Minding Your Bu$iness
Equipping Youth for Skilled Trades & Entrepreneurship
The Challenge
For many students, the pressure of planning for college and navigating its rising costs is overwhelming. Families struggle with escalating tuition rates and uncertainty about how to position their children for success. What most youth do not realize is that there are lucrative and respected career paths outside of the traditional four-year college track—careers that provide stability, growth, and income potential without the burden of massive student debt.
OUR RESPONSE
The Institute for Creative Community Initiatives (ICCI) is launching a new 2026 mentoring curriculum: Minding Your Bu$iness. This program will broaden students’ horizons by exposing them to skilled trades and entrepreneurial career options that are both viable and rewarding.
Through Minding Your Bu$iness, students will gain:
- Awareness of high-demand industries where hundreds of thousands of skilled tradespeople are retiring, creating urgent workforce needs.
- Debunking of myths about skilled trades through data-driven presentations and real-life success stories.
- Exposure to successful tradespeople and entrepreneurs via school-wide assemblies, where industry professionals share their journeys, challenges, and triumphs.
- Insight into the income potential of careers that, in many cases, approach six-figure salaries without requiring a four-year degree.
Program Synopsis
PHASE 1: Enrichment Program
- Incorporate short Minding Your Bu$iness presentations into quarterly school assemblies.
- Recruit volunteer business leaders and skilled trades professionals from the DMV area to share experiences.
- Featured trades include: electricians, plumbers, carpenters, HVAC mechanics, welders, heavy equipment operators, elevator mechanics, automotive technicians, dental hygienists, chefs, firefighters, law enforcement, and more.
PHASE 2: Enrichment Program
- A multi-session experience where students operate in teams to manage a mock company.
- Students face real-world challenges requiring strategic decision-making, problem-solving, and teamwork.
- Skills developed include:
- Basic business operations & financial literacy
- Math & STEM applications through inventory and production
- Communication, leadership, and professionalism
- Social-emotional learning through collaboration and conflict resolution
Phased Expansion Rationale
- Begin with Option 1, then scale into Option 2 once grant funding is secured.
Access to Resources
- Each session will feature a QR Code portal projected behind speakers, linking students to additional resources, speaker bios, and AI-generated content for continued learning.
- This ensures students can revisit materials, explore industries in greater depth, and connect with career pathways long after the sessions conclude.
The Vision
By pairing YES! with Minding Your Bu$iness, ICCI will provide Prince George’s County youth with a comprehensive menu of options: support in finishing high school, tools to succeed in life, and clear pathways to both traditional college and nontraditional careers in trades and entrepreneurship.
Together, these programs empower students to make informed, confident choices about their futures—whether that future includes college, a skilled trade, or business ownership.