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When I first decided to become a YES! Mentor back in 2021, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. The thought of guiding ambitious high school entrepreneurs was exciting yet a bit daunting. Little did I know this experience would not only be rewarding, but also incredibly fun and energizing! Mentoring these young visionaries took me back to my own early days of entrepreneurial enthusiasm. Brainstorming sessions often felt more like invigorating challenges than work. It was like returning to my origins—those initial sparks of creativity and ambition. One of the most surprising aspects of being a mentor was how seamlessly it fit into my schedule. The time commitment wasn’t immense—it was just enough to be meaningful without being overwhelming. Whether it was answering a quick question between tasks or a fun brainstorming meeting over lunch, mentoring provided a delightful mid-week break from my usual activities. Volunteering as a YES! Mentor is more than guiding the next generation of entrepreneurs; it’s about growth, both for the mentees and for yourself. It’s about stepping into a community that is vibrant, supportive, and always pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. I’m calling on anyone looking for a rewarding and manageable way to give back—consider becoming a YES! Mentor. Whether you’re seasoned in the business world or just passionate about helping others grow, your experience and insights can make a huge difference to these young entrepreneurs. Are you ready to inspire and be inspired? To create and explore alongside bright, motivated minds? If so, I invite you to join me in this fulfilling journey as a YES! mentor. Let’s nurture the next generation together, one brainstorm at a time.

Career exploration is a crucial aspect of a student’s development. It helps young people better understand the world of work, the opportunities available, and how their interests, strengths, and values align with various career paths. Engaging students in career exploration activities at an early age equips them with essential skills and insights to make informed decisions as they transition into adulthood. This article will explore the value of career exploration for young people, provide a variety of career planning activities for students, and discuss how educators can implement career exploration activities for teens to guide them in discovering future career opportunities. Additionally, we’ll touch on practical tools and resources such as career exploration worksheets for students, career readiness activities, and the BizWorld program, which can support students in their career journey. Why Career Exploration is Important for Young People Understanding career options at an early age is more important than ever in a world that is continuously evolving. Career exploration for young people involves identifying their interests, developing relevant skills, and gaining exposure to different industries and professions. Starting early allows students to build a foundation of knowledge about potential career paths, reducing confusion or indecisiveness when it comes time to choose a career. It also allows for more time to set personal goals, identify educational pathways, and plan for internships or other work-related experiences that can shape their future careers. Moreover, career exploration helps students understand the link between what they learn in the classroom and the skills they will need to succeed in the workforce. It encourages them to see education as a stepping stone to real-world applications, making their learning more meaningful and motivating them to stay focused on their academic goals. Career Exploration Activities for Students Career exploration activities for students are designed to engage them in thinking critically about their futures while fostering creativity, self-awareness, and decision-making skills. By incorporating career planning activities for students, teachers can create an interactive and enriching experience that enables students to explore their career interests and aspirations. Here are several career exploration activities for teens that can be easily implemented in a classroom setting: Career Exploration Lesson Plan To create an engaging and meaningful career exploration lesson, educators can incorporate various activities that foster self-discovery and career awareness. Here is an example of a career exploration lesson plan that can be tailored for young students: Objective: Materials Needed: Lesson Outline: Tools and Resources for Career Exploration As students engage in career exploration activities, they can benefit from various career exploration tools for teens in school. These resources can help them gather information, assess their skills, and make informed decisions about their career paths: Conclusion Career exploration for teenagers is an essential step in preparing young people for their futures. With the right activities and resources, educators can help students discover their passions, set achievable goals, and identify the career paths that align with their skills and interests. Career planning activities for students, like career interest inventories, job shadowing, and interactive simulations, help guide teens toward meaningful career choices. Tools such as BizWorld further enrich the learning experience, offering a fun and engaging way to explore entrepreneurship and business careers. By investing in career exploration activities early on, we give students the tools they need to succeed in both their education and their future careers.

