Resources to Engage and Develop the Youth Entrepreneurial Spirit

If you’re curious how to leverage Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) dollars into assisting eligible youth in your local programs to become their own boss, here are some resources that you can provide to point your youth customers in the right direction and on the path to success.

Entrepreneurship Competency Model

• This framework was developed through a collaborative effort with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), EntreEd: The National Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education, MBA Research, and other subject matter experts in the field of entrepreneurship education. It was designed to inform future entrepreneurs on the technical knowledge, skills and abilities needed to start a business from the ground up.

National Entrepreneurship Week

• The NatlEshipWeek website has a resource page dedicated to federal resources and grants aimed at assisting entrepreneurs on their journey.

General Support

• In Entrepreneurial Skills Training for Youth, Youth Connections has curated a list of information geared to supporting the entrepreneurial skills training element for WIOA youth.
• The Resources to Support Entrepreneurship page offers a multitude of tools that can be applied to assist youth in career awareness and counseling, in addition to Labor Market Information (LMI) education.
• Curious to know what’s going on in the mind of your youth clientele? You can review this Youth Listening Session to gain insight on what services youth might find most helpful in terms of support for their future goals.

Promising Practices from the Field

• Sneaux on the Geaux is a premier mobile flavored snowball truck, operated in partnership between Acadiana Workforce Solutions and Eckerd Connects in Louisiana. The best part…the snowball truck is run by WIOA participants! You can hear from Keidrian Kunkel, Operations Director with Eckerd Connects, on the background of Sneaux on the Geaux in the Next Level Now Collaborative’s recent January webinar, “Developing Critical Skills for the Future Workforce: Entrepreneurial Skills Training.”

As a follow up to our January webinar on youth entrepreneurship, a Roundtable event on the same topic was held on March 5th. We encourage you to go to the Roundtable event page to view the recording.

If you’re interested in learning more about resources for youth in the world of work, please join the Youth Connections, and Youth Build communities on WorkforceGPS!

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2024
• Posted by: Damon Jones
• Posted in: Next Level Now