Carol Decina, our Community and Customer Manager for Staten Island, was a judge for the Staten Island Chamber Investor Panel for the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!), an annual event for promising student entrepreneurs.

“Our long-standing partnership with the Staten Island Chamber is truly valued, and it was an honor to serve as a panel judge on this exciting competition.  The YEA! Program and its annual competition, which mirrors ‘Shark Tank,’ allows young students to showcase their business skills and ideas,” says Carol.  “Emilee Jospey hit it out of the park with her M-Tech ClearSmiles biodegradable surgical mask, that has a clear panel for communication purposes with autistic and hard of hearing patients.  Truly innovative!”

National Grid was a sponsor of the Investor Panel, which is an extracurricular program sponsored by the Staten Island Chamber Foundation.  The panel provides an opportunity for Staten Island high school students to present their business plans before local business leaders and the public. 

Each of the seven student participants received business development funding.  Emilee was the overall winner, she will go on to participate in the national YEA! event to compete for college scholarships and prizes.

This is the seventh year of the Investor Panel and the first time it was presented virtually due to the pandemic and the need for social distancing.  The event was streamed live across YouTube, Facebook and the Staten Island Chamber’s website.  The event can be viewed in its entirety here. 

Read more about the event in the Staten Island Advance.

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