A collective fund for business leaders and community members with entrepreneurial spirit.
Business leaders and community members with entrepreneurial spirit pool their resources together to sponsor initiatives such as the following two local student programs:
The Business Incubator of Oak Park-River Forest High School is a year-long entrepreneurship course for juniors and seniors. Students form teams, create a viable business plan, and eventually pitch it for investment. Community mentors and workshop leaders support and advise the students, and prize money is awarded to the “top” business idea for further development or use towards students’ post-secondary plans.
The Business Plan Challenge is a partnership with Dominican University’s Brennan School of Business. Students pitch proposals to volunteer judges and are awarded cash prizes for their business ideas. The judges also provide valuable feedback to the students.