Changes at "Youth Entrepreneurship Program + “The People’s Design by Community” Fellowship Program"
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Original Idea Voted on by New Yorkers: This project would teach youth how to start a business. Participants would learn financial literacy and management skills. They would create a handbook documenting the process of bringing their idea to life.
\n\nThis project's funding includes $80K in additional funding and facilitation support for the Designed by Community (DxC) Fellowship Program.
\n \n Implementing Organization: Cambio Labs (DxC Fellowship)
\nNeighborhoods: Morningside Heights, Hamilton Heights, Central Harlem
\nFunding Amount: $245,000
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The responses below are directly from the community organizations selected to implement The People’s Money projects.
How does your organization plan to bring this idea to life?
Cambio Labs will bring this project to life by launching a Youth Entrepreneurship Program and Community Design Fellowship based in Harlem’s Polo Grounds Towers. We’ll recruit and train youth and young adults and community leaders as Fellows to lead through design thinking, iterative prototyping, business skills, and civic engagement through hands-on workshops and our Journey digital learning platform.
Working closely with local partners like the Neighborhood Safety Initiative and NYCHA leadership, Fellows will co-design community projects, host pop-up events, and lead problem-solving sessions with residents. The program blends in-person facilitation and mobile learning tools so participants can design and test real ventures in their own neighborhood. A final showcase will celebrate their projects and connect them with mentors, employers, and funding opportunities.
What motivated your organization to apply to implement this idea?
We applied because this project speaks to the core of who we are and why Cambio Labs exists — to give underestimated young people the tools, confidence, and community to design their own futures. Harlem youth already have the ideas and drive to transform their neighborhoods; our role is to help them unlock that potential through entrepreneurship, design, and civic engagement.
Our team brings deep roots in this work. Richard “D-cal” Dacalos, our Director of Product and Innovation, has spent nearly two decades teaching youth how to turn local challenges into opportunities through social entrepreneurship and community design. His passion for building spaces where creativity and justice meet has inspired hundreds of young changemakers around the world. Edwin Mauricio Olivera, a leader in human-centered and participatory design, brings expertise in co-creating programs with marginalized communities—ensuring accessibility, trauma-informed facilitation, and genuine inclusion at every step.
Together, our team has led 30+ entrepreneurship and workforce programs serving over 700 learners citywide. We’ve co-designed programs with NYCHA residents, Harlem youth, and Bronx students, earning recognition from the New York State Senate and the Civic Engagement Commission. What makes us uniquely qualified isn’t just our track record—it’s our approach.
We don’t arrive with a blueprint; we build with the community, listen deeply, and create pathways that last long after the grant period ends.
This project is a natural next step in our mission to make innovation and opportunity belong to everyone—starting with Harlem’s young visionaries.
How do you think this project will make a difference in your community?
We believe community-led and community-driven initiatives are both effective and impactful. By empowering and enabling these young visionaries to develop projects and businesses of their own and having conversations with their community to drive their designs, we believe that the problems they identify and eventually the solutions they create will be the most timely and relevant to the needs of the neighborhood.
List at least one thing you're excited about related to this project!
We are incredibly excited about the co-design and co-creation process. Community is at the heart of this project and it is the community that is truly going to make it happen.
How can someone participate or stay up to date on the project?
People can learn more about the project and see updates by visiting our website: http://cambiolabs.org and follow us on our social media platforms.
Subscribe to Cambio Labs' Newsletter for updates as our Fellows’ journey unfolds!Website: www.cambiolabs.org
"]
Instagram: @cambiolabs
Facebook: @cambiolabs
LinkedIn: @cambiolabs
Twitter/X: @cambiolabs - \n
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+["
- \n
- \n
Original Idea Voted on by New Yorkers: This project would teach youth how to start a business. Participants would learn financial literacy and management skills. They would create a handbook documenting the process of bringing their idea to life.
\n\nThis project's funding includes $80K in additional funding and facilitation support for the Designed by Community (DxC) Fellowship Program.
\n \n Implementing Organization: Cambio Labs (DxC Fellowship)
\nNeighborhoods: Morningside Heights, Hamilton Heights, Central Harlem
\nFunding Amount: $245,000
\n
The responses below are directly from the community organizations selected to implement The People’s Money projects.
How does your organization plan to bring this idea to life?
Cambio Labs will bring this project to life by launching a Youth Entrepreneurship Program and Community Design Fellowship based in Harlem’s Polo Grounds Towers. We’ll recruit and train youth and young adults and community leaders as Fellows to lead with design thinking, iterative prototyping, business skills, and civic engagement through hands-on workshops and our Journey digital learning platform.
Working closely with local partners like the Neighborhood Safety Initiative and NYCHA leadership, Fellows will co-design community projects, host pop-up events, and lead problem-solving sessions with residents. The program blends in-person facilitation and mobile learning tools so participants can design and test real ventures in their own neighborhood. A final showcase will celebrate their projects and connect them with mentors, employers, and funding opportunities.
What motivated your organization to apply to implement this idea?
We applied because this project speaks to the core of who we are and why Cambio Labs exists — to give underestimated young people the tools, confidence, and community to design their own futures. Harlem youth already have the ideas and drive to transform their neighborhoods; our role is to help them unlock that potential through entrepreneurship, design, and civic engagement.
Our team brings deep roots in this work. Richard “D-cal” Dacalos, our Director of Product and Innovation, has spent nearly two decades teaching youth how to turn local challenges into opportunities through social entrepreneurship and community design. His passion for building spaces where creativity and justice meet has inspired hundreds of young changemakers around the world. Edwin Mauricio Olivera, a leader in human-centered and participatory design, brings expertise in co-creating programs with marginalized communities—ensuring accessibility, trauma-informed facilitation, and genuine inclusion at every step.
Together, our team has led 30+ entrepreneurship and workforce programs serving over 700 learners citywide. We’ve co-designed programs with NYCHA residents, Harlem youth, and Bronx students, earning recognition from the New York State Senate and the Civic Engagement Commission. What makes us uniquely qualified isn’t just our track record—it’s our approach.
We don’t arrive with a blueprint; we build with the community, listen deeply, and create pathways that last long after the grant period ends.
This project is a natural next step in our mission to make innovation and opportunity belong to everyone—starting with Harlem’s young visionaries.
How do you think this project will make a difference in your community?
We believe community-led and community-driven initiatives are both effective and impactful. By empowering and enabling these young visionaries to develop projects and businesses of their own and having conversations with their community to drive their designs, we believe that the problems they identify and eventually the solutions they create will be the most timely and relevant to the needs of the neighborhood.
List at least one thing you're excited about related to this project!
We are incredibly excited about the co-design and co-creation process. Community is at the heart of this project and it is the community that is truly going to make it happen.
How can someone participate or stay up to date on the project?
People can learn more about the project and see updates by visiting our website: http://cambiolabs.org and follow us on our social media platforms.
Subscribe to Cambio Labs' Newsletter for updates as our Fellows’ journey unfolds!Website: www.cambiolabs.org
"]
Instagram: @cambiolabs
Facebook: @cambiolabs
LinkedIn: @cambiolabs
Twitter/X: @cambiolabs - \n
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