OpportuniME has its first major partner

OpportuniME, a startup founded by Charter School of Wilmington senior (and occasional Technical.ly Delaware guest poster) Miracle Olatunji, has secured its first major partnership, with the Washington, D.C.-based Creator Institute.

Founded by entrepreneur and Georgetown University professor Eric Koester, the Creator Institute has helped dozens of college students publish books. Partnered with OpportuniME, which connects high school students to impactful opportunities, pre-college students will have the same shot at authorship.

Olatunji first connected with the Creator Institute when Koester held a Facebook webinar about the project for the Next Gen Summit, a community of young entrepreneurs she’s a member of.

“I instantly loved his philosophy of helping students experience the entrepreneurial process through book writing and creation,” Olatunji said. “He says that you don’t have to be an entrepreneur to be entrepreneurial. Another thing he says is that instead of borrowing your credibility from a prestigious university or workplace, you can create your own credibility by creating: book, podcast, event, startup — anything you want.”

She added: “I sent him an email after the webinar expressing my desire to write a book, and he followed up on my email and we talked on the phone a few days later. It was an awesome conversation! He talked about the idea of us starting a first-ever high school author program, told me to think about us doing it and how we could make it work. Then a few days later, after crafting a plan of executing on this goal, we decided we’re going to make it happen this summer.”

The first cohort of the program will begin this summer with space for about 10 students initially, though it will eventually open up to about 25 students in total. The virtual program will cost $6,000, which covers all needs from start to publication. Two full scholarships will be provided to students with financial need, Olatunji said.

“Students will spend a 12-week period from the first week of June through last week of August getting professional guidance in writing their manuscript,” said Olatunji. “From there, there will be a short break, then Phase 2, where students will focus on revising their manuscript, work with a team of designers to create covers and interior layouts and develop a launch plan. The books will be published by January 2019, followed by a launch party to celebrate.”

Once the books are published, students will craft strategies for launching them in a way that helps them achieve personal goals, whether it’s landing a dream job, getting paid for their knowledge through speaking or consulting or creating new opportunities for themselves.