Impacting Their World: Girls With Impact Teen CEOs Create Ventures to Drive Positive Social Change
“I’ve always loved plants and animals, but in the first two sessions I was like ‘I have a passion about this and it’s not just something I want to make money from as a job, I want to change the world too” says Jaliyah Sanders, CEO of KD Ensemble and one of our Girls With Impact summer graduates.
Girls With Impact is the only live, online, entrepreneurship program made for teen girls — giving them the skills they need to be CEOs before even completing high school. We held a summer graduation last week, launching a new wave of young women into the the world of entrepreneurship. The major theme across the ventures was driving positive change and social impact, from addressing food instability to environmental issues and size inclusivity.
Read on for our graduate’s ventures, the impact of the program, and how the program gives a leg up for career success.
Kiarra Guerrero ‒ KD Ensemble “bringing confidence to all”
Kiarra is addressing the problems that many plus-sized shoppers face when trying to find properly fitted and marketed clothing. Through her size-inclusive venture, KD Ensemble, she will develop fashionable clothing items with elastic bands around the waist, wrists, and neck for proper and adjustable fit.
Jaliyah Sanders ‒ Hand in Earth Aquaponics Farm “bringing sustainable produce and food to all”
Jaliyah hopes to create the first aquaponic company built to sustainably combat food poverty. 23.5 million people in the US live in food deserts without access to fresh and healthy food. Through aquaponic technology, organic foods could be grown and raised sustainably in urban, space-restricted areas to make healthy eating accessible to all.
Kylie Person ‒ Pull Pack “helping keep our wildlife safe and our oceans clean”
Kylie saw an issue with existing “sustainable” biodegradable 6-pack rings on the market ‒ that they still harm animals. Each year 1 million birds and 100,000 marine animals are killed by plastic 6-pack rings. To address this, her venture would create 6-pack rings constructed out of a water soluble material that eliminates this risk.
“Honestly, I am blown away”
Heather Ziegler, the Stamford Managing Partner at Deloitte, addressed the graduates and reacted to their venture pitches, “honestly, I am blown away...the passion, inspiration, and problem-solving.”
Heather shared her experience as a young professional in the business world. She described a time early in her career when she was denied an opportunity after initially pitching it to her manager, because she didn’t approach the situation with confidence and conviction. After reflecting, Heather then re-approached the situation “as a leader” and achieved her desired outcome.
The key takeaway from Heather was “taking charge of your future, career, and life.” Our program helps put our graduates on the right path to achieve that. In a post-program survey, 85% of our students saw an increase in confidence, and 91% of them saw an increase in confidence in their public speaking, specifically.
Congrats to all of our summer graduates and we can’t wait to see how your ventures grow!
Click here to learn more about our Academy program, and for any questions, email programs@girlswithimpact.com.