Search Database

By Subject Area: Business/Entrepreneurial

• Organizations: Competitions

  EconChallenge - Economics Challenge Program

  Available in some states, EconChallenge is an online competition for high school students during which winning teams can eventually compete at the national level. Every year the State Council's on Economic Education, with support from the National Council on Economic Education, host the Economics Challenge Program providing an opportunity for students to demonstrate their knowledge of Economic Literacy by competing with other students across the state in written and "Quiz Bowl" examinations.

  Inventucator Challenge

  The Inventucator Challenge is an opportunity for students to invent and educate. Located on the Partnership for America's Future, Inc.'s website, the inventucator challenge list consists of real dilemmas for which businesses would like solutions. Since so many of these problems are educational, solving them provides an opportunity for students to produce viable products for future use by educators. Through the Partnership for America's Future Inc., more than 60 students and teachers from across the country have produced educational devices that have aided thousands of students in the classroom.

  National Personal Finance Challenge

  The National Personal Finance Challenge is an opportunity for high school students to demonstrate their knowledge of Personal Finance by competing with other students across the nation in a three-round competition. The National Personal Finance Challenge is the culminating event to state challenges across the country. In order to see if your state has a Personal Finance Challenge, visit the website and then select your state. Instructions for registration will be included on your state's page.

• Organizations: International

  BizWorld

  This non-profit organization is designed to inspire children to be innovative leaders through the teaching of business, entrepreneurship and finance. With the BizWorld Foundation’s programs, teachers help their students to develop the critical thinking, leadership and teamwork skills that allow them to become financially responsible and productive members of society. In the U.S. and abroad, BizWorld programs show children in grades 3-8 how they will benefit from entrepreneurship, instilling confidence to reach their goals, and helping them become part of the next generation of innovators.

• Organizations: National

  Foundation for Teaching Economics (FTE)

  The mission of the Foundation for Teaching Economics (FTE) is to introduce young individuals, selected for their leadership potential, to an economic way of thinking about national and international issues, and to promote excellence in economic education by helping teachers of economics become more effective educators.
  

  Future Investor Clubs of America (FICA)

  Future Investor Clubs of America (FICA) is a national financial intelligence training program for kids and teens ages 8-19. Their primary goal is to provide student members with the skills to earn, save and invest their money. As a member, students have an opportunity to attend fun, exciting, informative Field Trips, Summer Camps and Young Investors Workshops. In addition to face-to-face training programs students are assisted with designing an American Dream Plan while keeping track of goals and objectives using the Young Investors Club Network online training system.

  InventiveLabs (Beverly, MA)

  InventiveLabs is a place to share research and innovative ideas. Teams are selected from applicants who choose a topic based on passion: science, engineering, inventions, fashion & design, the arts, medicine, health care. Inventive Labs offers facilitators, mentors and experts to guide the process. An embedded business incubator helps new start-ups with Angel Funds available.

  SCORE - Counselors to America's Small Business

  This nonprofit association is dedicated to providing entrepreneurs with free, confidential face-to-face and email business counseling. Business counseling and workshops are offered at 389 chapter offices across the country. SCORE’s 10,500 retired and working volunteers provide free business counseling and advice as a public service.

  Technovation

  Technovation offers girls around the world the opportunity to learn the skills they need to emerge as tech entrepreneurs and leaders. Every year they invite girls to identify a problem in their community, and then challenge them to solve it. Girls work in teams to build both a mobile app and a business plan to launch that app, supported by mentors and guided by the curriculum. The curriculum takes students through 4 stages of launching a mobile app startup, inspired by the principles of design thinking: Ideation, Technology, Entrepreneurship and Pitch.

  Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!)

