Sponsors
BKFK works closely with sponsors that wish to promote and support the Innovative spirit and Inventiveness in kids. This can be in the form of participation in major activities or select activities consistent with the sponsor’s goals. To initiate a discussion on sponsorship involvement, please email us at sponsors@bkfk.com.
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Baltimore Orioles The Orioles have a long history of supporting the children of Maryland through community outreach programs promoting literacy and making kids' dreams come true. The team and it's owners are committed to improving the lives of children throughout the state. baltimore.orioles.mlb.com |
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Baltimore Ravens The Ravens are heavily committed to making a difference in the Baltimore community and beyond. On and off the field, the team strives to maintain a high level of excellence and dedication. Community outreach plays an important role in the goals of the organization and, through service activities focusing on youth, among others, the team strives to get everyone involved. www.baltimoreravens.com |
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Best Buy Best Buy is the world’s largest specialty consumer electronics retailer and also an innovative, Fortune 100 company. Since its inception in 1966, Best Buy has grown steadily and enhanced its business through inspired innovations. With over 1,300 stores and growing, Best Buy offers the entertainment and technology solutions that meet customers' needs, end-to-end. www.bestbuy.com |
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CosmoGIRL! CosmoGIRL! empowers and inspires young women to be leaders in all aspects of their lives. Teens can interact with the brand on the digital front, with CosmoGIRL.com, CosmoGIRL! mobile (m.cosmogirl.com), and an original webisode series covering up-and-coming fashion designers. The CosmoGIRL! magazine was published from 1999 until 2008 by Hearst Magazines, a unit of Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com) and one of the world's largest publishers of monthly magazines, with nearly 200 editions around the world. www.cosmogirl.com |
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The Daily Record Created nearly 120 years ago, The Daily Record newspaper has evolved, but it has never abandoned the original objective of delivering accurate, timely and insightful news coverage and related information about and for Maryland's business, legal and political communities. mddailyrecord.com |
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Design Squad | WGBH | PBS DESIGN SQUAD is a reality competition show aimed at kids and people of all ages who like reality or how-to television. Its goal is to get viewers excited about engineering! Over 13 episodes, eight high school contestants tackle engineering challenges for real world clients—from creating cardboard furniture projects for IKEA to designing a gravity bike (no pedals or cranks!) for Extreme Game champion Tom Whalen. In the final episode, the top two scorers battle for the Grand Prize—a $10,000 college scholarship from the Intel® Foundation. The Design Squad Web site goes “behind the scenes” with cast interviews, photos, outtakes, and the inside scoop on each Design Squad challenge. Online, visitors can watch full-length streams of Design Squad episodes, share their thoughts, and learn more about the role of engineers in society. www.pbs.org/designsquad |
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Edison Venture Fund Leading the Mid-Atlantic region in private equity investments, Edison venture Fund has invested in over 151 companies. Founded in 1986, Edison Venture manages over $550 million, raised six funds and has created market capitalization surpassing $5 billion. Edison contributes to building successful companies earning superior returns for the entrepreneur, investors and key contributors. www.edisonventure.com |
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Electronic Arts Inc. Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. EA develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. As a leader in casual gaming and a supporter of youth innovation, EA is a proud sponsor of the 2009 Invent A Game Challenge and GameActive with Best Buy, UIA, and By Kids For Kids. www.ea.com/ |
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FDOC
The Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) is an executive agency of the Florida government charged with the marketing, research and regulation of the Florida citrus industry. Its mission is to grow the market for the Florida citrus industry in order to enhance the economic well-being of the Florida citrus grower, the citrus industry and the State of Florida.
