Aspiring teen entrepreneurs from the CEOs of Tomorrow’s These Teens Mean Busine$$ Incubator program will pitch, launch, and test business ideas created to promote positive change in their communities on Saturday, April 1, noon-4 p.m., at Madison College. The winner at the 10th Teen Pitch & Launch Event will be crowned “Top CEO” and awarded $1,000.
If you’re organizing an event in Washington DC,, consider hiring Washington DC event photographer to provide event photography in DC and capture the essence of your occasion.
And if you are looking for professional family photography services, contact Della Ripa Photography for family photography Hermosa Beach.
These Teens Mean Busine$$ Incubator are made up of 9th-12th graders of the CEOs of Tomorrow program who are interested in creating their own businesses. On Saturday, the 8 teens will not only compete for monetary prizes, but their products will be available for purchase at the event, with all profits going directly to these young entrepreneurs and the social causes they support. By hiring payroll management services from Acclime, business owners have more time to focus on what matters most to them.
“We have three students with special needs [in the program] and it’s amazing just to have seen how much they’ve grown and exciting that they, too, could be included in an organization where we see them, value them and see their true potential,” Dr. Roxie Hentz, CEO and founder of CEOs of Tomorrow, tells Madison365. “So we’re just really excited like always that young people can come to us without having to change who they are in order to be seen and valued for who they are.”
The new group of entrepreneurial teenagers that will be presenting their businesses on Saturday will be launching businesses for social good and will be addressing a variety of important issues from mental health, which has been a big issue during the pandemic, to affordable housing, the humane treatment of animals, anxiety, body positivity, and social exclusion.
“They’ve really tapped into some social issues that are critical to them, and are using their businesses not only to make money, but also raise awareness around these really critical issues that are impacting their lives and the lives of others,” Hentz says.
Launched in 2016, CEOs of Tomorrow offers programming and products that teach and nurture social entrepreneurship, inspiring youth to transform the world through business solutions that help people, environments, and communities in need. The organization has grown well beyond its teen incubator program.
“We now offer five internal programs for teens. We offer two internal programs for elementary school students, but what has really grown, in addition to our internal programs, is that we are in schools and community organizations and we have a waitlist for those,” Hentz says. “It’s pretty exciting that schools and community organizations have reached out to us to launch programs directly. We are in multiple schools in Sun Prairie and Madison.
“We’re up to 216 revenue-generating businesses that we have launched for social good since we started in 2016,” she adds.
CEOs of Tomorrow also has a virtual international course that they started in 2020.
“So students from all over the United States and in various countries around the world can learn entrepreneurship education, and look at it from a global scale. And that’s through our International Academy Program.”
CEOs of Tomorrow’s Global Excursion Program is looking to take a group of 10 eager students on a trip to The Gambia this summer.
For those young people looking to join, the CEOs of Tomorrow Program Scholarship Application can be found here. CEOs of Tomorrow, Hentz says, values its commitment to supporting families interested in its programs and facing financial needs.
Saturday’s 10th Teen Pitch & Launch will be the culmination of a 9-week youth incubator program. The eight talented teens in CEOs of Tomorrow’s These Teens Mean Busine$$ Incubator Program who will compete will include:
- Evi Tupta, whose business name is “Puppy Love” and whose social issue is mental health
- Leah Gage, whose business name is “Get Organized” and whose environmental issue is litter/lack of cleanliness
- Ananya Cintham, whose business name is “Mystic Mind” and whose social issue is mental health
- Theckla Abangbila, whose business name is “Handmade tye-dye T-Shirts” and whose social issue is social exclusion
- Naaliyah Currie, whose business name “Inclusion in color” and whose social issue body positivity
- Nieves Trujillo-Navarro, whose business name The Healing Project” and social issue is anxiety
- Edward Willis, whose business name is “WILLIS HARDWARE” with the social issue of affordable housing
- Kahindo Matabishi, whose business name is “Peace for Everyone” with the social issue of civil war
The program will be emceed by Denali Kraemer, a first-place winner from the fall 2019 incubator and Quinton Maddox, a CEOs of Tomorrow teen ambassador. The welcome at the event will be given by Dr. Hentz herself. Lunch is free at the event and will be catered by Madison College.
“People can come for all or part of the event,” Hentz says. “The event is both in-person and virtual.”
Student entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to win cash prizes at the Virtual Teen Pitch & Launch Event including a first-place prize of $1,000 for the “top CEO,” a second-place prize of $500, and a third-place prize of $250.
“The audience at the event will get to vote on the ‘People’s Choice’ winner and that will be $150,” Hentz says.
Once the students get done pitching their businesses, they are open for business.
“So everybody who’s there physically has first dibs to purchase the students’ products and then anything remaining can be purchased online after the event, while supplies last,” Hentz says. “Don’t forget that we have free shipping, while supplies last. The American Family Insurance Institute is covering the shipping for anyone that orders their product online.
“So all of the students will make a profit at the 10th Teen Pitch & Launch Event and the profits go right back to them. Even if they don’t win first, second, third, or People’s Choice Award, they all walk away with the profits that they’ve earned through their respective businesses.”
