BUILD NYC

BUILD's mission is to use entrepreneurship to ignite the potential of high school students and propel them to college and career success. We are committed to increasing access to academic and career readiness opportunities for low-income students and students of color, who, due to systemic inequity, often lack the nancial, social, and educational resources that they need and deserve to be successful in their endeavors. We envision a world where the education system ensures that all students, regardless of background, have the opportunity to develop the skills needed for academic and professional achievement. By addressing systemic racial inequities and opportunity gaps for students of co... read more BUILD's mission is to use entrepreneurship to ignite the potential of high school students and propel them to college and career success. We are committed to increasing access to academic and career readiness opportunities for low-income students and students of color, who, due to systemic inequity, often lack the nancial, social, and educational resources that they need and deserve to be successful in their endeavors. We envision a world where the education system ensures that all students, regardless of background, have the opportunity to develop the skills needed for academic and professional achievement. By addressing systemic racial inequities and opportunity gaps for students of color, we aim to create a more diverse, equitable workforce, and interconnected society. BUILD was born in 1999 in the heart of Silicon Valley with a big idea-that entrepreneurship presents a powerful opportunity for youth to understand the relevance of their education to "real life." Originally established to stem the tide of high school dropouts, BUILD now operates a comprehensive four-year college and career readiness program in high schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York City, where we launched in 2016. By empowering students to develop and run their own small businesses, BUILD supplements traditional classroom instruction with hands-on learning, career exposure, mentorship, and critical hard and soft skills development. Since our founding, BUILD has used entrepreneurship-driven experiential learning to positively impact the trajectories of thousands of students across the country. BUILD's four-year program uses entrepreneurship and project-based learning to create active learners who develop self-agency and critical social and emotional skills essential for achievement in the classroom and the workforce. With the encouragement of BUILD teachers, staff, and mentors, our students engage in posing questions, thinking creatively to solve problems, and holding themselves accountable for their successes and failures. All of this occurs within a growth mindset-the belief that talent and intelligence can be cultivated through focused effort and continuous learning. 9th Grade: The program begins with a credit-bearing, in-school, elective class called taught by BUILD-trained teachers from our partner schools. Students launch their own businesses, moving from ideation to prototyping, production, and sales. Our ninth-grade in-school curriculum is enriched with out-of-school-time ("OST") programming that offers students the opportunity to further apply their entrepreneurial skills and connect with BUILD mentors and volunteers from the business community. In our OST programming, ninth-graders pitch to investors, sell to real customers, and compete in a Shark Tank-style multi-school competition. These OST experiences are critical to our ninth-grade program, as they enable students to successfully launch their business, connect with caring adult role-models, and enhance their career-readiness skills. 10th Grade: BUILD shifts to an after-school program where students continue to run their businesses or create new ones. Our youth entrepreneurs develop skills in marketing, sales, inventory management, and customer service. This academic year, we also offered students specific training to help them better understand and fulfill essential business roles, such as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Design Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer. 11th Grade: In junior year, students shift from marketing their businesses to marketing themselves as they begin to think about life after high school. Through a series of skills-based workshops led by our corporate partners and BUILD staff, students focus on their personal brand, create a LinkedIn page, write a resume, and go on mock interviews, and job shadow/career interest days. Students also participate in college tours, so they can envision themselves on a college campus. A key pillar of the 11th-grade program is to provide students with training and experiences that prepare them for paid internships and summer jobs. 12th Grade: In the final year of BUILD, seniors continue to participate in work-readiness and career exploration activities, while also leveraging their BUILD experience to apply for college and financial aid. Working closely with BUILD NYC's College and Career Advisor and their mentors, students research colleges, create personal statements, secure recommendations for their college applications, and complete their FAFSA forms for financial aid. In conjunction with applying to college, seniors attended college life workshops, financial literacy training, and other activities to help prepare them for the transition to college and adulthood. All students graduate with a personalized plan that maps their course to a successful career and a thriving life. Alumni Network: The Alumni Network supports BUILD students as they transition from high school. The goal of this new program is to help our graduates make good academic, career, and life choices. Graduates will be paired with professionals in their career fields of interest who will provide them with invaluable advice and encouragement. Mentors will have monthly check-ins with graduates to assess their well-being and to serve as a consistent source of advice, encouragement, and advocacy. The Alumni Network offers students pursuing alternative pathways access to training, internships, and apprenticeships so that they can secure a living wage job. During college breaks and in the summer, alumni participate in workshops and panels that help them navigate the challenges of college and early adulthood. Mentorship and Skill-Based Volunteers: Mentorship is a core component of the BUILD program. Through all four years of BUILD, students receive mentoring on a weekly basis from caring adult role models. Research shows that students who build consistent relationships with caring adults set higher educational goals, have better school attendance, and are more likely to complete high school and succeed in college and beyond. In addition to our mentoring program, we also rely on our corporate partners to serve as one-time business advisors, secret shoppers, and pitch judges as well as host skills-based professional development workshops for our students. All BUILD mentors and volunteers are professionals who play a key role in helping students develop and grow their micro-enterprises and persist through high school, as well as build social capital and a professional network of caring adults who are committed to opening doors for our students in the future. These are deep, authentic two-way relationships that bridge communities and transform both the adult and student. Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL) Skills Development: The BUILD curriculum places a strong emphasis on the development of six socio-emotional (SEL) competencies that research has shown to promote academic success and career-readiness (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Growth Orientation, and Social Capital.) There is growing evidence that these SEL qualities rival academic or technical skills in their ability to predict employment and earnings, among other outcomes. While the demand for such skills has increased over the past 20 years, employers around the world have reported that job candidates often lack the soft skills needed to fill available positions (Manpower Group, 2013). BUILD helps to bridge that skill gap. Through the firsthand experience of running their own companies, students demonstrate SEL competencies with increasing proficiency. They gain valuable insight as to how these skills will serve them both in their academic journeys and life outside of the classroom.