WDCEP Celebrates Youth Business Ventures at Holiday Bazaar

On Thursday, December 9th, the Washington, DC Economic Partnership (WDCEP) hosted a Winter Sales Bazaar for local student entrepreneurship nonprofit BUILD.  Participating sophomore, junior and senior students from the organization’s three partner high schools: DC Public School Dunbar High School, Maya Angelou Public Charter School (Shaw Campus), and Maya Angelou Public Charter School (Evans Campus) exhibited their business ventures, products, goods and services, for sale to the public.

“Today we celebrated youth entrepreneurism in the District of Columbia.  The bazaar showcased incredible student owned and operated businesses, and was a testament to how youth incubators can produce successful, student led ventures,” said Steve Moore, President and CEO of the WDCEP.

BUILD is a four-year entrepreneurship-focused college preparation program that leverages the power of entrepreneurship to help under-performing, under-resourced, disengaged high-school students not only graduate from high school, but ultimately attend college.

BUILD engages students during each year of high school, with tailored practicum for each grade level.  Ninth grade students are enrolled in an Introduction to Entrepreneurship class and form student teams to create a business that produces a service or product.  Freshmen students graduate into DC’s only student incubator, where they continue to develop and refine their business models through senior year of high school.

The Winter Sales Bazaar celebrated BUILD students’ efforts and showcased their businesses while promoting business development and entrepreneurism across all ages in DC.  To learn more about BUILD, visit dc.build.org.