Searching for Ambitious Staten Island Teens: ­­Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) Recruiting students for 2022

Applications due by Monday, February 14, 2022

The Staten Island Chamber of Commerce Foundation is searching for high school students who could be the next Bill Gates or Martha Stewart. Applications are now being accepted for the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) 2022 class. YEA! is an after-school, extracurricular program that guides high school students through launching and running their own real businesses or social movements.

YEA! is open to all Staten Island students in grades 9 to 12. While in the Academy, students will receive all the necessary tools to launch their own real businesses. This includes access to valuable resources like attorneys, accountants, business mentors, and graphic designers.

YEA! participants will have an audience with investors for real start-up cash – similar to the popular television show Shark Tank. Students also have the opportunity to win scholarships for the YEA! program.

Interested teens can apply online at https://www.sichamber.com/yea for both the program and scholarships. The selection process is competitive, and applicants are urged to apply as soon as possible. YEA! classes will meet on Wednesdays 4:30 PM- 7:30 PM from March- June 2022. Classes are tentatively planned to take place at the Chamber’s office at 2555 Richmond Ave., Suite 240, with occasional field trips to locations around Staten Island. Details are subject to change due to COVID protocols. 

Business leaders who are interested in getting involved with the YEA! program can also contact the Chamber for details.

For any questions about the application and interview process or the program in general, please call (718) 727-1900 or email yea@sichamber.com.

The Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!)

The Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) is a groundbreaking and exciting academic year class that transforms high school students into real, confident entrepreneurs. Throughout the class, students develop business ideas, write business plans, conduct market research, pitch their plans to a panel of investors, and actually launch and run their own real, legal, fully formed companies and social movements. Founded in 2004 at the University of Rochester with support from the Kauffman Foundation, the Young Entrepreneurs Academy today serves thousands of students in communities across America. For more information about the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, call 585-272-3535 or visit www.yeausa.org.

Start as a student and finish as a CEO!©

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