  The Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) is a year-long class that transforms middle and high school students into confident entrepreneurs. During the class, students develop business ideas, write business plans, conduct market research, pitch their plans to a panel of investors, and actually launch and run their own real, legal, fully formed companies and social movements. Founded in 2004 at the University of Rochester with support from the Kaufmann Foundation, the Young Entrepreneurs Academy today serves thousands of students in 168 communities across America. In 2011, the United States Chamber of Commerce Foundation became a national sponsor and partner of the Academy to help celebrate the spirit of enterprise among today's youth and tomorrow’s future leaders.
  

• Printed Materials: Books

  Creativity and Innovation: Theory, Research, and Practice

  Creativity and innovation are frequently mentioned as key 21st-century skills for career and life success. Indeed, recent research provides evidence that the jobs of the future will increasingly require the ability to bring creative solutions to complex problems. This book brings together some of the world’s best thinkers and researchers on creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship to provide a comprehensive but highly readable overview of these exciting, important topics.

  Girls and Young Women Entrepreneurs: True Stories About Starting and Running a Business Plus How You Can Do It Yourself

  In this inspirational book, Frances Karnes, Suzanne Bean and Elizabeth Verdick introduce dozens of young female entrepreneurs ranging in age from 9 to 25, and offers advice and instruction for others wishing to start a business.

  Girls Think of Everything

  Women and girls have created ingenious innovations that have made our lives simpler and better. Their creations are some of the most enduring (windshield wipers) and best loved (chocolate chip cookies). What inspired these women, and just how did they turn their ideas into realities?

  How to Become an Entrepreneurial Kid

  This planner and workbook by Dianne Linderman provides the framework for guiding young children in planning, organizing and implementing their very own business. This book guides children in analyzing ideas, identifying start-up costs, designing logos and investigating legal considerations.

  Invention by Design: How Engineers Get from Thought to Thing

  Author Henry Petroski conveys the pleasures and processes of engineering. Using real world examples from the invention of the paper clip and zippers to aircraft and skyscrapers, he explains "how engineers get from thought to thing." Petroski shares his perspective on how environment, politics, economics, and culture in addition to design and engineering affect the way things look and work. Anyone interested in the evolution of a product from the invention, to design, development, production and construction will find this book fascinating.

  Leadership for Students: A Guide for Young Leaders

  Written by Frances A. Karnes, Ph.D. and Suzanne M. Bean, Ph.D., this book explodes with positive ideas and activities that will help your students discover their leadership abilities. The activities throughout this book stimulate the exploration of ideas and encourage critical thinking about leadership. Students will find guidance and advice that emphasize leadership skills in a variety of settings, including leadership in the classroom, school activities, and the community. It also includes real-life stories about students who took on leadership positions.

  Mistakes That Worked (40 Familiar Inventions and How They Came to Be)

  Some "mistakes" are the best inventions. This book provides the stories to 40 such inventions - including chocolate chip cookies, velcro, aspirin and Post-Its.

  The Educational Entrepreneur: Making a Difference

  Celebrate the lives of 22 educational entrepreneurs who have made a difference. Learn how these men and women have turned their dreams into significant benefits for children. Share in their passion for education and learning. Follow them as they take ordinary educational concepts and make them extraordinary. Use these successful case histories to build your own success.

  The Road to Success is Paved with Failure: How Hundreds of Famous People Triumphed Over Inauspicious Beginnings, Crushing Rejection, Humiliating Defeats and Other Speed Bumps Along Life's Highway

  This is a collection of failures that many historical and present-day people experienced before becoming successful and famous. Contains example after example of people who went on to succeed after experiencing setbacks.

• Summer Programs: MidAtlantic Region

  Barnard College - Athena Summer Innovation Institute (New York, NY)

  This is an intensive, 10-day boot camp that provides young women with the practical skills and knowledge they need to develop new ideas that will make a difference in the world. Students will work in teams to create a new venture — start-up businesses, non-profit organizations, or advocacy campaigns — that have the power to disrupt traditional ways of doing things and create lasting change.

