Pairing knowledge with charity


NEW SKILLS—Students learn about entrepreneurship on Aug. 4. Courtesy of Anu Venkatesh

NEW SKILLS—Students learn about entrepreneurship on Aug. 4. Courtesy of Anu Venkatesh

Fifty middle and high school students participated in a summer entrepreneurship workshop hosted by members of the Sankara Eye Foundation in Simi Valley earlier this month.

The nonprofit founded in 1998 provides free surgeries to people in need who have curable blindness.

Attendees at the Aug. 4 workshop, which took place at the Simi Valley Senior Center, learned about finances, sales and marketing skills needed to open a startup company.

The event hosts were Krishna Kandury, a senior at Oak Park High School; Pranav Pomalapally, a senior at Westlake High and current youth president of the local Sankara Eye Foundation chapter; Akshaya Venkatesh, a Chaminade graduate who now attends Rice University in Houston; and Jagan Rangarajan, a Westlake High grad who is set to study at UCLA. They made interactive presentations on designing logos, fixing product prices, projecting growth and about the strategies some major companies use to grow their business.

Through the workshop, organizers raised $1,500 for the Sankara Eye Foundation. To learn more about the foundation, visit giftofvision.org.