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IDEO IDEO helps organizations innovate through design. Independently ranked by global business leaders as one of the world's most innovative companies, IDEO has contributed to the design and development of many standard-setting innovations, including the first mouse (for Apple Computer) and the world’s first notebook computer (for GrID Computer). Other noted product successes include the Palm V, the Handspring Treo, Polaroid’s i-Zone instant camera, Zyliss kitchen tools, and Oral-B’s soft-grip kids’ toothbrushes. More recently, as an increasing number of social issues enter the boardroom, IDEO’s work has addressed such themes as sustainability, the design of communities, health and wellness, and enterprise for people in the world’s lowest income group. www.ideo.com |
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Intel The Intel Foundation has been developing and funding educational and charitable programs since 1989. Its mission is to advance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education to fuel tomorrow's innovators, with a particular focus on inspiring women and under-represented minorities to be full participants in these fields. The Foundation, funded solely by donations from Intel Corporation, supports Intel employee volunteerism and philanthropy as part of Intel's efforts to be a good corporate citizen both locally and globally. www.intel.com/education |
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JAKKS Pacific® JAKKS Pacific is a leading toy and consumer products company with a diverse product portfolio and customer base. We focus on traditional products and play patterns, and incorporate classic and popular brands, as well as simple innovation and technology, to make them appealing to today’s sophisticated kids and consumers of all ages. www.jakks.com |
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K12 Inc. K12 Inc., a technology-based education company, and the nation’s leading provider of proprietary curriculum and online education programs to students in kindergarten through high school. K12 provides its curriculum and academic services to online schools, traditional classrooms, blended school programs, and directly to families. K12 has delivered over one million semester courses to students worldwide. Currently, more than 55,000 students in 21 states are enrolled in online public schools that use the K12 program. K12’s mission is to provide any child the curriculum and tools to maximize success in life, regardless of geographic, financial, or demographic circumstances. More information can be found at www.K12.com |
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Marathon Oil Corporation Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) is an integrated international energy company engaged in exploration and production; oil sands mining; integrated gas; and refining, marketing and transportation. Marathon, which is based in Houston, Texas, has operations in the United States, Angola, Canada, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, IKR (Iraqi Kurdistan Region), Libya, Norway, Poland and the United Kingdom. Marathon is the fourth largest United States-based integrated oil company and the nation's fifth largest refiner. www.marathon.com |
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Mattel, Inc. Mattel, Inc., (NYSE: MAT) is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys and family products, including Barbie®, the most popular fashion doll ever created. The Mattel family is comprised of such best-selling brands as Hot Wheels®, Matchbox®, American Girl® and Tyco® R/C, as well as Fisher-Price brands, including Little People®, Rescue Heroes®, Power Wheels® and a wide array of entertainment-inspired toy lines. With worldwide headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., Mattel employs more than 25,000 people in 42 countries and sells products in more than 150 nations throughout the world. The Mattel vision is to be the world's premier toy brands -- today and tomorrow. www.mattel.com |
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Nucor
With a production capacity that exceeds 26 million tons, Nucor is the largest producer of steel in the United States. Nucor is also the world's foremost steel recycler, and one of the largest recyclers of any kind.
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Piczo Piczo empowers teens worldwide to creatively express themselves, build personal communities, and share ideas and experiences with their friends in a safe online environment. Piczo's customizable content, colorful graphics, glitter text, video, and photo tools spotlight member creativity without requiring technical skills. www.piczo.com |
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Scholastic Scholastic is a global leader in children’s brands and distribution, with nearly 10,000 employees worldwide. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, feature film, videos and toys. Scholastic distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, retail stores, schools, libraries and television networks; and Scholastic.com. www.scholastic.com |
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Sears, Roebuck and Co. Sears, Roebuck and Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq: SHLD), is a leading broadline retailer providing merchandise and related services. Sears, Roebuck offers its wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through more than 2,300 Sears-branded and affiliated stores in the United States and Canada, which includes approximately 929 full-line and approximately 1,200 specialty stores in the U.S. Sears, Roebuck also offers a variety of merchandise and services through sears.com, landsend.com, and specialty catalogs. Sears, Roebuck offers consumers leading proprietary brands including Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard and Lands' End -- among the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S. Sears, Roebuck is the 2010 ENERGY STAR® Retail Partner of the Year. The company is the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 12 million service calls made annually. www.sears.com |
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Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of military and commercial helicopters; fixed-wing aircraft; spare parts and maintenance, repair and overhaul services for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft; and civil helicopter operations.
