Exciting News, March

Entrepreneurial Mindset of the Month

Resourcefulness

Courtesy of VentureLab

Develop quick and clever ways to overcome challenges. Entrepreneurship is more than starting a business, it’s a way of thinking and doing. These mindsets and skills can be practiced and improved by youth AND adults. Learn more about resourcefulness.

Virtual Field Trip Opportunity

Celebrate Youth Entrepreneurship April 28 with Haile Thomas

Looking for a fun, exciting, motivating speaker? This year’s Celebrate Youth Entrepreneurship event will be virtual on Wednesday, April 28. Our featured speaker Haile Thomas is 20 years old, an entrepreneur, a health activist and so much more. Haile founded the nonprofit HAPPY (Healthy Active Positive Purposeful Youth) when she was 12 years old. She will be sharing her entrepreneurial journey and providing advice for how students can follow their passions at a young age. Choose from a 10:00 AM EST or 12:45 PM EST session. Great for remote, hybrid, or in-person classes. Sign your class or program up for this FREE opportunity by clicking here.

Resources for Educators

We’ve Updated the YEI Resource Directory with 15 New, Great Opportunities

Our Resource Directory can assist you in finding the youth entrepreneurship education curriculum, tools, and programs to benefit you and your students. With over 90 different resources, you can search by grade or category, such as contests, educator trainings, speakers, and more. Click here to check out the latest and greatest.

Interactive Business Model for Kids

VentureLab Business Builder helps youth think through all the important parts of their business, test their plan, and create a business model in six easy steps! The interactive, online tool gives immediate feedback as youth experiment to learn about all aspects of their business including value proposition, target customers, and budgeting. Click here to check it out. Learn more about VentureLab’s Business Builder at our March Power Hour focused on Financial Figuring.

Professional Development Opportunities for Educators

Join us March 18 from 4-5 PM EST for a YEI Educator Power Hour Focused on Financial Figuring

Scott Mann from VentureLab will demonstrate their new Business Builder tool. Mike Grady and his students from Hoover High School in North Canton will discuss the financials behind the product they developed. Jessica Dragar will highlight how Lemonade Day can teach financial lessons to kids as young as elementary school. Greg Malkin, Director of YEI and serial entrepreneur will lead a discussion on the thought process behind all costs needed to make a first sale and how to scale a business. Click here to learn more and sign up.

Earn Graduate or Undergraduate Credit Hours at Spring Workshops hosted by Kent State University

Looking for credits for license renewal? Want to refresh your classroom with innovative strategies? Kent State Spring Workshops include Classroom Management, Emotional Intelligence, and many more. Click here to learn more and register.

Deshpande Symposium, June 10-11

The 10th annual Deshpande Symposium will be virtual this year on June 10-11. Cofounded by the Deshpande Foundation and the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2012, the Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education is a gathering of like-minded practitioners with a focus on accelerating innovation and entrepreneurship across the university and college environment. Click here to learn more.

Pitch Contests and Other Opportunities for Students

Young Entrepreneur Pitch Challenge Deadline is April 1

Young Entrepreneur Pitch Challenge is available this year with enhancements to provide more educator support and a dynamic distance learning experience for those who need it. As in the past, the contest will be open to students to join in all 21 counties of northeast Ohio in grades K-12. Please complete our classroom registration form. New workshops include Zoom-led sessions for your in-person or remote students and options for professional coaching to help your students. Click here to learn more about prizes, rules, and other information. This year, any class or program with 10 or more entries will have at least one student win prizes.

High School Students can Pitch Their Business Ideas to Win Cash Prizes

The Jacobson Institute is sponsoring the Spring Innovator Competition. High school students can win cash prizes by submitting their business idea by April 26. Click here to learn more.

Enter the Changemaker Challenge by April 8 for a Chance to Pitch to Senior Leaders at T-Mobile

The third annual Changemaker Challenge, hosted by T-Mobile and Ashoka, is open to all students ages 13-18. This nationwide opportunity gives trailblazing young leaders the chance to take their ideas on how to create more connected, sustainable and inclusive communities and make them a reality. Click here to learn more. Applications due by April 8.

Kids 13 and Younger can Enter the Third Annual Kids Idea Tank by June 1

Kids Idea Tank, created by children’s author Lowey Bundy Sichol, is the largest nationwide entrepreneurship competition for kids aged 13 and younger. Finalists will pitch their idea over Zoom for cash prizes. Click here to learn more and enter.

Hear from BUILD’s High School Entrepreneurs and Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary

BUILDFest National is hosting a virtual event that will highlight youth entrepreneurship on March 25 at 8:30 PM EST. Hear from high schoolers from across the country who are finalists in BUILD’s COVID-19 Virtual Design Challenge and from other special guests! Click here to learn more.

Read, Listen, and Look Ahead

Student Entrepreneurs in the News

We were recently featured in the News-Herald along with students and educators from Northern Career Institute! Check out this awesome article that highlights Young Entrepreneur Pitch Challenge, Young Entrepreneur Market, and other aspects of our work that help us fulfill our mission that every child should understand and experience entrepreneurship. Click here to read.

Case Western Reserve University Student Starts “Teen Bizness” Podcast

Akansh Devendra (CWRU ’24) loves listening to business podcasts, but noticed a lack of entrepreneurship focused podcasts, especially teen entrepreneurship podcasts. So he and fellow CWRU student Vidit Khattar (CWRU ’24) started a weekly podcast, Teen Bizness, where they speak with teen entrepreneurs from all over the world. Click here to read more about the co-hosts and their podcast, which is available on Spotify, Apple, and other platforms.

YEI Awarded Burton D. Morgan Foundation Grant for Enspire 2021

Save the Dates: November 4-8

We are so excited to have finalized dates for Enspire 2021! Thank you to Burton D. Morgan Foundation for making this event possible. Stay tuned as we will announce speakers, mini-grant opportunities, and more in the next few months. Click here to revisit Enspire Fall Fest 2020 and other past Enspire Conferences.

Have something you’d like us to share or promote? Send newsletter submissions to Matthew Podl and we will include your material if space permits.