Tag: Innovators Forum

FTSV at 2025 Innovators Forum

(FTSV at 2025 Innovators Forum Published 12/3/25) This past October, two First Tee – Silicon Valley participants flew to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, to participate in the annual Innovators Forum. The Innovators Forum is part of First Tee’s national opportunities schedule where students from around the country apply to participate in leadership and development events to further their education and experience gained through First Tee. The Innovators Forum equips and empowers teens to develop a meaningful service project in their communities based on education, health, human rights, or environmental sustainability. Selected participants had the chance to learn from industry leaders through interactive workshops and group sessions with their peers.

This year, First Tee – Silicon Valley was proud to be represented by Nicolas Hernandez-Lopez and Sahara Huchim Velazquez.

Both participants have been in our program for more than 5 years and are also junior volunteer coaches. They had an awesome time and relished the chance to meet and get to know fellow First Tee golfers from around the country and learn valuable lessons in time management, networking, and project coordination.

Besides the excellent learning and collaboration opportunities, participants had fun too.

“My highlight was taking a ride on the water taxi to attend a charity golf tournament and seeing a dolphin in the water!”, said Sahara. “While we were on the water taxi we learned that the service started as a non-profit supporting river keepers on the St. John’s River and spreading awareness about their cause.”

Even during their down time, participants were still provided opportunities to see how a service project can be implemented in creative ways.

Nico and Sahara both have excellent ideas of how they can start a project to make a difference in their communities. Nico wants to start a community resource fair in East Palo Alto and has been working with the city’s Vice Mayor to make it happen. “I want this to be bigger than me so hopefully I can pass it off when I leave for college and keep it going forever.” Sahara wants to help bring more Latina’s into FTSV by hosting open house community events and leveraging the power of our Junior Council to create events and fundraising ideas to help spread awareness about our program.

“One thing I learned [from Innovators Forum] was that while FTSV may cover much of the cost of entry to our golf programs for those in need, that doesn’t help solve other problems such as transportation. Families may not choose to participant in golf simply because they can’t get to the golf course at the right time.”

Sahara plans to help address possible solutions to these kinds of logistical issues.

We’re so proud of everything these participants have accomplished, and staff here at FTSV only have this advice to give: keep going!

Nico and Sahara both deserved these opportunities, and we’ll look on with excitement and anticipation to see how their service projects come to fruition.

The 2026 First Tee National Opportunities schedule will be released soon – if your teen is interested in applying, stay tuned! Click here for more information on the National Opportunity process.

Fall 2025 National Opportunity Update

(Fall 2025 National Opportunity Update – Published 10/03/25) For First Tee – Silicon Valley, the Fall has many unique and impactful opportunities for high school participants who go above and beyond. Between the Innovators Forum, the Drive Your Future Academy and the PURE Insurance Championship, hardworking FTSV participants will represent their chapter on the national stage. If you are interested in learning more about the National Opportunities available, please visit our website or email Coach Phoenix – [email protected].

Innovators Forum (October 2-5, 2025, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL):

Each year, a group of exceptional First Tee teens gather at the First Tee Innovators Forum, where they develop a meaningful service project to bring home to their community. Projects focus on education, health, human rights or environmental sustainability. By bringing together passionate participants from across the chapter network, the Innovators Forum provides a distinctive enrichment experience, engaging teens who share a similar desire for learning and generating changes in their communities.  

This year, two outstanding FTSV participants will be attending this event. Sahara Huchim Velazquez and Nicolas Hernandez Lopez have been in the program for years and both volunteer as junior coaches. Have a great time Sahara and Nicolas!

PURE Insurance Championship Impacting First Tee (September 16-21, 2025, Pebble Beach, CA):

For more than 20 years, the PURE Insurance Championship has provided First Tee participants with the unique opportunity to showcase the skills and values they’ve gained through the program. Held at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course, the tournament pairs 80 standout teens from First Tee Chapters nationwide with PGA TOUR Champions players and amateurs from the business community. The annual event was broadcast internationally on Golf Channel. 

This year, FTSV participants Alexis Chu, Brian Yu and Walton Li attended this event and were phenomenal representatives of our chapter. Everyone played very well, including a 6th place finish for Alexis and 3rd place finish for Brian. More importantly, all players conducted themselves with respect and kindness, building lasting relationships while playing golf in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Fantastic work!

Drive Your Future Academy (November 6-10, 2025, Ponte Vedra, FL):

The First Tee Drive Your Future Academy presented by John Deere is a female empowerment event recognizing young women who are motivated to influence positive impact at their chapters, schools and communities. The five-day academy experience focuses on the importance of building a strong network and how to approach mentorship opportunities, navigating post-graduation and career planning, and appreciating the value/impact of volunteerism. 

Jennifer Barrientos and Alexis Chu were selected to attend the upcoming 2025 Drive Your Future Academy. Jennifer has been a participant for over 7 years, is a dedicated junior coach, and is a key member of the FTSV junior council. Alexis is also a dedicated participant, demonstrating her strong life skills on and off the course, including just recently at the PURE Insurance Championship. Enjoy the week!

Dakota Chang Attends First Tee Innovators Forum

(Dakota Chang Attends First Tee Innovators Forum) Each year, a group of exceptional First Tee teens are selected and gather at the First Tee Innovators Forum, where they develop a meaningful service project to bring home to their community. The projects are focused on education, health, human rights or environmental sustainability. By bringing together passionate participants from across the chapter network, the Innovators Forum provides a distinctive enrichment experience, engaging teens who share a similar desire for learning and generating changes in their communities.  First Tee – Silicon Valley participant Dakota Chang applied, and was selected to attended the event last month, where she deepened her understanding on community service, built relationships with change makers, and started to develop her own project to complete back here in the Bay Area. Thanks for representing FTSV in such a positive way, Dakota!

Connection between FTSV Goal Ladder & SMART Goals

During her time at the Innovators Forum, Dakota attended case studies and other workshops focused around creating and implementing community service projects. For her, one of the biggest take-aways was learning from Mia Bishop, a psychotherapist helping children and teens in Atlanta, GA. Bishop spoke about the importance of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound) goals for a project’s success. Dakota immediately saw the connection between SMART goals and FTSV’s goal ladder, both emphasizing the importance of being thoughtful when planning a project and measuring progress. Additionally, Dakota was inspired to hear how someone could both build a career and give back at the same time.

“It was really cool hearing how she focused her career around helping others and making a difference. I was worried about having to split my time between community service and working, but after hearing about how Ms. Bishop built her job around helping others, it made me excited about finding that crossover in my own life.”

Dakota’s Service Project

Now back in the Bay Area, Dakota is continuing to plan out her own service project. Currently, she plans to partner with local senior living facilities to provide technology assistance. One of the biggest points she learned at the Innovators Forum was the importance of working directly with communities to develop solutions, so her first objective will be conducting interviews and surveys to identify where she could make the most impact. She is also taking our Ace Give Back project that will help provide additional guidance on making the most of her giving back experience. FTSV is proud of you, Dakota! Keep up the great work! 

National Opportunities

If you are interested in learning more about the National Opportunities available in 2025, please visit our website or reach out to Coach Phoenix ([email protected]). National Opportunities are available to FTSV high schoolers and are free to attend. Participants are selected to apply based on multiple factors.

Published: 12-11-2024