The ideas were required to have a track record. “Anyone and their mother could come up with ideas, but what we wanted to do with Fix Young America was to get the strongest voices in the room, the ones who showed there was proof in the pudding,” said Scott Gerber, 28, founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council and Fix Young America.
The solutions will be published Wednesday in a book. Mr. Smith, for one, wrote a chapter advocating student loan forgiveness for entrepreneurs who start businesses that create jobs.
Another solution was proposed by Zach Sims, whose chapter focuses on teaching young people JavaScript, the computer programming language. “There are a limited number of things you can do with an English degree,” said Mr. Sims, 21, co-founder of Codecademy, a free Web site that teaches programming and coding. “Coding skills are such a clear path to employment, regardless of your background.”
Mr. Sims suggests teaching coding nationally via sites like Codecademy and creating partnerships with high schools, colleges and local government. He wants to start a “national programming movement” and recently formed a partnership with the White House for a summer program to teach coding to underprivileged youth.
I love seeing the buzz innovation and entrepreneurship -- start making! You don't need anyone's permission.