2023 FALL/WINTER AFTER-SCHOOL ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMS FOR KIDS AND TEENS
Kids can build life skills while they build a business.
Reading, writing, ‘rithmatic, and revenue! Entrepreneurship clubs and programs can help kids improve their critical-thinking skills, learn valuable life lessons, and launch a business to enable them to earn money. As we do each year, here is our semi-annual update of some of our favorite in-person and virtual after-school entrepreneurship programs for kids, tweens, and teens.
All BizzyGirls classes have an SEL-based (social-emotional learning) curriculum centered around self-confidence, resilience, and collaborative skills. For example, 9 to 12-year-old girls create unique products, craft marketing plans, pitch their products through role-playing exercises, and sell in pop-up stores or e-commerce shops. The Fall 2023 after-school programs will be offered online via Zoom with 12 students to a teacher, one hour a week for ten weeks. There will be east and west coast time slots. For details, contact BizzyGirls via staff@bizzygirls.com or call them at (844) 310-0190.
Female Strong, the Chicago-based non-profit organization that offers mentoring and entrepreneurship programs for girls, works with the Chicago chapter of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) program. Fall 2023 Class will begin on October 4th, 2023 and run through April 2024. Class meetings will take place in downtown Chicago weekly on Wednesdays from 5-8pm. If accepted into the program, there is a $695 program fee but financial assistance is available for selected students with proven financial need. There is no remote programming at this time but you can join their waitlist for future virtual options.
Girls Crushing It (GCI), is a space of inspiration for 8 to 18-year-old girls who want to build their confidence through entrepreneurship. GCI offers different entrepreneurial workshops every season. Participants must complete Entrepreneurship 101 and Superpower Hour workshops before joining GCI’s pop-up shop. Registration for their December 10 pop-up shop in Lafayette, CA begins on September 30 and classes begin on October 15. Join their mailing list for all the updates about upcoming programs including workshops, pop-up shops, and a pitch day.
Girls with Impact, “the only live, mini MBA designed with Harvard leaders,” equips girls ages 12 to 18 with entrepreneurship skills, confidence, and business knowledge for their future success. Young girl entrepreneurs learn why entrepreneurship is the key to success for any career path and how to turn passion into impact with a business or non-profit in just 10 weeks. The Signature Business & Leadership Academy 10-week Mini-MBA has two fall start date options: September 11 and October 9. Each program costs $995. Your girls can register here, with a list of state-specific scholarships available here.
INCubatoredu is a free whole-year course available in select schools nationwide. The program teaches 10th to 12th graders how to create a product or service startup and pitch their idea, Shark Tank-style. It’s then followed by Acceleratoredu for the 2nd year, where participants have to launch their business in the real world and grow it further. Check online to see if your girls’ schools offer this program.
All online courses of Kid Entrepreneurship are FREE and available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Each class can be completed independently and accessed by budding entrepreneurs anytime, anywhere. Materials are also available to offer the program during or after school. Kids in grades K-12 can join and learn the basics of entrepreneurship, business ideation, and what goes into a marketing pitch. Courses range from 5 to 16 days.
Project Echo has two virtual entrepreneurship programs to choose from for middle and high school students. Start-Up! Virtual Entrepreneurship Club, in which students learn to develop an entrepreneurial mindset through activities and guest speakers, launching in Fall of 2023, and a virtual After School Entrepreneurship Program, in which students participate in an activity-based program that builds life, academic, and personal skills while helping them ideate and create a business and pitch, launching in Winter, 2024. Visit its website to learn more and enroll. They also offer school personnel and community leaders the opportunity to bring in-person program to their campus.
A VA-based in-person after-school program, SheEO Academy empowers the next generation of female leaders and business moguls through three different weekly programs that run for 10 weeks and provide skill badges for girls who complete skill-building activities aligned with industry career competencies. In She BUILDS, girls will build or improve their own product prototype. In She OWNS, girls will create a business model canvas to take her product to market. In She EARNS, girls will sell their product at a business fair. When a girl earns all three badges, she receives a SheEO Academy Certificate that she can include in her academic resume, portfolio, or college application. Fees vary by program and location. This registration link has the complete line-up and details for its 2023 schedule and locations.
Spark provides programs for kids in grades K-12 at many schools and youth organizations, including regional Girl Scouts and Jack and Jill of America programs. Their online Youth Programs for grades K-5 focus on entrepreneurship and financial literacy to help participants build better money habits. This registration page lists the available programs, price points, and start dates.
WIT, or Whatever It Takes, provides online business and leadership classes for 6th to 12th graders. Participants develop their leadership skills and strengthen their entrepreneurship mindset through WIT’s four courses that focus on specific fields: leadership, social entrepreneurship, small business scale-up, and public relations and marketing. Course fees range from $995 to $3,285. Financial aid is available, and some classes can be taken for college credit in partnership with UC San Diego. Enrollment is currently ongoing for the 2023 classes. WIT also hosts WIT Hackathons in cities around the country. These events provide teens the opportunity to “hack” their city’s greatest challenges, earn college credit, and win $$. Visit their website for more info.
With locations across the United States for 6th to 12th graders, Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) has been helping tens of thousands of kids and teens turn their talents and passions into real businesses since 2004. YEA! guides students in generating business ideas, conducting market research, pitching to a panel of investors, and launching their startups. The full 2023 schedule, locations, and applications are available on its website. Successful YEA! kids and teens include Rachel Zietz, CEO of Gladiator Lacrosse, Taylor Ryan, CEO of Unstoppable, and Kayla Abramowitz, CKO (Chief Kid Officer) of Kayla Cares 4 Kids. In Chicago? Check out Female Strong’s YEA program here.
We will continue to update this post as new programs launch so if you know an after-school entrepreneurship program we missed, please let us know in the comments section below or tag us and the club or program on social media.