BizWorld is so much more than a program! Together, we form a community passionate about creating a pathway that unlocks the power of entrepreneurship for youth by focusing on the three primary pillars of entrepreneurial success: knowledge, networks and capital. Pillar 1: KnowledgeThey say “knowledge is power.” That’s why we believe in sparking an entrepreneurial mindset in students as young as 3rd grade – all the way through college. BizWorld programs provide the knowledge and skills youth need to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and recognize and create meaningful opportunities for themselves. Our elementary and middle school programs, BizWorldPRO, Id8 (coming early 2024) and BizWorld Impact Challenge teach youth the fundamentals of business in a real-life context, paired with 21st century skills in a STEAM framework. Standing alone, or used as a stepping stone, each program builds upon and reinforces the knowledge gained to develop deeper understanding and broader opportunities. BizWorld’s Young Entrepreneur Success! (YES!) Program provides the necessary tools and resources to accelerate high-potential young entrepreneurs as they create and develop thriving businesses. In this 12 week virtual program, young entrepreneurs (16-22 years) learn from industry professionals through weekly workshops, a self-paced curriculum, network with like-minded peers, and receive one-on-one mentorship. We know that engaging youth in entrepreneurship education will inspire and set the stage for future leaders. Pillar 2: NetworksSupporting BizWorld programming is a community of educators, alumni, mentors, donors and educational partners. They share our passion to enable youth from all backgrounds to unlock the power of entrepreneurship to create career opportunities, inspire self-reliance, and build confidence that drives economic prosperity globally. This community brings programming to life in classrooms, after-school programs, and summer camps – impacting over 850,000 students in diverse settings in 50 States and over 100 countries. Through YES!, young entrepreneurs from across the globe have been able to meet, learn together, and support each other in their endeavors. Our mentors share their knowledge, network and resources – expanding our impact exponentially. And the financial support of our donors allows BizWorld.org to continue to innovate, expand, and achieve our vision of enabling youth around the world to be prepared for bright futures that support global economic growth and vibrancy. Pillar 3: CapitalThrough the YES! Program we are providing opportunities for youth to have access to capital to make their visions a reality. Since 2019 we have granted $80,000 to 12 of the top youth-run businesses accelerated through YES!. Eighty-seven percent have continued and progressed their businesses, and 100% have either continued on to higher education or pursued their business goals. The funding, while relatively small, allows for significant growth and forward momentum for their businesses. It also proves that what they created matters, and that they have the ongoing support of the BizWorld community. Pulling together, we can strengthen this pillar by growing the BizWorld YES! Seed Fund and sharing access to funding outside our organization. Through our combined networks we can create introductions and opportunities to launch the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs with greater tools and resources than we ourselves experienced at an early age. Our Dream When we dream of unlocking the power of entrepreneurship, we are dreaming of raising a generation of problem solvers and change makers. A force of young people whose mindsets are agile, innovative, and thoughtful. As our programs continue to evolve so does our dream: an equitable ecosystem for young entrepreneurs. An environment where they can thrive regardless of their gender, how young they are, or background. In this ecosystem they can develop and flourish, and learn from and work with each other as their mindsets are nurtured with the tools and support they need. Twenty five years of experience has shown us that this is possible. Providing young people with guidance, learning opportunities, the space to make their own decisions and test the outcomes and mentorship, equips them for bright futures. Thank you for being part of the BizWorld community. With your help, we can achieve this dream!

