Campus Ambassador

Guide
Everything you need to know about VFA and your role in helping us grow.
Kit includes your VFA swag: Pen Lapel Pin Sunglasses T-shirt Tote Bag

Orientation Schedule
Thursday, August 9th TBD Friday, August 10th TBD

Welcome Aboard!
We are so happy to have you join our team as a Campus Ambassador. You are now a crucial part of our recruitment process and we're counting on you to get students and faculty at your school excited about VFA. This packet has a lot of information that we hope will be useful as you help spread the word. But before you can begin kicking butt as an Ambassador, you should know a little bit more about us and what we do. History Venture for America was founded in 2010 and is the brainchild of Andrew Yang. Dissatisfied with his decision to attend law school and become entrenched in professional services as a corporate attorney, Andrew knew there had to be a better career trajectory for bright students from top schools around the country. He also knew that many small startups were eager for talented young employees, but lacked the resources to recruit on college campuses. Thus, VFA was born as a way to bridge the gap and send recent grads to cities in need of an entrepreneurial spark. Mission

To revitalize American cities and communities through entrepreneurship. To enable our best and brightest to create new opportunities for themselves and others. To restore the culture of achievement to include value-creation, risk and reward, and the common good.

Our City Partners

Our current Fellows are now living and working in 5 cities: Cincinnati, OH Detroit, MI Las Vegas, NV New Orleans, LA Providence, RI Our 2013 cities will include those 5 as well as the following cities: Baltimore, MD Cleveland, OH New Haven, CT Pittsburgh, PA Raleigh-Durham, NC Our Fellows work in startups across a wide variety of industries, including education, healthcare, venture capital, clean energy, and design.

Meet the Staff

Andrew Yang Founder & President andrew@ventureforamerica.org Eddie Shiomi VP of Programs eddie@ventureforamerica.org Megan Hurlburt Admin & Development Assistant megan@ventureforamerica.org Eileen Lee COO eileen@ventureforamerica.org Mike Tarullo Director of Corporate Development mike@ventureforamerica.org Lynne Guey Recruitment & Social Media Associate lynne@ventureforamerica.org

Who We're Looking For

VFA is looking to attract highly motivated students from all backgrounds and majors, with a special emphasis on Self-Starters Coders Designers Engineers Biz Dev/Hustlers Here is an example of one of our superb 2012 Fellows, Scott Lowe.

Scott Lowe majored in Engineering Physics at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK, specializing in Artificial Intelligence and minoring in Mathematics. He discovered his passion for entrepreneurship through the Center for Creation of Economic Wealth at OU where he worked on projects ranging from creating a student-run micro-lending organization, researching the commercial viability of a fiber-optic intrusion monitoring technology, and leading the development of a mobile application designed to improve education in Oklahoma. His interests include spending time with friends and family, playing guitar, reading, and thinking about hard problems.

Application Deadlines
October 1st, 2012 December 3rd, 2012 February 18, 2012 www.ventureforamerica.org/apply

Your Role
As a Campus Ambassador, you will be our eyes and ears on the ground. Your main responsibility is to connect VFA with 1. Career Services 2. Students and Student Groups 3. Professors 4. Campus Media Because this guide is not exhaustive, check out our website for further VFA information (www.ventureforamerica.org). Your alumni Fellows are: Name: Email: _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________ Feel free to reach out to them with questions.

1. You are a link to Career Services.

We know that your school's Career Services probably focuses on Investment Banks, Consulting Firms, and other large corporate entities. We want to change that by making VFA a featured employer. You can help. Checklist Items Have I established a contact at the Career Center? Is VFA listed on my school's career postings website? Is the information accurate? Are the deadlines correct? Are there links to the application and the website, and do they work? Are there any upcoming Career Fairs?

2. You are a link to students.

General Outreach and "Refer a Friend" In order to spread the word and increase traffic to our application, we ask that you reach out to students and organizations that would be interested in joining VFA. In order to keep a list of all interested parties, we ask that you use our "Refer a Friend" database.
https://docs.google.com/a/ventureforamerica.org/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dHpjQXhTY0lVck 9jeFpEbU5iSG9FLVE6MQ

This spreadsheet will allow us to compile all names in one place. Anyone you meet who is interested should be inputted into the form. Checklist Items: Student Groups Have I identified student organizations that would be interested in VFA's mission (ex. entrepreneurship clubs)? Have I contacted the leaders of these groups? Have I arranged to give a brief presentation about VFA at their club meetings? Is there a way for VFA to co-sponsor events with these groups? Student-Run Businesses Have I identified any students with visible businesses around campus? Have I contacted these student entrepreneurs?

