Student Resources
Girls Summer Entrepreneurship Program
June 9-13th 2025
What is it:
A week-long program aimed at rising YWLA juniors and seniors, to offer first-hand exposure to entrepreneurship through skill-building workshops and live interactions with some of San Antonio’s brightest start-ups.
Click here watch a highlight reel and read a review of the 2024 Program!
Why we are offering it:
We want to expose YWLA students to the vast arena of entrepreneurship, to empower our young women to see the potential of where their own dreams could take them!
Participating students will meet and mingle with small business owners & entrepreneurs to hear about these leaders’ diverse backgrounds and paths to success. More importantly, they will walk away from the experience with an introduction to invaluable life skills such as how to thrive in ambiguity, the lifecycle of an idea from concept to execution, how to prepare and deliver a convincing pitch to potential investors, and the benefits of failing early and often (hint: it builds resilience!)
How it works:
We have partnered with Geekdom, VentureLab, The Entrepreneurial World, and Trinity University’s Neirdoff School of Business to build an enriching curriculum that will expose the students to what it really means to be an entrepreneur!
The first three days (M-T-W) of the week are a combination of academic concepts that focus on new venture development, and scheduled visits to various entrepreneurship-focused organizations and local businesses, where students will hear directly from experienced entrepreneurs. Students will also engage in a Women in Entrepreneurship panel discussion with local female business owners.
Thursday and Friday will be workshop days, whereby the students will work in co-founder teams of 2 to apply what they have learned by ideating on a new business venture, and pulling together a brief pitch presentation for their idea. We will have real-life entrepreneurs on hand to help coach and mentor the students during this time.
The program culminates on Saturday morning, with the student teams engaging in a Shark Tank-style pitch event, judged by a panel of industry experts. The students’ families are invited to join us for this event, and there will be a celebratory reception to wrap up the week after the pitch event.
Logistics & Key Info:
The program will take place from June 9-13th, 2025.
The exact times of the program will be communicated shortly. Expect 9-4PM
GSEP is entirely free to students
Applications close May 15th, 2024
We will accept a maximum of 16 students for the week
Chaperoned transportation will be provided by YWLA
Lunch & snacks will be provided by our generous partners & the YWLA advisory board
Girls should bring a water bottle, pen/pencil and notebook with them each day
YWLA-provided laptops will be made available for the students to develop their pitches on days 4 and 5