BizWorld launched its summer cohort of the exciting, life-changing YES! Program where high potential young entrepreneurs create and develop thriving businesses. YES! builds confidence and breaks down barriers to propel youth businesses to success. We had a chance to interview Learns’ CEO’s, Miranda and Valentina, two passionate and altruistic students who want to broaden job opportunities for Costa Rican students by providing free English tutoring. We asked Miranda and Valentina some questions so we could learn more about their App and hear what inspired them to start Learn. Tell me a little bit about your company and what interested you in starting Learn? Learn is a platform where students teach students. Its purpose is to educate the future workforce by giving students the opportunity of an elevated global education. Learn offers this by connecting students who know fluent English and want to do service teaching, to students who do not know English and would like to learn. We decided to start Learn when we learned from La Nación- an Argentinian newspaper- that in 2014, 85% of students who graduated in Costa Rica didn’t speak English. We knew that this had to be fixed because in Costa Rica and around the world, you will have broader job opportunities if you speak English. We noticed that many students in rural areas were not receiving extra English tutoring. Therefore, we designed Learn as a way to ensure the opportunity to learn English reaches every student in Costa Rica. What do you hope to learn and get out of the Yes! Program? We hope to be able to develop our app, but more importantly we want to look at our business from different points of view and challenge our ideas as much as possible with the help of our mentor Michele Hanson. Where do you see your business in 5 years? Learn is about learning and in 5 years, we hope to have expanded to other countries and subjects. We aspire to be a profitable business and be able to reinvest in Learn to make the platform better and have it reach other student demographics. Additionally, since we are educating the future workforce, we want to be able to connect them with job positions where they can use their new skill set. Lastly, we also want to have a peer program between countries where we connect students who are learning opposite things such as English and Spanish and have them practice together. How did you guys become business partners? As business partners we have embarked on a number of different projects and of those projects, two specifically come to mind when asked about our previous ‘business’ endeavours. The year we met, Valentina, at the time in fifth grade, was throwing a bingo party to help children in poverty. After seeing Valentina and her friend in the newspaper, the Shark Tank obsessed third grader Miranda, offered her help with the bingo. Needless to say the bingo was extremely successful, and a handful of lucky players received beautiful trips to the destination of their choice courtesy of Delta airlines sponsoring part of the event. Other big businesses, such as Marriott, also sponsored the event. All that hard work was worth it when we were told that we had raised almost two thousand dollars. Soon after we became close friends and embarked in many more projects including the following: a kombucha tea bar that sadly did not get through the first stage of development, a franchise of nitrogen ice cream that also did not make it very far, and many more failed attempts to start ‘business’ (most of which still have saved business plans, detailed budgets, balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and ‘accurate’ expected returns on each project in our shared google drive folder). After 7 years, we are now in middle school and high school and have decided to take on more feasible projects that would still improve the world. At her school, Miranda decided it would be a good idea to create a culture club, an afterschool club where young students are taught about culture in fun and creative ways. Miranda decided it would be a good idea to tell Valentina to start it at her own school as a branch of the Lincoln School Culture Club. After some time and hard work with the other co-founders, we managed to make the Culture Club an international after school club. Additionally, we have created and taken up major roles in small businesses such as designing and selling T-shirts. In January of this year, we decided to put our business plan experience to good use and started drafting a plan. After a few sleepovers and even more reading breaks, we were ready to start improving the world with our roles as co-founder and CEO’s of the Learn platform. As Chief executive officers, we will devote as much time as possible to this project in order to accomplish its goals. We will take on the roles of managing the project and making sure that the timeline is being followed and the goals are met during the expected time. Who is your role model and why? Miranda: My role model is Tracy Edwards. Tracy Edwards is a British sailor who put together and skippered the first all female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Race. Additionally, she was the first woman to receive the Yachtsman of the Year award and was also awarded an MBE. Through hard work and determination , she achieved her goals and made a positive change in the world. I admire her leadership skills and her ability to follow her dreams, even though everyone told her she wouldn’t be able to do it. Valentina: Although it might be kind of basic, my role model is my mom. My mom has been such an important person in my life and has shown me everything there is to know. Additionally, she’s encouraged me to develop my entrepreneur side and has helped me with all my business endeavors. She’s

