Idea Center
PHOTO COURTESY OF GABRIELA BERNAL
Briefing

MDC’s Idea Center Awarded $10,000 Grant From Verizon

Andrea Briones

The Idea Center was awarded a $10,000 grant by Verizon on Oct. 10 to expand Miami Dade College’s Scale Up Miami program. 

The project is a 12-week program that helps individuals incorporate digital tools into their businesses. Funds from the grant will be used to expand the program into shorter modules that run one to three days. 

Scale Up Miami has operated for more than five years and trained more than 300 small businesses in Miami-Dade County. 

“I’m proud because we’ve received validation that our work continues to matter,” said Alejandro González, the executive director of The Idea Center. “We have to be good stewards of those resources and put it back into our community.”

After completing the program, participants have the opportunity to compete in a pitch competition, where they can win cash based on the ideas they develop.

For more information, contact González at (305) 237-7865 or agonza71@mdc.edu.

Andrea Briones

Andrea Briones, 20, is a mass communication/journalism major in The Honors College at North Campus. Briones, who graduated from Youth Co-Op Preparatory High School in 2023, will serve as Social Media Director and a news writer for The Reporter during the 2024-2025 school year. She aspires to work in the public relations field and be a content creator. 

Andrea Briones has 30 posts and counting. See all posts by Andrea Briones