Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center

The CEC’s Youth Entrepreneurship Program

A recent Gallup Poll showed that 69% of high school students want to start a business, but 84% of those surveyed report that they have no preparation to do so (Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education). Also, a US Department of Commerce study showed that 85% of students surveyed said US schools should teach more about entrepreneurship and starting a business. Unfortunately, only 27% were able to take a class that taught entrepreneurship.

In addition, a Kauffman Foundation survey of black youth (ages 14-19) indicated that "black youth more so than white youth strongly desire to start businesses and want more entrepreneurship taught in their schools." Another Kauffman study found that fewer Hispanic and African American students than Caucasian students knew an entrepreneur.

To address the increasing demand for entrepreneurial exposure and education, the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC), the Motorola Foundation and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) launched the Future Founders program in 2005. The program was created to give motivated high-school students in Chicago’s underserved neighborhoods the opportunity to learn about and even experience entrepreneurship during the school year from some of the city’s most successful entrepreneurs. Our goal is to expose students to entrepreneurial careers and have them create complete business plans.

Since the program's inception, the CEC has partnered with 16 schools on the South and West Sides of Chicago. During the 2011-12 school year, we are working intensively with classes at seven schools: ACE (Architecture, Construction & Engineering) Technical Charter High School, Chicago International Charter School - Longwood, Chicago International Charter School - Ralph Ellison, Chicago Tech Academy High School, EPIC Academy, Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy and High School of Leadership at South Shore. Over 90% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and the majority of the students in the program are African American and Hispanic.

Program Overview

The program consists of four highly interactive, hands-on areas of discovery:

Exposure to the benefits of careers in entrepreneurship
Mentoring by entrepreneurs, sponsors, partner organizations and the CEC to help students create and present viable business plans
Participation in business plan competitions
Continued entrepreneurial exposure for the program’s top students through a summer business camp

The program commences with Big Idea Day in September, providing students with the opportunity to interact with successful entrepreneurs and develop innovative business concepts. Our Annual Citywide Business Plan Competition & Luncheon in May is our culminating event.