Info Sessions VFA wants to visit as many college campuses as possible in 2012-2013. That being said, we need your help planning and advertising an Info Session. The session may be run by a VFA staff member or by a current Fellow. Your school's planned Info Session date: ________________________ Checklist Items: Advertising Have I created a Facebook event? Have I created and distributed flyers? Have I reached out to relevant student groups? Logistics Does Career Services know the date? Is there a room location? Have I ordered food? Do I know which VFA member is leading the Info Session? Do I have a computer ready for sign-ups using the "Refer a Friend" form?

3. You are a link to professors.

Professors and faculty mentors can be a great source of VFA advocacy, so reach out to them as allies in spreading our mission. Checklist Items: Have I made a list of potential professors to reach out to? Have I contacted these professors by email/in person? Have I contacted Academic Departments that would be interested in VFA? Entrepreneurship Computer Science Graphic Design Economics Here is a sample email to send to a professor: Dear Professor, My name is ___________and I am a Campus Ambassador for Venture for America, a 2-year fellowship program that sends recent college graduates to work for start-up companies in our nation's struggling cities. Because Venture for America's mission is to create jobs and support the new generation of young entrepreneurs, I thought the students in your Entrepreneurship classes may be interested in the opportunity. I would really appreciate it if you could send this blurb out to your students:
Venture for America is a 2-year fellowship program that sends recent college graduates to work for start-up companies in our nation's struggling cities. We are seeking motivated seniors and recent grads to join our 2013 class of Fellows.

The Venture for America Fellowship consists of the following components:

Training Venture Fellow Training Camp held at Brown University in Summer 2012 Company Placement 2 years of work at a start-up or early stage company Programming and Capstone Regular assignments, readings, and meetings, including a $100k prize at the conclusion of the program

To learn more or to apply for a 2013 Fellowship position, please visit our website at www.ventureforamerica.org

4. You are a link to media channels.

We need to raise awareness about VFA, so what better way to do so than by contacting student newspapers and other media channels? Checklist Items: Have I contacted students at the following media channels? Student newspaper Radio shows Student-led news sites Student publications/journals Sample email to a student newspaper: Dear Editor/Writer, My name is ___________and I am a Campus Ambassador for Venture for America, a 2-year fellowship program that sends recent college graduates to work for start-up companies in our nation's struggling cities. Given the imminent recruiting season, I was wondering if you would be interested in writing an article about VFA. It's an amazing program and I think a lot of students would benefit from learning of the opportunity. Let me know if you would like more information!

5. You are an Email Ninja.

Your job as an email ninja is to defend VFA against overzealous applicants by answering their questions if you can. For example, Brad sends you an email: Dear Ambassador, I attended your info session and love VFA already, but Im not sure who to choose for my 2 recommenders. Do you have any suggestions? You are equipped to answer this one! Send Brad a response. Dear Brad, Thanks for your question! Because VFA asks for one letter from an academic reference, I would suggest you choose a professor who knows you well (maybe it was a small class, you worked with him/her to do research, etc). For the professional reference, you should choose a supervisor that you had in a recent jobsomeone who can tell us exactly how well you performed and comment on your attitude. If you can't answer a question, fear not! Direct emails to the corresponding VFA staff members: Company/City: Mike mike@ventureforamerica.org Application: Megan megan@ventureforamerica.org Programming and Capstone: Eddie eddie@ventureforamerica.org Recruitment/Social Media: Lynne lynne@ventureforamerica.org An example of a slightly more difficult request is an email sent from Angelina. Dear Ambassador, I want to apply for VFA, but I have another job offer that I need to make a decision about before October 1st. Is there any way I can have an early interview? Because this is a specific request, it would be best to pass it along to a VFA staff member. You should respond to Angelina, and then forward it to the appropriate staff member, in this case Eileen (eileen@ventureforamerica.org). Dear Angelina, Thanks for your question! I will forward your email to a member of the VFA staff who can better respond to your situation.

You have a budget of $100.

Please spend this money wisely over the next several months! It must be used in ways that can raise awareness about VFA and potentially increase recruitment. 1. Make a Purchase (and save the receipt!) Permissible categories include Food (for Info Sessions and Recruitment Events) Paper/Photocopying (for flyers and marketing materials) If you're not sure if something is reimbursable by VFA, check with Megan (megan@ventureforamerica.org) 2. Fill out a Reimbursement Form. Within 2 weeks of making a purchase, fill out the VFA Expense Reimbursement Form (which you will receive as an email attachment, pictured below). Please send the form along with the receipts/confirmations for any expenses you are requesting reimbursement for to Megan (megan@ventureforamerica.org). Please don't forget to include your current, full address on the form so VFA can mail you your check. 3. Wait for a check!

What should I do right now?

1. Follow us on Facebook & Twitter
http://www.facebook.com/VentureForAmerica http://twitter.com/venture4america

2. Create a VFA Facebook page for your school 3. Reach out to 3 student leaders & schedule a VFA presentation with them

Please don't feel limited by the ideas in this guidebe creative!