  Global Scholar

  Global Scholar is a two-week summer seminar that offers rising high school juniors and seniors the chance to immerse themselves in college- level coursework on world affairs. The seminar normally takes place each July, at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. At Global Scholar, students prepare for the academic rigor of America's leading universities and develop their leadership skills. They will raise their awareness of global issues through academic study, through face-to-face videoconferences with their peers around the world, through film and music and through interactive simulation experiences.

  NYC Summer Academy (New York, NY)

  NYC Summer Academy gives intellectually curious high school students the opportunity to live and learn in New York City while studying topics in journalism, media, technology, arts, culture, sports, fashion, business, science and more. Each two-week course draws on the unrivaled access of The New York Times and encourages students to take their learning beyond the classroom and into the real world.

  Penn Engineering Summer Academy in Applied Science & Technology (SAAST)

  Penn Engineering Summer Academy in Applied Science & Technology (SAAST) is a three-week program at the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania. The five rigorous, intensive SAAST courses give high school students an advance look at the learning experience they can expect in college. Courses include: Biotechnology, Computer Graphics, Computer Programming, Nanotechnology, and Robotics.

  The Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology Summer Institute (M&TSI) (Philadelphia, PA)

  This for-credit summer program is for students who want to learn about the integration of technological concepts and management principles. M&TSI is designed to introduce students to the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary for successfully linking technology and management concepts in the 21st century. The program features classes taught by Penn faculty and successful entrepreneurs, field trips to companies and R&D facilities, intensive team projects, as well as other activities.

• Summer Programs: Midwestern Region

  Gifted Resource Council Summer Academies (St. Louis, MO)

  The Gifted Resource Council’s Summer Academies offer a variety of two-week academic day camps in the St. Louis area. Children interact cooperatively with other academically talented children during hands-on, thought-provoking camp sessions. Choose from six Summer Academies: Academy Americana re-creates a significant period of time from American history; Ancient Academy re-visits exciting eras of ancient history; ECO Academy entrepreneurs create and run an environmentally friendly business; Space Academy cadets launch their own rockets and explore the significance of robotics as they study space; and in Jr. Science Searchers and Math, Marvels & More students delve into oceans, rainforests, math, science and creative expression. These full-day sessions are for students completing kindergarten through eighth grade. Participants may attend two, four or all six weeks. Before/after care is available.

  Lehigh University, Iacocca Global Entrepreneurship Intensive (Bethlehem, PA)

  Formerly the Pennsylvania School for Global Entrepreneurship, the Iacocca Global Entrepreneurship Intensive brings American high school sophomores and juniors (ages 15-18) together with International high school students from all regions of the world for four weeks to live and learn together at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn. Students learn about entrepreneurship, globalization, team building, project management, leadership and working within a culturally diverse environment.

• Summer Programs: National

  AIM: Academically Interested Minds (Flint, MI)

  AIM (Academically Interested Minds) is a five-week residential pre-college summer program which began in 1984 and has continued to thrive over the years. The program is designed to augment Kettering University's efforts to reach a greater number of multicultural students who have a strong interest in the areas of engineering, math, science and business. There is no cost to the student.

  Quarter Zero - Catapult Incubator

  The Catapult Incubator allows students to spend 6-weeks building a business, working with advisors, acquiring customers, and learning the in's and out's of a startup. Students will learn the process for building a startup from the ground & will build an invaluable network that will last a lifetime. The Incubator meets in Chicago, Silicon Valley, and New York City over the course of the summer - students get to travel to each one.

  Quarter Zero - Startup Bootcamp

  Quarter Zero's Startup Bootcamp is a 10-day startup experience for high school students. The Bootcamp program is best for people who are just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey. Students join a team, build an idea from the ground up, and are introduced to the QØ 5-step process. Students will get to meet other young entrepreneurs and begin building your network. At the end, students pitch out to a panel of judges so you experience the full life cycle of a startup. Cohorts are available in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

  Summer Business Institute

  The Summer Business Institute (SBI) is a three to four week residential program by LEAD (LEADership, Education and Development). The program allows high school students to study business principals and skill through attending classes offered at top business schools across the country.