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Sports Authority, Inc. Headquartered in Englewood, CO, Sports Authority is one of the nation's largest full-line sporting goods retailers, offering a comprehensive and high-quality assortment of brand-name sporting apparel and equipment at competitive prices. www.sportsauthority.com |
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Staples Staples, Inc. invented the office superstore concept in 1986 and today is the world's largest office products company. With 69,000 talented associates, the company is committed to making it easy to buy a wide range of office products, including supplies, technology, furniture, and business services. With 2005 sales of $16.1 billion, Staples serves consumers and businesses ranging from home-based businesses to Fortune 500 companies in 21 countries throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. Headquartered outside of Boston, Staples operates more than 1,800 office superstores and also serves its customers through mail order catalog, e-commerce and contract businesses. www.staples.com |
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TESSCO Technologies Incorporated TESSCO Technologies Incorporated supplies the technology & product solutions needed to design, build, run, maintain or use wireless systems. TESSCO has a long-standing history and commitment of supporting the education of technology, science, and innovation. |
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Tommy Hilfiger The Tommy Hilfiger brand combines fresh American style with unique details to give time-honored classics an updated look for customers who desire high quality, designer apparel at competitive prices under the following labels: Tommy Hilfiger, Hilfiger Denim, Tommy Jeans, and Hilfiger Sport. It's international and core businesses include approximately 40 product licenses and 10 geographic licenses worldwide, through which a broad array of related apparel, accessories, footwear, fragrance and home furnishings are offered and distributed. www.tommy.com |
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Toys"R"Us For more than 60 years, Toys"R"Us has been a favorite destination for kids and grown-ups alike with its impressive assortment of toys, games, sporting goods, electronics, software, baby products, children’s apparel and juvenile furniture. With nearly 600 stores throughout the United States, Toys"R"Us offers an unparalleled selection of new toys, old favorites, Toys"R"Us exclusives and many other great values under one roof. With knowledgeable and toy-trained staff members always ready to help customers, Toys"R"Us is THE authority when it comes to finding the perfect toy. Toys"R"Us, Inc. is the world’s leading dedicated toy and baby products retailer, with a strong portfolio of e-commerce sites including Toysrus.com, Babiesrus.com, eToys.com, FAO.com and babyuniverse.com http://www.toysrus.com/ |
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The Weather Channel Kids Theweatherchannelkids.com is a Web site created by The Weather Channel to empower, inspire and amaze kids about the power of weather with materials, visuals, resources, projects and ideas that are fun and educational at the same time. Designed to bridge the gap between entertainment and education for the millennial generation, theweatherchannelkids.com provides science-based curriculum along with fun, learning-based activities. www.theweatherchannelkids.com |
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Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, L.L.P Whiteford, Taylor's & Preston's patent and other technology and intellectual property lawyers work closely with inventors to help them protect and leverage their ideas and innovations and succeed. Blending vision and passion with knowledge and experience, we strive to provide not mere answers to narrow legal questions but creative business solutions that work in the real world. |
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Xerox Corporation Xerox Corporation (NYSE:XRX) is a $15.7 billion technology and services enterprise that helps businesses deploy smarter document management strategies and find better ways to work, providing the document industry's broadest portfolio of offerings. Digital systems include color and black-and-white printing and publishing systems, digital presses and “book factories,” multifunction devices, laser and solid ink network printers, copiers and fax machines. Xerox's services expertise is unmatched and includes helping businesses develop online document archives, analyzing how employees can most efficiently share documents and knowledge in the office, operating in-house print shops or mailrooms, and building Web-based processes for personalizing direct mail, invoices, brochures and more. www.xerox.com |
Non-Profit Foundation Partners
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Amazing Kids! Amazing Kids! is a children's educational non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring excellence in children and helping them realize their amazing potential. Their groundbreaking "Launch My Dream!" initiative is helping to identify youth with high potential and a big vision and dream for their own amazing futures, by gathering the resources they'll need to launch those dreams. Their award-winning website features inspiring "Amazing Kids! of the Month" stories, the Amazing Kids! PenPals program, a literacy-based traditional letter writing pen pal program matching children with pen pals from around the world, and the Amazing Kids! eZine, an online magazine written entirely by kids and teens. www.amazing-kids.org |
