BKFK joins Global Entrepreneurship Week/USA to Announce Grand Prize Winner of the Unleash Your Locker Challenge at the New York Stock Exchange

BKFK kid inventor Scott Barnhill, Carl Schram, CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, among others rang the opening bell at the NYSE to celebrate the culmination of Global Entrepreneurship Week/USA and encourage entrepreneurship across America.

New York, NY (Nov. 24, 2008) – As part of Global Entrepreneurship Week/USA, founded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, By Kids For Kids (BKFK) today announced the winner of the Unleash Your Locker Challenge. In celebration of this global initiative encouraging young entrepreneurs throughout the world, Scott Barnhill, a BKFK young inventor and entrepreneur joined Carl Schram, CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, along with other sponsors and supporters of this initiative, in ringing the opening bell at the NYSE to celebrate and encourage entrepreneurship across America and beyond.

BKFK participated in Global Entrepreneurship Week by launching "The Unleash Your Locker Challenge," a unique, no-holds-barred open submission creativity challenge, which was open to all youth between the ages of 5 and 23 in the United States and Canada. Leveraging the power of the BKFK Idea Locker ™ (an online place for kids to innovate and store their ideas), a torrent of ideas were unleashed into the competition, making it one of BKFK's most popular challenges ever.


The winner of BKFK's Unleash Your Locker Challenge is Rhonesha Byng for her social entrepreneurship web portal HerAgenda.com. Rhonesha's well conceived and developed BETA website, HerAgenda.com, encourages women to never lose site of their dreams! Inspired by Rhonesha's own personal philosophy, "No one ever slows her agenda," a comment on her own personal ambition and drive, HerAgenda.com will feature 30 bloggers from a wide range of occupations and will also encourage mentorship between successful women and those just starting out.

Rhonesha is presently attending university in Indiana and was therefore unfortunately unable to personally attend the BKFK/ Global Entrepreneurship Week/USA wrap event in New York.

Rhonesha received a $500 prize for winning the Unleash Your Locker Challenge, and will receive a one day expense-paid visit to an innovative company linked to her passions and interests. This "connection to reality" prize is provided by the Kauffman Foundation.

Norman Goldstein, the founder and CEO of BKFK, commented, "It is an honor to be here at the NYSE today with Scott Barnhill and Carl Schram to celebrate the success of Global Entrepreneurship Week/USA. It is also my pleasure to congratulate Rhonesha Byng for winning the 'Unleash Your Locker Challenge' for her outstanding new website, HerAgenda.com! Today is a vibrant celebration of optimism, entrepreneurship and the ability of the American spirit to innovate and overcome challenges!"

About By Kids For Kids Co.

By Kids for Kids® (BKFK®) is a youth marketing and media company partnering with the world's leading corporations to provide a platform to foster, share, showcase, and commercialize youth innovation and entrepreneurship. Their mission is to inspire, motivate and stimulate the innovative spirit within all young people.

The closely held Stamford, CT-based Corporation has been dedicated to making youth ideas a reality since 2003. Through its website (www.bkfk.com) and its social community (Idea Locker™), online competitions, TV show (Think Big™), Magazine (Possible™), press, and education outreach, the company engages youth in the US and around the world. BKFK® youth-created products are available nationally and serve as a testament to the power of youth innovation and social entrepreneurship.

The BKFK Idea Locker™ is a private online space where youth can create, develop, store and share their ideas. Partially adopting the social networking style now familiar to the target age group, users are able to add friends, chat, share ideas and provide ratings and feedback on ideas that others have decided to share through their "Idea Locker™". This secure personal locker can hold as many ideas as the user can dream up. The Idea Locker™ also includes a mechanism for uploading files such as text, images, audio and video.

More information about the company and its successes helping young innovators, is available online at www.bkfk.com 

About Global Entrepreneurship Week

With the goal to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity, Global Entrepreneurship Week will encourage youth to think big, turn their ideas into reality, and make their mark. From Nov. 17-23, 2008, millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement to generate new ideas and seek better ways of doing things. Thousands of activities are being planned in more than 75 countries around the world. Global Entrepreneurship Week is: founded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Make Your Mark campaign; sponsored by NYSE Euronext, IBM and Ernst & Young; and, supported by JA Worldwide, Endeavor, Entrepreneurs' Organization, DECA, YPO-WPO, National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Young Americas Business Trust, YES - European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs, Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, AIESEC, Youth Employment Services, The Prince's Youth Business International. To view a complete list of participating countries and organizations or to learn more, visit www.unleashingideas.org.

About the Kauffman Foundation

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation http://www.kauffman.org/  is a private nonpartisan foundation that works to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow economies and improve human welfare. Through its research and other initiatives, the Kauffman Foundation aims to open young people's eyes to the possibility of entrepreneurship, promote entrepreneurship education, raise awareness of entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and find alternative pathways for the commercialization of new knowledge and technologies. It also works to prepare students to be innovators, entrepreneurs and skilled workers in the 21st century economy through initiatives designed to improve learning in math, engineering, science and technology. Founded by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, the Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo. and has approximately $2 billion in assets.

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