K-12 Entrepreneurship Passport Program

Project Admin Panel

What: Some young people seem born to be entrepreneurs and readily identify with entrepreneurial activities, yet school systems do not intentionally seek to develop entrepreneurial capacities, and there is no extra-curricular program that effectively satisfies this need. Consequently, many young people who could become successful entrepreneurs do not. This project seeks to develop a process by which youth with raw entrepreneurial talent can be identified, and develop a series of activities and programs through which entrepreneurial capacities can be developed in these youth. A physical document called a "passport" will be constructed that delineates this entrepreneurial development program. The participating young person will get a stamp in the passport after each entrepreneurial development activity is successfully completed.

Who: Project leader: Susan Mayes-Smith Initial Team: Susan Mayes-Smith, Don Borwhat, Yiwen Zhang, Stacie Peterson Project Secretary: Yiwen Zhang Community organizations, school district, interested business leaders, participating youth

How: A plan will be developed for identifying and support children and teens who demonstrate interest in and aptitude for entrepreneurship. The plan will also present set of activities and programs that have reason to be included in the passport, preparing for the execution phase of the passport program. The plan will delineate how participants in the program will be supported. The plan will also delineate potential means by which the accomplishments of passport participants can be recognized and celebrated, so the participants are regularly encouraged. The passport program will not be school based, but connections with K-12 schools will be used to identify and recruit the appropriate participants. Career and technical education, and particular business courses, are of particular interest because students who voluntarily choose to participate may well be expressing an interest in entrepreneurship. Relationships between the teachers of these courses and Passport Program leaders can funnel motivated K-12 aged students into the community based Passport Program. Examples of possible Passport activities might include a series of workshops, courses such as NxLevel for Teens---which teaches business plan development, participation in Junior Achievement programs, enrollment in business classes in high school, establishing a simple business or money making-venture and participating in a formal mentorship program. Passport participants will be supported as they develop their entrepreneurial capacities. Members will be support each other by serving as peer mentors. Participants will also receive support from parents, business leaders and educators. The project will operate like a club or youth organization where young people enjoy relationships with others who have similar interests, i.e. entrepreneurial endeavors.

When: Initial planning will begin in May, 2010. An initial Passport will be produced by September 1, 2010, and a pilot set of students will be sought during September 2010 for a set of activities during Fall 2010.

Metrics: Measures of success will include: Numbers of participants completing particular phases of the program. Number of participants in business plan competitions. Number of business started. Number of businesses in existence for more than one year.

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