How can we utilize STEM skills to establish socially conscious business ventures?

About the project 

The VEALE think Big! challenge is an online business plan competition open to all high school students in Northeast Ohio, offering $9,000 in prizes. Finalists are invited to attend Executive Coaching and receive guidance from entrepreneurial professionals in the Cleveland business community. 

About the Partnership 

The Veale Youth Entrepreneurship Forum provides grants to Northeast Ohio high schools to support their entrepreneurship curriculum, programs, students, and educators. They also partner with local universities, entrepreneurs and businesses to create programs targeted toward high school students. These programs ignite a passion for entrepreneurship and create opportunities for students and educators. Students attending VYEF programs will meet entrepreneurs and business leaders, learn from experts about creating a business, develop new skills, and can even earn grant funding for their own businesses. 

​Project Deliverables

Phase 1 

Students will research social innovations that have changed society throughout the 2000's, and learn to create user profiles and empathy maps. They will then generate ideas for a social innovation of their own and conduct interviews with potential users to better understand the market. 

Phase 2

Students will complete their application for the VEALE ThinkBig Innovation Challenge competition, while creating and testing a prototype for their design

Phase 3

 Students will create and gain feedback on their video submission for the VEALE ThinkBig Innovation Competition. They will conduct focus groups on their product, using feedback gained to refine their idea and submission.