What do you want to be when you grow up?
A question posed countless times to children all over the world. A seemingly simple inquiry with sometimes deep and unintended implications. Doctor, lawyer, and veterinarian likely account for a hefty portion of the responses. “I want to be an entrepreneur” or “I want to start my own business” are responses that are rarely verbalized, if even ever considered.
The notion of entrepreneurship is not routinely introduced to children, or even young adults for that matter. The Ice House Entrepreneurship Program is working to change that.
Developed collaboratively between The Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative, Clifton Taulbert’s Building Community Institute and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program is an interactive program that enables students to learn directly from the first-hand experiences of successful real-world entrepreneurs.
This past summer, more than 400 young adults in Louisville took part in the 7-week nationally recognized entrepreneurship training program. The program culminated in the “Ice House Entrepreneurship Competition” in which five young aspiring entrepreneurs were selected to present business pitches to Mayor Greg Fischer and other judges, including GlowTouch President Vidya Ravichandran.
Ravichandran believes that introducing entrepreneurship to the youth of Louisville, and around the country, is vital. “Injecting the spirit of entrepreneurship in today’s young and impressionable children is absolutely paramount,” said Ravichandran. “Not all of our youth have equal opportunities so finding ways to penetrate those barriers and promote entrepreneurship at every level will pave the way for tomorrow’s business leaders.”
Ravichandran and Mayor Fischer also participated in a recently released video produced by “The Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative” to support Louisville’s newly launched Ice House Entrepreneurship Program.
Editors note: GlowTouch Technologies contributed this post to the IdeaFestival blog, and is a Supporting Sponsor of IdeaFestival 2012. If you see GlowTouch, or any of our sponsors while in Louisville for the festival, would you thank them for their support? Focused on "fresh thinking, new connections and innovation that matters," this world class event would not be possible without their generous help!
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