Introducing The Enterprise Center’s Leaders About Business program (TEC-LAB).
The Enterprise Center has consolidated and streamlined its programs focused on empowering and educating youth to pursue entrepreneurship and become motivated leaders. By nurturing the leaders of the future and fostering the skills they need to succeed, we can promote an equitable, thriving economy and develop vibrant communities. Our programming aims to teach business and leadership skills while also emphasizing the importance of a strong community and community service.
You don’t have to be an adult to be a leader. You can lead now! That’s the message the Leaders 4 Success (L4S) Teen Council is sharing with other youth in West Philadelphia. The council meets twice a month at The Enterprise Center and the members learn ways to empower youth and influence their communities through interactive lessons on goal setting, mentorship, gratitude, and community service. The students also meet two Saturdays a month at the West Branch of the Y under the umbrella of the Leaders Club, for an open discussion on issues teens face in their daily lives.
Each summer, The Enterprise Center holds a week long intensive entrepreneurship and leadership program for motivated youth. The program hosts up to 100 high-school students and connects them with professional business owners and community leaders who mentor the students and foster their development as entrepreneurs and leaders. The program exposes students to informative speakers, case studies, group presentations, and engaging activities. Through this program, students learn skills that they can apply to their future endeavors.
Executive Incubator After-School Program
The Executive Incubator provides high-school students with the resources they need to launch a small business. The program provides seed capital, technical assistance, and business plan coaching. This rigorous after-school class involves two years of programming designed to foster participants’ entrepreneurship skills through the realization of their business plan and personal initiative.
The Enterprise Center is committed to introducing youth to local food access issues, and getting them involved in the fresh food economy. Through the Philadelphia Urban Food and Fitness Alliance (PUFFA), a program funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, high school students from West Philadelphia can become leaders of the local food movement, with activities such as a monthly youth-run dinner, and a campaign for more quality food in Philadelphia’s school cafeterias and communities. Youth can gain real-world experience growing and selling fresh produce on the Walnut Hill Community Farm. Through a growers’ cooperative, participants gain exposure to business skills, while operating an active fresh food enterprise, providing local produce to the community.
