Youth Entrepreneurship Education in America: Short Guide

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Youth entrepreneurship education in America.
TANYA’S
STORY
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
President Barack Obama
The Audacity of Hope
I believe in the free
market, competition, and
entrepreneurship.
“
”
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Young people in low-income neighborhoods
want the same things we all want.
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
To get a good
education.
To earn enough
money to live well.
To make their
family proud.
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
The trouble is, very few
have a clear path
for how to get there.
Worse, they might not
feel like society expects
them to succeed.
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
The Manhattan Institute

drop out of high school.
5
0
%
of minority youth An estimated
Did you know?
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
Civic Enterprises and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
to real-life.
8
1
%
dropped out if school was more relevant
said they would not have
Did you know?
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
What if high school were more relevant in
preparing youth to make it in our economy?
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
1 in 5
youth live in poverty in America
Did you know?
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
How would you define “poverty”?
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
In many American cities, poverty is defined as…
Source: Federal Register, Vol. 73, No. 15, January 23, 2008, pp. 3971–3972.
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That’s just over $50 a day…
…for a family of four.
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
$50
get you?
What does
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Four high school students received
$50 each as an experiment.
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
Lena used her $50
to open a savings account.
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
Sarah took her friends
to see a movie.
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Maurice invested his $50
into mutual funds.
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
Tanya, who was in a NFTE entrepreneurship class.
bought a dozen ties and scarves from a NYC
wholesaler and launched a business.
© The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com)
So what was the return on
each student’s $50 investment?
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Lena earned about $1 interest
from her savings account.

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Sarah had fun at the movies, but
had no money left after it.
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Maurice’s mutual fund
investment earned $4.
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Tanya sold enough ties and
scarves to earn $148 dollars.
She then re-invested $72
in thirty-six more scarves…
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Something started shifting
in Tanya’s brain.
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Tanya had worked part-time at a music store
earning $140 a week.
She wondered if she
could make even more
with her business.