BizWorld launched its summer cohort of the exciting, life-changing YES! Program where high potential young entrepreneurs create and develop thriving businesses. YES! builds confidence and breaks down barriers to propel youth businesses to success. We had a chance to interview Blank cosmetics, loomi hair, and body’s CEO, Cassandra McKay, who is focused on creating a hair product that will not only make you look your best, but also make you feel your best. We asked Cassandra some questions so we could learn more about how she plans on making a difference in the hair care industry. Tell me a little bit about your company and what inspired you in starting Blank Cosmetics, Loomi Hair, and Body? I was inspired by my family. I live in an all girl household, all of us have really beautiful natural hair. Me and my older sister’s hair is a little more manageable than my little sisters. I grew up watching my mom and my sisters struggle with finding hair products that worked. We finally found something that semi-worked, but then we realized that we didn’t even know what was in it. Once we looked up all these big words, we realized we were in the dark about our hair care- something that’s deeply rooted both physically and emotionally for many people, including us. I was then devoted to starting a line of cosmetics that customers could identify with. Not just an all natural line, but a fuse of science and nature to bring curly hair of all types to its best form. What do you hope to learn and get out of the Yes! Program? I want to learn more about the technological and legal side of a business. I want to gain social capital amongst my fellow cohort peers and beyond. Where do you see your business in 5 years? Hopefully at this point I will have enough revenue and fundraising money to have started my charity to families in need of quality hair and body care. What inspired you to want to help boost girls’ self confidence? Seeing my sisters and myself struggle with our hair during the school year and how it affected academic and at home behavior. At the end of the day, I am a scientist but any one can observe that when you don’t look your best, you don’t feel your best. Who is your role model? My older sister and mother. They have both shown me two very respectable but different paths in life. What is your favorite hairdo? Locs, I have never had them but my father did. I appreciate their beauty.

BizWorld launched its summer cohort of the exciting, life-changing YES! Program where high potential young entrepreneurs create and develop thriving businesses. YES! builds confidence and breaks down barriers to propel youth businesses to success. We had a chance to interview Uniart’s CEO, Connor Chatterjee, a 16 year old who is determined to solve world issues and make the world a better place. We asked Connor some questions to learn more about UniArt, the website he started for students to sell their creative works and earn money to pay off college debt. Tell me a little bit about your company and what interested you in starting Uniart? UniArt started off as a company designed to reduce college debt. I’m a speech and debater and one of the things I do as a speech and debater is find a problem and solve it through hypothetical legislature. However, with UniArt I realized I didn’t need legislature and that I could make a business to solve problems that trouble my generation and America’s future generations. Where do you see your business in 5 years? I see UniArt doing sales nationwide, starting to expand internationally, and possibly include other items to sell and or new tax advantaged accounts to deposit profits into. What do you hope to learn and get out of the Yes! Program? I hope to learn how to start a company from the ground up, make connections, and have a chance at competing at Demo day. Who/what inspired you to be active in resolving national issues? Are there any other national issues you are passionate about? My father and mother have always been big picture people and raised me to try my hardest to influence the world in a positive manner. With that upbringing, I was always fascinated with issues around the globe and across the nation. Some notable issues I’m passionate about solving, or at least researching further, include are obesity rates and how agricultural subsidies exacerbate the current crisis, medical devices malfunctioning and injuring millions, millions of children being sex trafficked under our noses, homelessness (specifically in San Jose and San Francisco), WIFI deficiency negatively impacting schools in low income communities, the opioid epidemic, fentanyl being laced in everyday street drugs, climate change and how to mitigate it, healthcare reform, airplane safety regulation, unjust striking’s of POC jurors based on the color of their skin, and a plethora of other issues that I have researched less. Can you explain a little more about how you see college debt affecting your community and those around you? College debt affects my community because it deters kids from trying to obtain a higher education due to costs. I have two friends who have told me that they were unattracted to college because it was so expensive and that they wouldn’t be able to pay if they got into the colleges they wanted to go to. Both of them brought college debt to my mind, as I had dismissed it as an issue previously. If you could sell one product on your site, what would it be? If I could sell one product, it would be a landscape/seascape painting due to the fact that I highly adore those types of paintings.