Inspiring kids to be makers, doers and givers is a big job and we can't do it alone. That's why we partner with programs that are inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs and philanthropists who learn that they can and that their ideas matter. Check out some of our partners who are working to bring our mission to life.
Engineering Brightness
Engineering Brightness is an after school program that helps kids combine their time and talent with their passions to address real world problems in a big way. Students apply entrepreneurial thinking to create solar-powered lanterns that are donated to families in communities that are effected by light poverty.
Adopt America's Kids' Dream Makers Program
In 2017, the OtterCares Foundation gave a grant to an organization called Adopt America's Kids for their Dream Makers program. The program is designed to help kids that are aging out of the foster care system pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. One of those kids, GeQwan, wants to be a chef. Our investment in Adopt America's Kids was an investment in GeQwan, who is now working to grow his culinary skills so that he can start his own line of pop-up restaurants and food trucks!
Centennial Elementary
In 2012, we partnered with Centennial Elementary to help take their school's technology resources to the next level. Through our Not-So-Ordinary Ornament campaign and the generous donations made by Otter Products employees, we were able to surprise Principal Anthony Asmus and his team with iPads! This gift helped take Centennial on a journey of growth and impact!
Not-So-Ordinary Ornament
Every holiday season, we work with a student-led enterprise to create one of a kind ornaments that are given to Otter Products employees. This hands-on project teaches students the process of running a business from product creation to packaging.
A Monster to Love
Twin brothers, Ben and Sam, started A Monster to Love after seeing a need in their community. With the help and support of their dad, the brothers applied their passions for drawing and sewing to create one of a kind Monsters. For every Monster sold, one is given to a child a need. The enterprising twins have enlisted the help of Otter employees in the creation of Monsters for over 4 years!
Ferguson High School
Ferguson High School provides students with hands-on learning opportunities through the school's student-run businesses! From pressing t-shirts to brewing some awesome coffee, students gain valuable soft-skills like communication and collaboration, to help prepare them for their journey after high school. There are some blooming entrepreneurs in this school and their teacher, Erin, has created an environment for them to thrive!
Colorado Early College's Precious Plastics Program
Precious Plastics is an open source plastics recycling program that Colorado Early Colleges brought into their school to help hone entrepreneurial skills in their students! Students go through the design process to create their own recycling machine that they will then donate to a community in need. How awesome is that!?
Junior Achievement and their JA Company Program
Junior Achievement's JA Company Program provides budding entrepreneurs with the tools, skills and platform they need to not only take their business ideas from concept to reality, but to also pitch their businesses to real-life entrepreneurs and industry leaders. This hands-on experience is a game-changer for students who are on a mission to be the makers, doers and givers of tomorrow!
The Young Entrepreneur Tournament
Created by the Larimer County Workforce Center, the Young Entrepreneur Tournament (YET) teaches young people to pursue their business ideas, not simply get a job. Over the course of six weeks, 6-12th grade students learn how to take their ideas for a product or business from paper to reality. At the end of the program, students pitch their business ideas for a chance to win seed money and be named the Young Entrepreneur Tournament winner!
AMPED
AMPED is an extraordinary program that teaches students algebra while they are working in a real student-led business! We've been proud to partner with AMPED since they started and cannot wait to see more students impacted by this awesome program!
Pretty Brainy
Pretty Brainy is a program designed to connect young women into STEAM fields while providing them with opportunities to give back using their time, talent and treasure!
Geometry in Construction
Started at Loveland High School to help improve math comprehension,
Geometry in Construction combines geometry principles with real world
applications. Students in Geometry in Construction apply their math
studies to building homes for Habitat for Humanity. The program is
currently in over 300 schools across the country!
Windsor Charter Academy
What happens when you connect passionate and driven young people with a real-life business problem? You create ENTREPRENEURS! The Entrepreneurship class at Windsor Charter Academy connected students to the Windsor Severance Fire and Rescue to help make the lives of rescuers and first responders better. This partnership not only gave students an opportunity to pursue their entrepreneurial ideas, it helped show a community that kids really do have the power to come up with ideas that can truly change a community and the world!
Thompson Career Campus
In 2019 we celebrated a huge milestone - we turned 10! To help mark the occasion, we surprised some of our partners in impact with special grants to deepen our mission of inspiring students to be entrepreneurs and philanthropists. One of those partners is the Thompson School District and their Thompson Career Campus. We invested in the creation of a meeting room in the TCC, which allows students the opportunity to connect to business and community and learn about how business operates, what their community needs and how they can tackle real-world problems and create real-world solutions with an entrepreneurial mindset and philanthropic spirit. We can't wait to see how many students' lives are transformed because of the TCC and are honored to be partners!
Project Heart Spotlight - Bamford Elementary
When Alissa Poduska took on the role of principal at Bamford Elementary, a new school in the Poudre School District, not only did she start with a clean slate, she started with a big opportunity to shape the culture of the school from day one. Partnering with OtterCares and MindSpark Learning, Bamford Elementary began a journey of professional development around Project Heart with educators learning how to infuse the concepts of the program into their lessons and curriculums in an easy and personalized way!