About Us
Entrepreneuring Youth is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that designs middle school and high school programs that use entrepreneurial learning and the real life experience of business creation. These programs help middle school and high school age youth improve school performance and increase readiness for post secondary success.
Our History
On September 1, 2009, Entrepreneuring Youth was launched by the volunteer leadership and staff of the group previously known as the Greater Pittsburgh Office of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). Jerry Cozewith and Cathy Blanchard respectively serve as President and Vice President. The Board of Directors is Chaired by Robert Fragasso, a highly successful entrepreneur and President of Fragasso Financial Advisors.
Entrepreneuring Youth's "Big Idea" (Our Mission)
Entrepreneuring Youth addresses low academic performance and insufficient preparation for career and economic success by furthering the aspirations and natural talent of youth through entrepreneurial learning and business creation. Entrepreneuring Youth ignites possibilities for young people.
The organization helps young people think and act as business owners, enabling them to:
- Build self-esteem and confidence
- Deepen their appreciation of learning
- Become self-initiating and independent
- Ignite creativity and their ability to innovate
- Set goals for academic success and ignite career exploration
- Transform their ideas into a business opportunity
- Learn the basics of starting and operating a viable business
- Earn money, build financial savvy
Our Strategy (Click Here For One-Page PDF)
- Entrepreneuring Youth partners with innovative schools and community organizations, providing program design expertise and instructional support along with the participation of successful entrepreneurs as mentors, role models, and instructional partners.
- Entrepreneuring Youth engages entrepreneurial businesses to provide real-world understanding about school subjects and ignite interest in career opportunities.
- Entrepreneuring Youth guides and invests in young people as they start and expand their business.
Entrepreneuring Youth designs programs that help teachers and youth-work professionals engage young people who do not learn effectively through traditional instruction. These programs offer a vehicle that interests and energizes young people, presenting a real opportunity to earn money while they are learning and applying basic skills.
For example, while an Entrepreneuring Youth program does not instruct math, students master the basic math functions needed to achieve their business objectives. As a result, confidence, motivation and engagement rise. This ability to learn by doing and perhaps build your own business awakens an interest in learning among at-risk youth. The additional tools Entrepreneuring Youth provides helps students achieve a sound understanding of basic skills and the curiosity to become lifelong learners.
How We Pursue The "Big Idea"
Entrepreneuring Youth invests in building the mastery of our instructors and partners so that they can transform their classroom or organization into centers for hands-on learning and business creation. Through partnership agreements, Entrepreneuring Youth builds the capacity of innovative schools and community organizations to create and continually improve a series of programs that offer real-life experience in business creation, and start-up for middle school and high school age youth.
Called a “pathway,” these progressive programs offer motivated youth the opportunity to extend entrepreneurial learning and acquire support for their business enterprise activities. Each program is built upon the foundation of “hands-on”, experiential learning. To ensure effective instruction, programs will be managed by an instructional leader with the experience, motivation, and personal attributes necessary to meet the unique needs of the participants.
We engage caring volunteers and socially responsible businesses in the learning process, thereby deepening participants’ understanding of the real-world application of business concepts. Through engagement with owners and leaders of diverse businesses, young people become more curious and discover a world of new career possibilities for attaining a life far beyond low wage employment.
Contact Us
Jerry Cozewith, President: jerryc@eyouthamerica.org
Cathy Blanchard, Vice President: cathyb@eyouthamerica.org
