What can happen when young people are given four days to make real decisions, solve problems together and take responsibility for something of their own?

At the 2026 BizWorld Summer Camp in Redwood City, California, rising fifth through seventh graders were placed into teams and challenged to take a company from its earliest idea all the way to selling a product to real customers. Over four days, they had to decide who would lead, how they would spend their money, how they would market what they created and what to do when things did not go according to plan.

For many of the students, it was also their first time working with the people sitting beside them.

One student arrived unsure of what to expect and spent part of the first morning joking around with his tablemates. Within a day, he was focused on the goal his company had set. By the end of camp, he had emerged as a clear leader within his team.

His change was one example of what began happening across the room as students were given more responsibility.

Entrepreneurship provides the framework for BizWorld, but the experience reaches beyond learning how a business works. Students are also practicing durable life skills such as communication, collaboration, leadership, resilience, financial literacy and problem-solving – skills they can use whether they eventually start a company, work for one or follow an entirely different path.

Four Days From an Idea to a Company

Held from July 27 through 30 at the Sobrato Center for Nonprofits, the 2026 BizWorld Summer Camp brought together students from across the Bay Area, young people connected to local nonprofit partner Levantar, and participants from BizWorld Japan and BizWorld Taiwan.

Over the four-day camp, students experienced the BizWorld+ entrepreneurial cycle from beginning to end.

They considered their individual strengths, applied for company roles and formed teams. From there, they developed products, managed budgets, raised funding, created marketing campaigns and prepared to sell their products.

What began as a room filled largely with students who did not know one another became seven student-run companies working toward shared goals.

Wendy Tibbs, who observed the camp throughout the week, saw students become increasingly confident in their roles and more aware of what their teams needed from them.

But the growth during the week was not only something that could be observed.

It could also be measured.

From 53% to 75% in Four Days

Before the BizWorld Summer Camp began, students completed an assessment covering basic business and financial concepts. They completed another assessment after finishing the four-day experience.

Among the 36 campers who completed both assessments, the average score increased from 53% before camp to 75% afterward.

Put simply, students entered the program answering approximately half of the business questions correctly. Four days later, they were answering roughly three out of every four correctly.

The strongest improvement came in students’ understanding of profit.

But what made that learning particularly meaningful was that students had not simply been given a definition to remember.

Throughout the week, they had raised funding, spent money, generated revenue and made financial decisions for their own companies. They could see firsthand that having money available does not necessarily mean a business has made money.

They were learning to think about what comes in, what goes out and what remains.

It is a business lesson, but also a practical financial literacy skill that connects directly to everyday decisions around income, expenses and saving.

At one point during the camp, two students began debating whether their company should take a bank loan or raise additional funding by giving an investor more ownership in the business.

That conversation mattered because they were no longer simply repeating financial vocabulary.

They were considering the consequences of a financial decision.

Learning to Make Decisions Together

Those decisions were rarely made alone.

Students had to listen to one another, explain their ideas, disagree, compromise and continue working toward a shared goal.

And because the 2026 BizWorld Summer Camp brought together students from different communities and countries, some teams were also learning how to collaborate across cultures.

Students from Japan and Taiwan worked alongside local Bay Area campers inside the same companies, while international educators also participated in the experience.

Wendy noted how naturally the visiting students became part of their teams, and one parent commented during the final ceremony on how well students from different backgrounds had worked together.

It was another reminder that collaboration is not simply about working with people who think or communicate exactly as we do.

It is learning how to move forward together when they do not.

What Four Days Can Change

By the end of the BizWorld Summer Camp, students had done much more than create products and complete a business cycle.

They had practiced making financial decisions with consequences.

They had presented ideas and listened to others.

They had solved problems when their companies needed to change direction.

Some had discovered that they were capable of leading.

Others had learned when to listen, adapt or step forward.

And the assessment results showed that, alongside those experiences, students had also developed a significantly stronger understanding of the business and financial concepts they had been practicing.

The companies themselves lasted only four days.

The leadership, communication, collaboration, financial literacy, resilience and problem-solving skills students practiced while running them can support them for much longer.

Experiences like the BizWorld Summer Camp are made possible not only by the students and educators in the room, but also by the volunteers and supporters who choose to be part of them.

If you would like to support a future BizWorld experience, join our volunteer list to hear about upcoming opportunities.

And to hear more about the week from inside the camp, watch BizWorld CEO Charlene Vaca reflect on the 2026 Summer Camp, what stood out to her and why experiences like this matter for young people.