Page 16 - Abacoa Community News - April '22

Page 16, Abacoa

FAU Features from page 14 The Kenan Social Engagement Program is now in the 10th Since its inception in 2014, FAU Tech Runway has helped
FAU’s Kenan Social year of operation and continues to be funded by a grant and launch more than 137 early-stage companies, creating 642
endowment by the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust.
jobs and 200 internships; employing 140 FAU students;
For more information on the program, visit www.fau.edu/
Engagement Program honors/visitors/kenan-social-engagement-program.php. earning more than $278.4 million in revenue; and raising
more than $133.8 million in investment capital.
Announces Scholarship The deadline to enter this year’s Launch Competition
Winners For 2022 FAU Tech Runway Launch is Sunday, April 17. For more information on FAU Tech
Runway, visit fau.edu/techrunway.
Applications Now Being
By Bethany Alex Did COVID-19 Make
Florida Atlantic University’s Wilkes Honors College (WHC) Accepted
is pleased to announce the 2022 Kenan Social Engagement Tinnitus, “Ringing” In The
Program scholarship recipients. This year’s Kenan Scholars – By Lisa Metcalf
Andrea Carey, Matthew Pacheco and Morgan Balsey – were FAU Tech Runway Ears, Worse?
®
chosen through a competitive selection process to launch social is now accepting
ventures that they conceptualized and planned in the fall 2021 applications for By Gisele Galoustian
semester in a social entrepreneurship course taught by program this year ’s Launch Tinnitus, most often described as “ringing” in the ears
co-directors Timothy Steigenga, Ph.D., professor of political Competition, which even though no external sound is present, also can be
science at WHC, and Christopher Strain, Ph.D., professor of helps turn game- perceived as humming, hissing, buzzing or roaring sounds.
American studies at WHC. changing business ideas into thriving companies. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control
Andrea Carey, an This year, there will be two application cycles – both and Prevention (CDC), more than 50 million Americans
undergraduate student spring and fall – for the year-long program. The winners experience some form of tinnitus – two million have extreme
studying political science, will join the next venture class program at FAU Tech and debilitating cases. Worldwide, about 30 percent of people
is the winner of a $10,000 Runway, which puts startups and entrepreneurs on the will experience tinnitus at some point in their life.
seed grant for her venture, fast track to training, instruction, team-based mentoring, Many individuals impacted by COVID-19 experienced
“Students 4 Scholarships.” networking, marketing and capital-raising assistance, co- changes in their sense of smell, taste, hearing, balance
Students 4 Scholarships working space, events and intern support. and, in some cases, tinnitus. Among the various causes
addresses the struggles that “Successful completion of this program has been a of tinnitus is stress, including tension, anxiety and
students in low-income catalyst to propel budding entrepreneurs and startups to depression. What’s unclear, however, is whether the
communities face in finding the next level,” said Jessica Beaver, associate director psychological impacts of the pandemic such as stress
scholarships and other funding of FAU Tech Runway. “It’s the continued success of the actually worsened tinnitus and its impacts.
opportunities needed to attend venture class graduates that encouraged Tech Runway to
college. The venture utilizes a extend a second entry round to applicants.” FAU Features on page 17
tiered fee system for assisting high school students in creating
winning scholarship applications, providing essay writing and
worked with teammates, Breana Hanley and Alice Brossard, to Experience Dentistry with a Woman’s Touch
individualized instruction in students’ areas of need. Carey

write and pitch the winning business plan for 2022.
Matthew Pacheco
received $2,500 in startup Cosmetic & Comprehensive Restorative Dentistry
funding for his team’s venture,
“Tutor it Forward.” Tutor State of the Art & Same Day Restorations
it Forward is a one-for-one
tutoring service that exists Nitrous Oxide/Oxygen Sedation Available
to democratize tutoring and
break the long-lasting impacts
of poverty on students in Palm Joanne Green, D.D.S.
Beach County. Pacheco is
a fourth-year neuroscience 10887 N. Military Trail, Suite 6
student who plans to graduate Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
this spring and focus on
research endeavors at the Max Planck Florida Institute for (561) 622-2815 • www.joannegreendds.com
Neuroscience (MPFI).
Morgan Balsley also Medical College of Virginia School of Dentistry - Cum Laude
received $2,500 in startup Hospital of the University of Penn - General Practice Residency Training
funding for her venture, Harvard Dental School - Former Instructor
“A Market for Change.” A Boston Brigham and Women’s Dental Group - Staff Dentist
Market for Change works
to place undergraduate
students with nonprofit
organizations, in internship-
type positions, to enhance
their profile and promote
their mission. The venture
seeks to provide training
and experience to students
interested in marketing, filling a need for financially
stretched nonprofit organizations. Balsley is a sophomore
pursuing a double major in business and psychology. She
intends to pursue a career in marketing after she completes
a master’s degree in a related discipline.
Each year, the Kenan Social Engagement Program
enters agreements with nonprofit community partners where
students engage in academic service-learning opportunities.
As part of this program, students write business plans for
their own ventures, or for ventures tailored to serve the
mission of the community partners.
Community partners that have participated in the Kenan
Social Engagement Program include: the El Sol Neighborhood
Resource Center, a day-labor center founded to aid the
immigrant community in northern Palm Beach County; The
Lord’s Place, a nonprofit, nonsectarian organization dedicated to
breaking the cycle of homelessness in Palm Beach County; the
Palm Beach County Food Bank, which provides food for area
food pantries and soup kitchens; the Town of Jupiter; Easterseals
Florida, a national organization that provides community-based
services for people with disabilities; Mind & Melody, which
implements uniquely designed music therapy programs for
clients with neurological impairments at health care facilities,
nursing homes, day centers, and assisted living facilities; Path
to College, a mentoring program designed to help at-risk kids
apply to college; Quantum House, a home that lessens the
burden for families with children who are receiving treatment
for severe medical conditions; and Busch Wildlife, a wildlife
rehabilitation and environmental education organization.