The SFLHCC in a partnership with Southwest Airlines, Capital Bank, TD Bank and Coca Cola partner to offer Miami-Dade County Public School high school students an opportunity to participate in an essay contest. The Education Enhancement Fellowship Program was designed in 2003 for disadvantaged minority high school students of Miami -Dade County Public Schools. Applicants are selected by a committee after submitting essay and undergoing a personal interview with the organization’s selection committee. The winners receive an opportunity to travel to an out-of-state conference with all expenses paid. These students must demonstrate a commitment to hard work and study. The fellowship program handles all expenses for selected students to attend several conferences with top speakers from big corporations in different states of the nation. The objective is to facilitate relationships between the business leaders and the students. In these out-of-state workshops with top company executives, students learn the basic steps to becoming business leaders and community builders by learning how to engage and contribute to the continuous growth and revitalization of their respective communities. The fellows later, once in Miami, attend workshops to speak about their experiences before the leadership of the organization demonstrating the personal and educational growth experienced. These students are provided with the necessary tools to see what it is like to be in the real business world. In the last 16 years, 190 students have benefitted from this program. Companies such as Facebook and Microsoft in Seattle have hosted students as well as Macy’s in New York, Comcast in Philadelphia and Coca Cola in Atlanta, among others. The purpose of this program is to expose students to uniquely successful business leaders and to show them different models for business achievement.
