You can track DRI Foundation Scholarship winner Aidan Joneleit’s entrepreneurial spirit back to his first business pursuit, PokéPulse, an e-commerce site specializing in buying and selling valuable Pokémon cards. He was 11 years old.
“One day I was just looking at all the cards I had, and I realized wow, some of these could be really valuable,” the high school senior explained. “I ended up finding out that one was worth hundreds of dollars; that was the first card that I sold and then I used that for startup costs to keep going…and it just grew into an actual business.”
This wasn’t the only time he would start a new pursuit and see it grow exponentially. In 2023, he and some friends started the Blueprint for Tomorrow Foundation as an offshoot of one of his Eagle Scout projects. Initially starting with community cleanup projects, they used their engineering skills to create a “climate clock” to track environmental factors.
“We wanted to continue doing more, so we made a way for other students to get involved in other schools in other states,” he said. “And then, mostly through the use of Instagram, we found a lot of other students. Then they ended up founding clubs or making their own events through our foundation.” The foundation ultimately expanded to 1,100+ volunteers across 10 states.
These experiences are reflected in Aidan’s award-winning essay on the subject of how to affect preparedness on a community level:
We are living in a period of global uncertainty unlike any in recent memory. Yet in the face of these immense challenges, one realization has crystallized in my mind: while national and international responses are necessary, the foundation of resilience must be built at the local level.
I have also worked with local schools to introduce programs that target students from a young age. When preparedness becomes part of early education, it forms habits that last. My background in Scouting has reinforced this belief. As an Eagle Scout, I have been trained to think ahead, adapt under pressure, and lead with a calm presence.”
“Aidan is extremely charming and disciplined, especially when he puts his sights on something – he has that golden moment where nothing will stop or prevent him from achieving that goal,” said his father Chris Joneleit, an MBCP and resilience professional with New York Life.
The call letting the family know about the $5,000 award came at a perfect time, as Aidan prepares to leave New York to attend the University of California’s Berkeley campus to study electrical engineering, computer sciences, and business. “There was definitely a lot of ‘Oh my goodness!’ We were all ecstatic,” Aidan said. “It really means a lot to us, especially when going out of state is really, really expensive. This amount of money really helps us.”
“We’re all ecstatic and so happy,” Chris added. “To be honest, that wasn’t a call that we were expecting, and it’s extremely generous. Thanks so much for giving us this opportunity.”
The DRI Foundation wishes the best for Aidan on the next chapter in his growth. Click here to read his award-winning essay.