25 High School Girls Graduate From Summer Institute for Business and Leadership in Los Angeles

22Jul
by Adriana Maestas

Last week 25 high school aged girls of color graduated from the Summer Institute for Business and Leadership, a program created by Green Dot Public Schools and Change the Tune, an organization in South Los Angeles that designs courses and programs for youth to make a positive impact in their communities. 

Charli Kemp founded Change the Tune to bring people together to create systems of equity around three pillars: food, music and social impact. Some of Change the Tune’s programming includes a multidisciplinary STEAM, Entrepreneurship, Social Emotional Learning Lab that focuses on preparing youth with 21st-century learning skills. 

The Summer Institute for Business and Leadership was a 10-day experience that worked to empower students to discover their passions and purpose through building an entrepreneurial mindset. Green Dot and Change the Tune worked with USC Marshall School of Business, Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship, and Spanx by Sarah Blakely Foundation to create this program to empower students to develop their passion and purpose through building an entrepreneurial mindset. This is the second year that the Summer Institute for Business and Leadership has run.  The program would not have been as successful without the amazing partners; Charli would like to thank USC Marshall, NFTE, Daraja Collective, Rising Tide, and Holistically Dope. 

The goal of the Summer Institute for Business and Leadership is expose high school aged girls to business leadership programming and to provide experience in real world project-based learning for students to take action as social entrepreneurs. Last week the students in the program had to present their final business plans as the culminating activity. 

This year 89% of the Summer Institute of Business and Leadership participants were Latina, and 11% were African American. The skills such as leadership, being able to create and conceptualize a plan, and work in a team are all skills that are necessary in college. For women who come from families who cannot afford to send them to expensive summer boot camps, programs like the Summer Institute of Business and Leadership are extremely valuable in developing academic perseverance and in goal and career setting.

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Adriana Maestas

Adriana Maestas is a Southern California-based freelance writer and education professional. Her writing has been published in NBC Latino, KCET.org, BlogHer.com, Alternet, and The Electronic Intifada. She has worked in the non-profit sector, in the K-12 system, and in higher education in various capacities. When she's not writing stories or working on media projects, Adriana trains instructors to teach online at the University of California, Irvine. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Irvine and a master’s degree in public policy from Claremont Graduate University.

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