  University of Pennsylvania, Leadership in the Business World: A Wharton Program (LBW) (Philadelphia, PA)

  Leadership in the Business World (LBW) is a four-week summer program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (and at Wharton | San Francisco) designed to introduce talented rising high school seniors to the fundamental skills and knowledge necessary to lead in the 21st century. The program features a fast-paced mix of interactive classes, guest speakers, company visits and activities.

• Summer Programs: Northeastern Region

  Julian Krinsky Business School at Villanova University (PA)

  The Julian Krinsky Business School offers 50 hours of a collegiate-level business course. From management to marketing and strategy to stocks, this summer program provides a complete perspective on business. Whether you are interested in startups, family businesses or Wall Street, the program is designed to meet you where you are with your current knowledge.

  LaunchX

  Formerly known as MIT Launch, LaunchX provides entrepreneurship programs for high school students, including summer programs, school clubs and online learning. Accepted students for the summer can attend multi-week residential programs at either MIT or Northwestern designed to help rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors start companies.

  MITES (Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science) (Cambridge, MA)

  Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) is a rigorous academic enrichment program for promising high school juniors interested in studying and exploring careers in science, engineering, and entrepreneurship. During six weeks in the summer before their senior year, participants tackle advanced academic challenges, develop the skills necessary to achieve success in an increasingly globalized economy, and forge relationships with individuals from diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The program is scholarship-based, with students paying only for transportation to and from MIT.

  Summer Educational Experience at Kent (SEEK) (CT)

  Kent School offers four programs designed to give high school students, including those who will be beginning ninth grade, the chance to experience engineering education and entrepreneurship. The Summer Educational Experience at Kent (SEEK) is offered in partnerships with professionals from several institutions, including U. Penn’s Wharton Business School, Harvard Kennedy School, and the Georgia Tech Integrated Product Lifecycle Engineering (IPLE) Laboratory.

  Wharton Sports Business Academy - Julian Krinsky Summer Program (Philadelphia, PA)

  Sponsored by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Sports Business Initiative, this is a summer sports business program that provides an opportunity for talented rising high school juniors and seniors to study sports business leadership at the Wharton School. This program will teach ownership, sports agents, marketing and media as you meet and learn from leaders in the sports business world.

• Websites & Other Media: For Fun

  Invention Stories

  The Invention at Play exhibit is housed in the Lemelson Hall of Invention, a 3,500 square-foot gallery located on the first floor, west wing, of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. A smaller version of the exhibition (1700 sq. ft) continues to travel throughout the country under the auspices of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC).

• Websites & Other Media: Informational

  Famous Inventors From A to Z

  This link provides an A to Z directory of famous inventors. You can select the name of the person you seek more information about, alphabetically.

  Global SchoolNet (GSN)

  Global SchoolNet (GSN) seeks opportunities to partner with schools, universities, communities, businesses and other organizations to co-develop free or low cost programs to help students become literate and responsible global citizens, and to prepare them for the workforce. Global SchoolNet is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit education organization.

  Jump$tart - Financial Smarts For Students

  Jump$tart is a national coalition of organizations dedicated to improving the financial literacy of pre-kindergarten through college-age youth by providing advocacy, research, standards and educational resources. Jump$tart strives to prepare youth for life-long successful financial decision-making. Jump$tart’s online Clearinghouse is the nation’s most comprehensive collection of financial education resources suitable for students in pre-kindergarten through college. The website also contains a map and database listing each state's financial education requirements.

  Occupational Outlook Handbook - U.S. Department of Labor

  This website is the online version of the Occupational Outlook Handbook -- a nationally recognized source of career information, designed to provide valuable assistance to individuals making decisions about their future work lives. Revised every two years, the handbook describes what workers do on the job, working conditions, the training and education needed, earnings, and expected job prospects in a wide range of occupations.