In 2025, OPERATION: SEED, INC., with your generous help, was blessed to participate in the lives of young people through…

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• Meeting with four entrepreneurial teens and their parent/mentor to explore how our SEEDS OF SUCCESS Entrepreneurship Development Assistance Program might be of interest to them as they scale their small business ventures (February, March, and December).

 

• Introducing a multitude of families to our nonprofit organization while passing out snacks and life skill topic brochures during the 2025 Annual YMCA Healthy Kids Day on April 5 at LeBauer Park.

 

• Joining efforts to encourage a love for reading among our youth. In May, our Board Chair, Teresa Gilliard, delivered our donation of thirty-one children’s books (I Want to Be an Artist and Little Daymond Learns to Earn) to the Reverend E. Claude Wilson Academy/Rev. Dr. James A. Webster Elementary School Wing during her mission trip to Liberia, West Africa with the EACH CHILD COUNTS FOUNDATION! OPERATION: SEED, INC., received a $500 gift credit to the FIRST BOOK MARKETPLACE through a Book Wish grant from Pizza Hut and we were excited to share the books with students locally and globally!

 

• Accepting three invitations to facilitate SOW WHAT YOU KNOW Career Exploration, Career Preparation, Resume Building, and Interview Readiness Life Skill Munch & Learn Sessions for teens and young adults in April, August, and November at the High Point YWCA Latino Family Center, the FaithAction International Immigrant & Refugee Services Organization, and the Youth Focus Hearth Transitional Living Program. Our guest presenters were Mrs. Sandra Goldman, HR Professional; and Mrs. Melissa Garcia, GTCC Student Recruiter.

 

• Celebrating two teen entrepreneurs (an apparel design artist in June and a baker in July) on their completion of the business education online components, submission of their business plan, and engagement with their mentor as participants in our SEEDS FOR SUCCESS Entrepreneurship Development Assistance Program. Each teen was honored at their individual celebration…complete with a personalized cake, family and friends, a certificate of achievement, laptop with accessories, backpack with O.S.I. logo, and specific items needed for their business model (purchases covered by the $500 business launch budget per participant). They also participated in an individual fee-sponsored session with Salina Barksdale-Clark, CEO of Salina At-Your-Service LLC Business Consultant Firm; and in a professional attire shopping session at Ross Dress for Less Store where each received $50 in Ross Dress for Less gift cards. These young business owners are progressing in our program while also excelling in school: one as a senior at Dudley High School who also serves as Miss Dudley!; and one as a freshman at North Carolina A&T State University, who completed her first semester with all A’s and B’s! She is also a 2025 James B. Dudley High School graduate!

 

• Participating in the James B. Dudley High School 2024/2025 CTE (Career & Technical Education) and FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) Business/Career Expo on March 20, 2025, where our information table was visited by students who eagerly shared with us about their activities and their aspirations. We met teens who are artists, apparel designers, graphic designers, comic book creators, bakers, and roofers; others who are positioning themselves to be future HVAC technicians, automotive mechanics, nurses, doctors, lawyers, restauranteurs, fighter pilots, engineers, nonprofit founders; several current and future entrepreneurs; and even those who are not quite sure yet what they want to be…but they are brave enough to explore all opportunities. We were impressed and inspired by each one of them!

 

• Scheduling and presenting fourteen SOW WHAT YOU KNOW Life Skill Munch & Learn sessions for more than two hundred and thirty students in CTE, Marketing, Business Management, and Entrepreneurship classes, and Future Business Leaders of America and Beauty & Beyond Cosmetology clubs at the James B. Dudley High School. Topics included: Career Exploration in the Culinary industry, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), Metal/Woodworking Artisanship fields, and Skilled Trades; Financial Literacy, Resume Building, Interview Preparation, Career Readiness, Entrepreneurship, and Marketing. Every session was led by guest presenters who excel in their careers and who have a passion for reaching, teaching, and enriching young people whenever and wherever they find the opportunity to do so. Our SOW WHAT YOU KNOW guest speakers were: Krystal Mims (Professional Chef, Johnson & Wales Graduate, Being Great 501c3 Nonprofit Founder & Executive Director); Jeremiah Jett (Youthful Conversations Podcaster/Producer, Mentor, Motivational Speaker, High Point University Freshman, OPERATION: SEED, INC. 2024 Entrepreneur); Heather Lyons (CUDE/CUCME Marketing Manager – Revity Federal Credit Union); Randi Francis (Executive Director – Nehemiah Community Empowerment Center, Inc.); Joshua Colon (System Admin/STEM Coordinator – Nehemiah Community Empowerment Center, Inc.); Tiffany Jacobs (Executive Director – Forge GSO Makerspace) and her staff of entrepreneurial artisans; Tavores Vanhook (Business Development Manager – Revity Federal Credit Union); Dr. Shayla Hilton (Director of Education and Impact – Triad Junior Achievement); Markez Mills (Lead Teller – M&F Bank); Sherita Gatling (PHR, SHRM-CP, Senior Director Human Resources – Center for Creative Leadership); Haylyn Gallien (Work Based Learning Coordinator NC Works NextGen Emerging Workforce Career Center Guilford County); Sandra Goldman (HR Professional – Federal Government and Banking Industries); Salina Barksdale-Clark (CEO – Salina At-Your Service LLC Business Consulting Service); Frankie T Jones, Jr. (Guilford County Commissioner); and, Brittany Williams (Licensed Cosmetologist and Owner/Operator – Artistry Unlimited Hair Salon, High Point).

 

• Contributing snack items, bottled water, juices, cereal, powdered milk, and school supplies to the classroom food pantries, FBLA Club Food Drive, and the Communities In Schools Supply Closet throughout the school year in support of teachers and Communities In Schools Site Coordinator at the James B. Dudley High School as they continue to ensure that their students have access to life’s necessities and also as they provide opportunities for the students to serve others in and around their community.

 

• Connecting the Airport Marriott General Manager, Megan Weathersbee, to the mission and staff of the James B. Dudley High School and Guilford County Schools Exceptional Children’s program for the purpose of establishing a partnership to provide EC students with community-based hours of actual on-the-job training, which is one component of their graduation requirements. The inaugural group of eight students are enjoying developing their job skills in the hospitality industry; Dudley’s EC staff is grateful for their students to have access to this much-needed opportunity; and the Airport Marriott management and staff teams are appreciative of the students’ dedication and helpfulness, excited to assist the teens prepare for careers, very kind in their engagements, and the chef ensures that they dine sufficiently! A definite win for everyone involved! Ms. Weathersbee facilitated a similar program during her tenure at one of the New York Marriott Hotel locations and is very passionate about the mission to ensure that job opportunities are available to people of all abilities!

 

SHARING A FEW PHOTOS…