Description
David A. Broome Summer Business Institute
We take pride in empowering, encouraging and creating opportunities for young entrepreneurs of color to learn what it takes to create a viable business model. The David A. Broome Summer Business Institute was the passion of the late David A. Broome, whose unwavering faith in the young people that populate under-served areas all over Southern California, led him to believe that with the right mentorship these young people could be future contributors to their communities.
Having recognized the need for Black and Latino youths to develop digital literacy and an entrepreneurial mindset and the need to provide technology to address the technology gap, the Broome Family Foundation started the David A. Broome Summer Business Institute in 2011. The Summer Business Institute combines instruction in software coding with project based entrepreneurship curriculum to teach Black and Latino youths digital literacy and instill entrepreneurial spirit. In addition, the students who complete the program receive a laptop computer free of charge. Supporting the Summer Business Institute will give young people of color opportunity by:
1. Providing a quality STEM learning experience. Each student will be assigned a laptop computer on the first day of the program that will be used in class for software coding, research, and business plan development. The students will be introduced to STEM careers by guest speakers.
2. Exposing them to crucial skills that determine success in today’s dynamic workplaces. Through a well researched project based and Common Core Standards aligned entrepreneurism curriculum students learn to work independently and collaboratively to recognize a problem or opportunity, develop a plan to solve the problem or take advantage of the opportunity, and implement the plan. In the process, they improve their writing skills as they create a business plan, math skills as they calculate return on investment and their technological skills because each plan must include a coding component.
3. Introducing them to a college environment. Our partners, the University of Southern California and University of California at Los Angeles will provide facilities for classroom instruction on their campuses. Providing classes on college campuses will allow the students to leave their day-to-day, often negative, environments and experience the college campus environment.
4. Alleviating "summer learning loss." Studies show that the primary cause of the achievement gap between students of color and white students is summer learning loss. On average students of color lose more than 2 months English and math due to a lack of quality summer learning opportunities.
