Igniting the Light Within-Social Enterprise

Our nonprofit is at a pivotal moment. Like many grassroots organizations, we face the challenge of unpredictable funding streams. To ensure that our mission of empowering Black and Brown youth continues, we are launching a candle-making social enterprise that will both generate sustainable revenue and create meaningful paid jobs for high school students.

This is where you come in. By lending your time and expertise, you’ll be helping us build the foundation of a business that doesn’t just sell candles—it builds futures. Students will earn wages, gain hands-on experience in entrepreneurship, and learn career skills that move them closer to economic stability. Every hour you give will directly strengthen a program that provides young people with pathways out of poverty and toward self-sufficiency.

The ripple effect of your work is enormous:
- Students will leave with job experience, confidence, and financial literacy.
- Our nonprofit will gain a reliable income stream to reduce dependency on unstable grants.
- The community will see a powerful model of youth-driven entrepreneurship that uplifts underrepresented voices.

Your talent will help us bridge the gap between vision and execution. Together, we can turn a simple candle into a light that sparks change for generations.

We have laid a strong foundation to ensure that a Taproot volunteer’s contributions will be well-utilized and impactful. Our team has already secured internal buy-in from leadership, staff, and volunteers who are excited about the candle-making social enterprise as both a revenue stream and a workforce development opportunity for high school students.

To prepare, we have:
- Gathered Materials & Research: We’ve purchased candle-making supplies, identified equipment needs, and in the process of researching legal/safety compliance for youth employment.
- Structured the Program: A 12-week curriculum is being developed to provide students with both hands-on production skills and workforce readiness training (financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and career skills).
- Aligned with Community Needs: This project is integrated into our nonprofit’s broader mission of supporting Black and Brown youth in Northeast Wisconsin and aligns with workforce development priorities in our region.

Once the Taproot project is complete, our Program Director and leadership team will implement and sustain the volunteer’s recommendations. For example, a marketing strategy will be put into action by our staff and volunteers, and business systems will be embedded into daily operations. We are committed to carrying the work forward and measuring impact through student employment outcomes, revenue generated, and community reach.

By entering this partnership well-prepared and with clear goals, we will ensure that the time and expertise a Taproot volunteer shares will translate into lasting, visible impact for both the young people we serve and the long-term sustainability of the enterprise.

Organization Mission

To empower and uplift youth (7-18) who identify as African American, black or biracial in NE Wisconsin by providing access and exposure to opportunities that develop their talents, gifts and leadership skills.