. Avid Architecture and The Rab Wilkinson Foundation also participated as Scholarship Partner Sponsors. Dr. Janet Leslie, M.S.Ed., D.M., of Gift of Experience LLC served as this year’s Instructor, and Jillian Baldassarre of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce served as the YEA Program Manager.
The following professionals served as 2022 Business Mentors:
Roosevelt Board, Chick-Fil-A
Eric Campione, P.A.C. Plumbing, Heating & A/C
Maria Carrozza, The Cake Chef
Clara Chahwan, A Chance In Life
Lissette Corso, Bisou Di Mar
Joe DeFeo, Investors Bank
Susan Fenley, Sundog Theatre, Inc.
Matthew Gargano, StatenWeb
Stacie Koutras, Elan Hair and Nails
Nancy Nix, Wicked Stitches
Ed Pollio, 5050 Skatepark
Cory Schifter, Casale Jewelers
Bart Sharp, SCORE
About The Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!)
The Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) is a groundbreaking program that guides high school students through the process of starting a real business, including business plan development, pitching to an investor panel, obtaining funding, launching the venture, managing media campaigns, e-commerce and web development, and much more.
Entrepreneur guest speakers, business mentors, and visits to local companies anchor the instruction around real-world applications and experiences. The end result of the YEA! program, unlike other simulation models, is a fully formed and functioning business, which is carried on by students after graduation.
Launched in 2004 at the University of Rochester, the program focuses on themes of driving innovation, viewing the world in new ways, recognizing opportunities, valuing risk taking, networking, providing solutions and creating value. Students are taught to recognize the power of their ideas, and develop the skills necessary to turn those ideas into meaningful enterprises. All the learning at the Young Entrepreneurs Academy is real, experiential, and fun.