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BizWorld Foundation The mission of The BizWorld Foundation is to challenge and engage children across the cultural and economic spectrum through experiential learning programs that teach the basics of business, entrepreneurship and money management and promote teamwork and leadership in the classroom. From initial funding, to marketing campaigns, and financial statements, the program allows students to not only understand how business works, but enables them to experience it first-hand. The BizWorld Foundation programs have reached over 170,000 students in all fifty states and eighty-four countries. www.bizworld.org |
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DoSomething.org Do Something makes it possible for teens to change the world. DoSomething.org is a trusted resource for teenagers who want to make a difference. By leveraging communications technologies, we enable teens to convert their energy and ideas into positive action. You want to make a difference? We can help. Listen up, speak out, and take action. www.dosomething.org |
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Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation |
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NIFB Young Entrepreneur Foundation The NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation promotes the lessons of free enterprise in the classroom and hopes to build the next generation of small-business owners and entrepreneurs. The mission of the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation is to educate young people about the critical role of small business, the American free-enterprise system and to help students interested in small business and entrepreneurship further their education. Programs available for free include the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Awards, a scholarship program for high school seniors, and Entrepreneur-in-the-Classroom, free curriculum to help teach entrepreneurship to any classroom regardless of discipline. www.nfib.com |
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NYSE Foundation The NYSE Foundation directs its philanthropic resources to innovative and effective organizations, programs and projects that meet community needs within its priority areas of funding: Financial Literacy Education; Developing Economic Opportunity; and Entrepreneurship. The Foundation seeks to address the needs of communities in all areas of the globe where NYSE Euronext maintains a business presence and funds both new and proven charitable endeavors that confer a broad public benefit. www.nysefoundation.org |
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Pearson Foundation The Pearson Foundation helps people of all ages to get the most out of their lives; they educate, entertain, and inform millions around the world every day. Pearson extends the company's commitment to education in partnership with non-profit and public interest organizations. They partner with leading businesses and civic organizations to support students and teachers and to sponsor community-based education programs across the globe, and is now the proud sponsor of the Digital Arts Challenge. www.pearsonfoundation.org |
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United Inventors Association UIA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, founded in 1990. Information and educational materials are free and open to the public. Additional in-depth materials and services are available to members on the members-only sections of this site. UIA members include: national and international inventor groups, individual inventors, entrepreneurs, academia, commercial enterprises, service providers and non-profit companies. BKFK is proud to be associated with United Inventors Association in connection with the implementation of invention competitions and educational initiatives for children. www.uiausa.com |
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University of Maryland, Baltimore County UMBC is a medium-sized public research university of 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students who collaborate with faculty to address real-world challenges. Located just south of Baltimore near I-95 and the BWI airport, UMBC's residential campus houses state-of-the-art facilities in the sciences, engineering, arts, social sciences and humanities. UMBC combines the energy of a research university with the close community feel and attention to individual students found in liberal arts colleges. www.umbc.edu |
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Young Inventors International BKFK is pleased to be associated with this vibrant international network of innovators and entrepreneurs under the age of 35. Young Inventors teaches and connects youth to assist them with bringing new ideas to market. www.younginventors.org |
