Working Together to Empower All Young People to Own Their Futures
VE partners with organizations across many industries who are committed to empowering youth to own their futures.
Get InvolvedInvest in Communities
Make investments in the communities you serve through corporate gifts, gift matching, in-kind support, program development grants, support for high-need schools, event sponsorship, and more.
Engage Your Employees
Engage your employees through skills-based volunteer opportunities including mentoring inside the classroom, coaching at leadership events, judging competitions, performing community outreach, and more.
Transform the Next Generation
Take your commitment to empowering youth to the next level by helping VE embark on big, ambitious projects and build capacity to deliver the transformative VE experience to more students and schools.
Meet the Engagement Team
Doris Thomas
VP of Engagement
Doris Thomas is currently the acting Vice President of Engagement for Virtual Enterprise International. Doris comes to VEI with an extensive background in corporate fundraising in the non-profit sector, being adept at closing six-figure gifts and driving revenue. Most recently Doris was the Director of Corporate Relations and Sponsorships at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), in Newark NJ. There, she maintained and grew the corporate base of roughly 100 donors, raising 2 million dollars annually for the Arts Center. In addition to fundraising, Doris managed and led NJPAC’s Business Partners committee who curate monthly panel-style conversations with various industry executives for donors.
Contact Doris at dthomas@veinternational.org or 973-568-1173
Erika Apupalo
Engagement Coordinator
Erika is the Engagement Coordinator responsible for managing a comprehensive volunteer engagement program, designed to provide meaningful opportunities for VE’s partners and stakeholders. Prior to joining the VE team, she managed college volunteers across the country at Project Sunshine. She is highly committed to volunteerism and giving back to her community. Erika received her BA from Baruch College and is a VE alumni from Academy of Finance and Enterprise.
Contact Erika at eapupalo@veinternational.org or 917-376-0086
Kayele Spencer
Engagement Coordinator
Kayele is the Engagement Coordinator responsible for developing and implementing programs designed to provide meaningful opportunities for VE alumni. Kayele graduated from SUNY Oswego with a B.S. in Human Resources where she was a student leader on campus cultivating relationships with current and former Oswego students through their mentorship program. She is a VE alumni from the High School of Economics & Finance.
Contact Kayele at kspencer@veinternational.org or 646-262 7577
We’re in Good Company
Ceros • KPMG • Morgan Stanley • PIMCO • Quantic • TD Bank
Postsecondary Partners
The VE Partnership Experience
New Partnership with Intuit Helps Teens Develop Career and Financial Readiness Skills
At the start of the 2018-19 school year, Intuit and VE launched a new partnership to provide QuickBooks Online and Design for Delight to every VE class in the U.S. As part of its efforts to mentor VE students, Intuit invited students from James Logan High School in Union City, California to connect with business leaders at its QuickBooks Connect event in San Jose, where Intuit CEO Brad Smith shared his leadership and business insights with VE students.
HSBC Enables VE Program Expansion to Prepare More Students for Careers
HSBC and VE have been working together since 1999 to prepare students for meaningful careers. Through this partnership, HSBC has provided job readiness training support, direct funding to schools, and support for VE’s Youth Business Summit and HSBC employees have served as competition judges and classroom mentors. In 2018, HSBC made a $750,000 two-year grant to support the expansion of VE’s program to an additional 150 U.S. schools. The grant also lays the groundwork for VE to expand into additional school districts at a critical moment when business and educational institutions are eager to implement effective strategies for preparing students to develop meaningful careers.
New York Life Foundation Bolsters VE’s Commitment to Middle School Students
With support from the New York Life Foundation, VE launched the VE-JV Career Academy, a two-year program that enables 7th and 8th graders to develop technology and entrepreneurial skills by starting and managing business ventures. The Career Academy also engages students in competitions and both after-school and summer activities that build 21st Century skills in business, communication and technology. In addition to providing financial support, New York Life hosts business pitch competitions for VE-JV students and its employees serve as classroom mentors. As of 2019, the middle school program serves 3,000 students from school districts in New York City, Los Angeles, and Broward County, Florida.
Deloitte’s Longtime Partnership with VE Generates a Multitude of Opportunities
VE’s 18-year partnership with Deloitte has had a profound impact on every facet of the program. Deloitte employees conduct an ongoing classroom mentorship program with weekly classroom visits to New York City VE firms, regularly participate as VE competition judges, host VE events, such as an annual CEO Day during which top Deloitte executives interface with the CEOs of VE’s New York-based firms, and offer pro-bono consulting work, which has included the creation of the VE Career Readiness Framework and recommendations for strengthening VE’s talent strategy and performance management system. Over the years, more than 50 VE students have started their professional careers at Deloitte as a direct result of this partnership.