HOUSTON – A local student is on a mission through her nonprofit to help young girls in Houston and around the world pursue their educational dreams.
Ishanvi ‘Ice’ Venkathe, a 14-year-old student at the Village School, founded her non-profit Lemonade with Ice eight years ago, when she was in elementary school.
“I’ve always had a deep passion for helping others in my community. And as I travel the world, I realize that not many girls are able to go to school. And after doing some research and finding data, I found out that 129 million girls are out of school currently,” Venkathe said.
According to UNICEF, or the United Nations Children’s Fund, only “42% of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education,” with that number, widening when it comes to secondary and post-secondary levels of education.
“I think having a nonprofit is one thing, but spreading the awareness in your community is another. Making sure other people know about the problem and how you can solve it by raising funds and having volunteers come and help. I think that’s a great way. So that’s how we have the gala every year,” said Venkathe.
Guiding her every step as the founder of Lemonade with Ice is her teacher, Patricia Elliston, head of the Entrepreneurship Diploma at the Village School.
According to the Village School’s website, the Entrepreneurship Diploma is one of five unique diplomas offered at the school. The website describes the program in which students “take a variety of courses that develop their theoretical knowledge and real-world experience.”
“Basically, we take students through the whole process of setting up and running a business. We believe that the best way to learn to be an entrepreneur is to actually do it themselves,” Elliston said. “We get them [students] to kind of identify a problem or a need, test that idea out and then try and find some customers, do some social media marketing, and they’re amazing at it.”
The Entrepreneurship Diploma also pairs students with industry experts who in turn, act as mentors, guiding the students in the right direction.
“The Village School has helped me tremendously over the years because in the classroom, we’re always taught to give back generously and we implement that every single day at Lemonade with Ice. Not only that, Ms. Elliston has introduced me to the Entrepreneurship Diploma, and that’s helped me to think out of the box and equip me with tools to run an organization,” Venkathe relished.
With the support from her family and school, Venkathe is hosting her 2024 Lemonade with Ice Eighth Annual Gala this Sunday, October 20th from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. at the Ice at Galleria. The gala will feature performances from figure skaters, including Venkathe herself, and presentations from sponsors. According to the non-profit’s website, funds raised at the event will go toward scholarships, educational programs, and partnerships like the Tejaswini Project.
If you’d like to support the Lemonade with Ice Annual Gala, click here. To learn more about the non-profit, visit their website at https://lemonadewithice.org/.