Hiatus Craft House Owners Entrust $15 Million to the Ventura County Community Foundation
The NewCo Foundation Charitable Fund at VCCF will carry forward NextGen Ventures, giving Ventura County high schoolers paid, hands-on experience building real businesses
Camarillo, CA 10/28/26 – Dawn and Dave Gross, Newbury Park High School graduates of 1987, have spent years helping young people in Ventura County do what they love most: build something from the ground up. Now they are making that commitment permanent. NewCo Foundation, the philanthropic endeavor the couple built, is entrusting its assets to the Ventura County Community Foundation and its NextGen Ventures operation to Intentional Schools LLC.
The gift builds on more than a decade of the couple’s giving across the region. Through NewCo Foundation, the Grosses seeded California Lutheran University’s entrepreneurship competition in 2015, gave more than $1 million to Miracle League of the 805 to build Friendship Field in Camarillo, equipped the Boys & Girls Club of Camarillo’s design lab and have generously funded NewCo Foundation scholarships administered by VCCF. Through their fund at VCCF, that giving will continue alongside NextGen Ventures. As they build their next entrepreneurial venture, Hiatus Craft House, all profits will go to the fund along with additional planned giving.
“Our goal is to pay it forward by providing transformative experiences that help motivated young people achieve their potential,” said Dave Gross, co-founder, with his wife Dawn, of NewCo Foundation and NextGen Ventures. “Dawn and I have always loved starting companies and building something from the ground up. We want to help others, especially our youth, understand the many career paths available, express their creativity and have fun. For us, the journey is the reward.”
Ask someone to describe an entrepreneur, and a high school student may not be the first image that comes to mind. At NextGen Ventures, teens are leading the way. Since 2017, in partnership with five school districts in Ventura County, the program has given local high schoolers at more than 10 schools across the county paid, hands-on entrepreneurial apprenticeships and a jump-start on their careers. In this program, students envision and drive every stage of building an enterprise, from product design and marketing to budgeting and management, turning their ideas into viable businesses, all of which generate real revenue that is reinvested in the program.
Going forward, NextGen Ventures will be operated by Intentional Schools LLC, founded by Dr. Tiffany Morse, a veteran educator, school administrator and entrepreneur who has been the driving force behind the program for several years. Through the NewCo Foundation Charitable Fund, VCCF will provide ongoing support to Intentional Schools to run NextGen Ventures’ student-led enterprises at high schools across the county and to expand the model over time. Current programs include RCMakes at Rancho Campana High School, DTech at Foothill Technology High School, DMS Solutions and the Performing Arts Center at Santa Susana High School, Metal Jacket Labs at Oxnard High School, Royal Forge at Royal High School, Gold Coast Creations at Newbury Park High School, Jaguar Video at Del Sol High School and Ojai Makers.
“The needs and interests of today’s students have changed dramatically over the years,” said Dr. Tiffany Morse, founder of Intentional Schools. “NextGen Ventures aims to foster the next generation of innovators and leaders and to inspire them to shape their own future, one student-led startup at a time. With VCCF’s stewardship and endowed funding from Dawn and Dave Gross, this work now has a lasting home.”
The NextGen Ventures model rests on four pillars: experiential learning, entrepreneurial apprenticeship, state-of-the-art technology and private-sector autonomy. At a time when youth unemployment runs at roughly double the national rate, these experiences give students practical skills and a head start in the workforce.
They are part of a larger trend. Research from Bank of America Institute shows Gen Z contributing disproportionately to the recent rise in new business founders, with Gen Z business applications climbing 66% year over year in June 2026 and outpacing every other generation. The report also suggests that as younger workers navigate a tough labor market, starting a business may offer an alternative route to higher income and career advancement.
“We are tremendously grateful to Dawn and Dave for their lifelong dedication to this region, and to Dr. Morse and Intentional Schools for their commitment to our students,” said Vanessa Bechtel, VCCF President & CEO. “We are honored to serve as the keepers of their dream, and we will do everything possible to support these students, now and for decades to come.”
ABOUT NEXTGEN VENTURES
NextGen Ventures, founded by NewCo Foundation and now operated by Intentional Schools with support from the NewCo Foundation Charitable Fund at VCCF, provides high school students in Ventura County and neighboring communities with the opportunity, platform and funding to participate in paid entrepreneurial internships. Through an apprenticeship model, students gain hands-on experience building their own enterprises within diverse career pathways, fostering their initiative, skills and creativity.
Nine student-led enterprises currently operate in eight schools across five school districts, and each one reflects the interests of the students who run it. Students manage a performing arts center, manufacture and sell products, sell eco-friendly household products and upcycle materials into goods for wholesale, earning a paycheck while they learn what it takes to run a real business.
Since inception, NextGen Ventures has provided over 1,000 public high school student internships in Ventura County accumulating more than 140,000 student intern hours. The student-led enterprises that have been built have generated over $1 million in direct program sales, all of which goes towards funding the programs. Learn more at newco.foundation/nextgen-ventures.
ABOUT INTENTIONAL SCHOOLS
Intentional Schools LLC is a California-based company founded by Dr. Tiffany Morse that partners with school districts to tackle complex challenges, provide specialized expertise and take on important projects that don’t fit neatly within existing roles. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in education and district leadership, the firm supports districts in Career Technical Education (CTE), human resources, workforce development and school improvement.
ABOUT THE VENTURA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
Since its founding in 1987, the Ventura County Community Foundation has believed that everyone has something of value to contribute. With more than 24,000 donors from every corner of our community and across the nation, we specialize in connecting people, resources and solutions to create lasting impact in our shared world. VCCF offers donor advised funds and other charitable giving options that make it simple for individuals, families and businesses to support the causes they care about. As part of a network of more than 900 community foundations nationwide, VCCF is also committed to being a community leader in our region. Together, we work to create a better future for all by pursuing our community’s greatest opportunities and addressing the most critical challenges, inclusively uniting people, institutions and resources from throughout our communities and providing significant, widely shared and lasting results. Learn more at VCCF.org.
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