July 9, 2018 -- The Taco Bell Foundation, in partnership with local Taco Bell franchisees, will be hosting three career readiness workshops this summer in Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. These workshops, which have been created specifically for Live Más Scholarship recipients, will help attendees develop the critical personal and professional skills needed to translate their passions and areas of study into real-world job opportunities. Additionally, the Taco Bell Foundation will be piloting a mentoring curriculum during these workshops with MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, which will teach attendees how to find and develop relationships with mentors that can help them succeed in school and beyond.
“These workshops, and our partnership with MENTOR, embody the Taco Bell Foundation’s vision of feeding people’s lives with más and mission to help young people explore their career passions,” said Tina Nguyen, Taco Bell Foundation Executive Director. “We hope we can play a role in helping prepare these amazing, passionate young adults for the incredible journeys we know are ahead of them.”
Up to 30 students will participate in each regional workshop, where they will be empowered as leaders, tackle real-world social issues, meet like-minded innovators and creators, and learn skills to unlock their potential with their passions. MENTOR will facilitate interactive trainings at the workshops to strengthen the scholars’ confidence and ability to identify and secure mentors. Students will also draw inspiration from a variety of speakers, including Moneythink co-founder Ted Gonder about following passion, past winners on leading national campaigns, and local franchisees about running a business. To kickoff the series, key members of the Taco Bell franchise Border Foods’ leadership team will be supporting and speaking at the Minneapolis workshop.
“Border Foods is so excited to partner with the Taco Bell Foundation to support the young people in our community,” said Lee Engler, co-founder of Border Foods. “I am proud to be a part of a purpose-driven brand that empowers its people to use their scale and resources to make a positive local impact. When young people in our community are given the tools to succeed, we all benefit.”
The goal of the pilot program is the rollout of both the MENTOR initiative, as well as nationwide workshops, which will allow more of the nearly 600 Live Más Scholarship recipients to participate in this unique experience. These mentorship and networking opportunities will expand upon existing offerings by the Taco Bell Foundation, including a Facebook community where scholars share passion projects and ideas with one another, as well as real-world opportunities for students to put their passions into action.
“We love when we can work with an organization like the Taco Bell Foundation that recognizes the value of fostering quality relationships for young people, and is already doing this work in many ways,” said Daniel Horgan, Senior Director of Corporate Engagement at MENTOR. “With our shared goal of creating opportunities that help young people grow and develop into thriving adults, we are confident that this partnership will have a positive impact on these next-generation leaders.”
Workshop Locations and Dates:
Minneapolis, MN: July 10-12, 2018
Philadelphia, PA: July 24-26, 2018
Irvine, CA: July 31-August 2, 2018
Hear directly from students about their experience participating in a workshop at Taco Bell’s headquarters in California last year:
Check out the Live Más Scholarship website for more info about the program, as well as info on our most recent winners announcement ($3 million to 300 students) here.