Change is a Sign of Growth

change is a sign of growth

At VentureLab, we strive to empower girls and kids of all backgrounds and circumstances (and the adults that teach, and love them) to think entrepreneurially and reimagine their own possibilities. Just as we are committed to sharing our knowledge, we are also committed to continuously innovating. That’s why I’m excited to share what VentureLab has accomplished over the years and how we are innovating to ensure an even greater impact. 

In 2013 I founded VentureLab as entrepreneurship camps for girls in San Antonio, Texas and soon thereafter,  parents and teachers were enthusiastically asking how they could bring entrepreneurial programming to their schools.  To date:

  • We’ve grown our team from just myself and a handful of students, to a world-class group of team members located across the U.S
  • 35 schools have used our curriculum
  • We’ve trained more than 300 teachers (and also companies and other community leaders) on the Entrepreneurial Mindset
  • We’ve reached over 3,500 students through camps, in-school and afterschool programming

Last year, we were honored to be named one of the 100 worldwide finalists for Classy’s Most Innovative Nonprofits and Social EnterprisesThis is when we started to realize that entrepreneurship education could become a global movement. At the awards ceremony, I remember thinking that I had found my tribe: people who were also working to change the world! That day, I met leaders that inspired me to dream bigger and that mindset quickly spread to the rest of the VentureLab team.

With that goal in mind, last year we partnered with UNESCO, the US State Dept. and the Institute for International Education’s TeachHer initiative. We were so excited to travel to Costa Rica to train Central American civic leaders and educators on how to use the Entrepreneurial Mindset to give girls more confidence in STEAM. I loved witnessing teachers’ ingenuity and optimism for using entrepreneurial thinking to solve problems in their communities. This experience proved to us that we had a powerful model for teaching the Entrepreneurial Mindset that was relevant and replicable across the world.

 

Time and time again, we’ve seen how our curriculum helps boost kids’ (and teachers’) confidence and engagement while unlocking their potential. We believe that entrepreneurial learning should be available to everyone, regardless of their economic status, geographic location or life circumstances. That’s why we are expanding our vision as an organization to build a global community of passionate learners and doers.

Conducting a training in Spanish was not easy but seeing how eager teachers were to participate and ask questions made it all worth it.

I’m excited to announce that on August 1 we will be launching our free, hands-on entrepreneurship curriculum starting with grades 6-8 and 9-12, and following with grades K-5 thereafter. Lessons are flexible and easy to implement for you as a teacher, parent, or youth leader. No entrepreneurship experience required! (Although you are probably more entrepreneurial than you know.)  Whether you want to teach one lesson in the classroom or at home, or teach students in after-school or in-school enrichment programs, our lessons inspire entrepreneurial thinking. If you’re interested in working together to create the next generation of innovators and changemakers—confident girls and boys who build the future—take a look at our curriculum today.

Lastly, to all of those who have attended our camps, formed part of our team, donated to our mission, and have provided support and feedback along the way, THANK YOU for helping us make our children’s dreams possible!

-Dr. Cristal Glangchai

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