By Matt Larson Movin’ On Up Herban Movement has taken students from Hercules High to D.C. and back! Emerging from the students of hercules high school is the herban Movement, a 100% studentgoverned company comprised of individuals who are dedicated to impacting the world for the better. With a legitimate business plan, complete with bylaws, they’ve already accomplished quite a lot in a short amount of time, having only been established in 2014. this past year, the students of herban Movement created two (now sold out) products for sale: herban Dishes, a unique encyclopedia/ cookbook hybrid researched and compiled by the students, and Project gaia, a line of reusable multipurpose bags created to lessen the pollution of plastic bags on earth and increase environmental awareness. note: these products have been discontinued with the end of last year’s class. herban Dishes Volume ii is planned to come, keep checking their website (mentioned below) for updates. Recently herban Movement has gained some national exposure. after earning “Best Business Plan” and “Best Commercial” at the 2015 Junior achievement of northern California Company of the Year Competition, they were invited to represent northern California in June of this year at the 2015 Junior achievement national student Leadership summit in Washington D.C. where they competed against 14 other student-run companies from across the nation. and they won. “i am pleased to announce that herban Movement received the Microsoft social innovation award,” said tiffany gonzales, human Resources Department President for herban Movement. “this award was given to the team who successfully demonstrated how their company applied entrepreneurial thinking to create a realistic, achievable and innovative solution to a local, national, or global social concern,” she said. “it was a great honor to us to have been chosen as the winner.” herban Movement was created as part of hercules high school’s academy of hospitality and international tourism (ahit) program after receiving funding from the Ed Fund grants Program—for more information on the Ed Fund, or West Contra Costa Public Education Fund, please visit the Marketplace website and search for it in the november 2014 issue. herban Movement now provides over 100 students with the necessary business skills to make for a successful career in today’s world. and the success has already begun. “i’ve seen our products travel from little hercules, Ca to switzerland and australia; that alone makes me proud to be a member,” said gonzales. “herban Movement offers hands-on work experience that a classroom cannot justify.” Electing officials, devising a business plan…if only all of us could have had such an experience in high school. students have been able to shadow employees 54 MARKETPLACEcontrac osta .com august 2015
Contra Costa Marketplace - Aug 2015
To see the actual publication please follow the link above