The Exploring Program | BCNetworker Foundation

“Have the courage to follow your heart and your intuition.”

Steve Jobs

How was the Exploring Program born?

The Exploring program was born after exhaustive research, among young people nearby, where we discovered that young people who leave high school base their choice of career, on what “attracts” them or what “they are good at” and, as a consequence, make hasty decisions and lose valuable time.

In fact, in 2015, Universia and Trabajando.com conducted a survey of more than five thousand people in ten Ibero-American countries.

This revealed that 42% of respondents admitted to having chosen their career badly and added that the consequences came into their lives, after exercising the first years of the career.

For that reason, we decided that once young Latinos discovered the internal tools they possessed, the next step would be to help them confirm how compatible they were with the profession they wanted to pursue in the future.

This is how the program was born:

Exploring, knowing my areas of work interest

What is the objective of the Exploring Program?

Connect young people with an entrepreneurial and leadership spirit, through work practices with successful entrepreneurs in the “community”, in professional areas that match their talents, and thus discover whether or not they are on the right track.

In fact, this will facilitate future decision-making and help them NOT waste their time and resources, studying a career for which they do NOT possess aptitudes.

What is the Exploring Program like?

For young people to start the program, they must have completed the Introductory Road Map Workshop, a practical training for tomorrow’s adult and the Lighthouse program, discovering my skills and talents.

It begins with a direct interview with our founder María Antonieta Hernández, to determine, according to the work area of their interest, where they can carry out the work practices.

At this point you should know that our president and CEO, María Antonieta Hernández, is also the president and CEO of Community Networker, a pioneer company among the Hispanic community, with more than thirteen years of experience, carrying out networking activities.

Her extensive experience has built a close relationship, with many successful Hispanic entrepreneurs with strong backgrounds, who are willing to collaborate with the program.

Young people enter these companies to do internships, which will be selected according to the talents they possess.

In this way they will have their first direct contact with the professional world.

Believe it or not, living this experience will give them clarity and a precise vision of what their future work would be like, practicing in the career they want to study.

In fact, the best thing about this program is that it is aimed at all those young people between 16 and 25 years old, who are looking to start and integrate into the world of professional careers.

For high school students, these internships count toward the mandatory community hours they need to graduate.

Program Success Stories

Daniel Torren, Dominican - American.

Bachelors in Business Administration at FIU Miami, FL., Growth Mindset | Lifelong Learner | HR Technology Change Agent

“I came to this country at age seven, and growing up, like many children of immigrants, my parents had two jobs each, and financial resources were scarce.

When I entered the Community Networker internship program, I didn’t know what I was getting into, but Marie Antoinette pushed me and now I thank her very much.

There I was able to learn from each of the people with whom I related to it, I remember an event where I had the opportunity to talk to many students and professionals who stimulated me with their stories of growth.

The program allows you to be in an environment of growth and positive change, and helped me to land my projects and taught me, through practice, how to develop them.”

María José Haggen, Venezuelan - American.

Graduated in Business Administration at FIU Miami, FL., Senior Industry Account Executive at SAP | Accelerating Business Strategy and Improving Outcomes

“Coming from an immigrant family, one of the hardest things you have is understanding the American education system; I had to get a lot of advice to understand how to opt for a scholarship and manage my university studies.

As my dream was to be an immigration lawyer, and being one of the pioneers of the program, I had the opportunity to do an internship in a firm of specialists in the sector.

And what I discovered determined my future.

The reality was that I did not possess the necessary attitudes for that career.

Participating in the program saved me from wasting my time and hard-earned scholarships.

Thanks to this I learned to be patient and not to compare myself with others during the process, but the best thing was that I acquired another vision of life and avoided making a mistake, which price would have been very high, both in resources and time.

I currently work in a technology company with a global presence called SAP; I am in charge of sales and management of technology projects for large companies.”

Alejandro Hernández, Colombian - American.

Currently holds a master’s degree in Business from FIU Miami, FL. Partner & Field Marketing Manager at Conga

“The Community Networker internship program gave me the opportunity to put into practice all the knowledge I was gaining in college, and Marie Antoinette gave me all the space to create.

Doing the program gave me a lot of professional security.”

Enith Medina, Cuban - American, civil engineer.

Project Engineer at Pevida Highway Designers, LLC (PHD)

“I started the program with Marie Antoinette at Community Networker, when I was in middle school.

I am a very introverted person, but thanks to my time in the program, I learned to speak in public and to establish contacts with other people, which gave me a lot of security.

Today I work for the construction company responsible for leading the large projects in South Florida and I am part of the team in charge of the elaboration of the bridges and roads of Miami.

So, I have had to present proposals to engineers of great trajectory and it was thanks to what I learned, for my time in the program, that I can do it with total ease and aplomb.”