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Students > Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Competition

7th Annual Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Competition


Montgomery County Teens Named Youth Entrepreneurs of the Year
by Ernst & Young and Junior Achievement

2010 Youth Entrepreneurs Wendy Cai and Kristy Choi at the
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards program.

Washington, DC (June 16, 2010) – Wendy Cai and Kristy Choi, juniors at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, MD, were named Youth Entrepreneurs of the Year for the Greater Washington Region by Ernst & Young and Junior Achievement of the National Capital Area. Wendy and Kristy, who are 16 and 17, respectively, were honored for founding Codi’s Hats, a non-profit organization that creates and provides hats to children staying at hospitals and treatment centers.

The two founded Codi’s Hats in 2009 in loving memory of their friend Codi Alexander, who was just 16 when she was struck by a car while bicycling to work. During the five days she spent in the hospital before her death, Codi’s friends came to understand the fear and sadness that come with having a youth hospitalized. Wendy and Kristy began Codi’s Hats out of compassion for the suffering of others and the belief that the joy of charity could help them heal.

In the past year, the organization has mobilized over 200 volunteers to create kid-friendly, safe, creative, and quality head coverings for children fighting cancer and other serious life-threatening illnesses. They then donate the hats to hospitals and treatment centers across the US. For the volunteers of Codi’s Hats, this small gesture signifies great hope and admiration for the young patients and their families. Codi’s Hats is funded solely by donations, and volunteers are recruited via the organization’s website, Facebook, and word-of-mouth. To learn more about Codi’s Hats, visit www.codishats.org.

“Wendy and Kristy have demonstrated both tremendous compassion and entrepreneurial spirit by founding this organization in Codi’s honor,” said Ed Grenier, President and CEO of Junior Achievement. “We are very pleased to partner with Ernst & Young to recognize Wendy and Kristy with this award.”

This year was the seventh time the Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Award has been offered in the Greater Washington Region. Kristy and Wendy were chosen from among numerous teen applicants for the honor, which includes a $1,000 award from Ernst & Young and Junior Achievement, as well as recognition at Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards and the Washington Business Hall of Fame.

About The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Awards Program
The Entrepreneur Of The Year® awards program was created and is produced by professional services firm Ernst & Young LLP. As the first award of its kind, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic and growing businesses. The program honors entrepreneurs through regional, national and global award programs in over 100 cities and 35 countries.

About Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 130,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve potential. For more information, please visit www.ey.com.

About Junior Achievement
Junior Achievement is the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to educating students in grades K-12 about entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs. JA’s programs help prepare young people for the real world by showing them how to generate wealth and effectively manage it, how to create jobs which make their communities more robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace. Today Junior Achievement annually reaches more than nine million students worldwide and more than 40,000 in the Greater Washington Region. For more information, please visit www.myJA.org.


For more information, please contact David Bing, Director, Operations, at (202) 777-4475 or David.Bing@JA.org.

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