Calling all Native entrepreneurs (or those that want to be!)

We are launching a two-day, in-person bootcamp to help you develop a viable business model, refine it, and then create and market the business. We’ll dive into getting customers, financial modeling, and setting goals within your business. After the four sessions, you’ll have a plan to take action!

The Bootcamp utilizes the CO.STARTERS platform and curriculum. CO.STARTERS is a global support network that equips communities with proven programs to empower local entrepreneurs. IDRS is proud to be one of the pioneering organizations in the US to bring CO.STARTERS to Indian Country. Participants in the Bootcamp will receive a CO.STARTERS manual, access to their online community of like-minded entrepreneurs, a chance to win prizes, and snacks!

The IDRS Acorn Project, in partnership with the Reno Sparks Indian Colony and the Inter-tribal Council of Nevada, will present CO.STARTERS Bootcamp on Thursday and Friday, April 11th and 12th, 2024 from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm.  This is a 2-day training and attendance both days is required.  Registration is open to all community members and the workshop is free to attend.  To register please click on the “Going” button below and fill in your information.

The workshop will be located at the Inter-tribal Council of Nevada at 10 State Street in Reno.

For more information, please contact the community host, Michael Ondelacy, Director of Commercial Property Management for the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, at 775-785-1363 ext. 5405 or at mondelacy@rsic.org.   You can also reach out to Camille Koster, Program Manager at the IDRS Acorn Project at 918-408-8280 or at camille@idrsinc.org.

About Your Presenter:

Camille Koster (Cherokee) serves as the Youth Program Manager for the IDRS Acorn Project. Through the program, she teaches youth how to explore entrepreneurship and create side hustles which provides them the opportunity to make money while continuing to focus on their education . She has worked in youth development and in nonprofit for the last 18 years, both writing and facilitating camps across the nation. She has co-facilitated camps with the Drug-Free Communities National Initiative, Students Working Against Tobacco, Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health, ONABEN, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, and more. Camille dedicated five years of her youth development career as the Chief Operating Officer of Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma. She successfully assisted in one the largest youth entrepreneur programs as she helped build strategy and infrastructure for a cookie sale campaign that led to her local Council selling over 1 million boxes of Girl Scout Cookies in Eastern Oklahoma.
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Camille is a United States Navy Veteran and is proud to have represented the Cherokee Tribe in the military. During the time she served, only 15.4% of the military was comprised of Native American members, likewise, only 4% were female members. She has a Masters Degree in Organizational Management. Camille lives in Jenks, Oklahoma, is married to a Firefighter and has three children.

The workshop will be presented in partnership with Reinventing Rural, an non-profit supporting small businesses in rural and Tribal communities throughout Oregon.

The CO.STARTERS Bootcamp is funded in part by the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Inter-tribal Council of Nevada, the Small Business Administration, USDA Rural Business Development, and the Elevate Initiative.