The BizWorld Foundation The 28th Annual Entrepreneurship Education FORUM Nov 12 - 16, 2010 - Columbus, Ohio

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The BizWorld Foundation

inspires children to be innovative leaders through the teaching of entrepreneurship, business and finance

. We connect third to eighth grade students to the real world by providing curricula, training educators and fostering collaboration between education and business.

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What Is The Issue We Address?

• Lack of business education creates a shortage of business-savvy or financially aware adults • More financially educated adults make better economic decisions, resulting in greater economic stability 3

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Education is the key to an innovative workforce, but faces significant obstacles:

• Only 50% high school graduation rate in our highest need communities • Only 50% of 8 th graders perform at grade level • Urban boys are more likely to go to jail than graduate from high school • Girls less interested and proficient in STEM according to recent research •

These education issues have national and international implications:

• National unemployment rate at 10% • Mortgage defaults at an all-time high • Record federal deficits and trade imbalances • U.S. losing it’s competitive edge to other industrialized nations 4

The U.S. must retain its competitive edge in innovation and continue to focus on highest value creative work:

The Report of The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce 5

What Change Are We Trying To Create?

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Systemic:

Contribute to cultivating a stronger presence of business and entrepreneurship in education •

Individual:

Contribute to creating a stronger society of accountable adults: responsible decision-makers, informed consumers, smart voters 6

Why Could This Change Happen Now?

• Education system facing pressure to innovate • Multiple stakeholders focused on education outcomes • New education structures create entry points for business learning • Children possess real economic decision making power • Business landscape more transparent and in the news 7

Why We Need Financial Education Today

• Use the current economic climate as a learning opportunity:

The President of the National Endowment for Financial Education describes the current financial crisis as “one of the greatest teachable moments that’s ever happened.”

• Inspire children to become our future economic leaders and innovators • Ensure an educated and skilled workforce, as well as a financially aware populace • Challenge our most ambitious students to apply their knowledge to the real world • Make sure all students have: • The economic tools they need to succeed • Knowledge about economic and financial principles • Awareness of the positive aspects of business 8

How BizWorld Works Education Matters

The new economic landscape requires that we prepare students to:

• Analyze and solve problems as part of a team • Exercise leadership in challenging projects • Apply their knowledge to real-world situations • Understand math and economic concepts, and how they relate to each other • Effectively communicate verbally and visually with their team and to an audience 9

Solutions That Work (What

We Can Do!)

• Start business education earlier (high school is already too late!) • Inspire students to become innovative leaders and financially responsible citizens • Leverage real-world project-based learning to teach critical life skills • Engage students with innovative, relevant, interdisciplinary curricula • Involve teachers, parents and community members in the learning process • Teach business principles to youth (and educators) in order to create a more financially literate society 10

What BizWorld Believes In

• The power of education to positively influence children • Financial and entrepreneurship education as tools for economic prosperity • The involvement of the private sector to bridge the gap between business and education • The ingenuity, creativity, and ability of children to create their own opportunities for success 11

2010 State of the States Study –Council for Economic Education

Entrepreneurial Education

Why it matters for Ohio

• K-12 economic education standards, guidelines, or proficiencies have been mandated in Ohio • Personal finance education is currently only required in high school • Ohio unemployment rate – 10%

The BizWorld Foundation

in Ohio

• Program currently being taught in 25 classrooms in Mason City School District (688 students) • Teachers have shared best practices through technology like wikis • Program has been taught in an additional 6 classrooms (165 students) • Great candidate for fulfilling professional development requirements for state licensed educators • Currently working with Ashland University in creating long term professional development program using BizWorld as the curriculum. Pilot program to be 25-60 educators

How BizWorld Works

• Developing innovative project-based curricula teaching entrepreneurship, business, and finance • Training educators and volunteers • Connecting classrooms to the real world • Providing community engagement opportunities • Sharing best practices • Emphasizing innovation, teamwork, problem-solving, creativity, leadership, and other 21 st Century skills 15

An Introduction to Our Programs

• 3-8 th Grade • 10-15 hours to implement • Aligned to standards • Project-based • Real-world math • Naturally differentiated • Interdisciplinary • Experiential • Teaches 21 st Century skills •Classroom/After School/Summer School • Effective for all students • Remedial, gifted, at-risk (RTI) • Character education • Career connections (CTE) • Special education • English learners • STEM integration • Engages community members/parents 16

The BizWorld Curricula

BizWorld

• Integrates business, entrepreneurship and finance as students start, fund, and run a company in a simulated real-world environment • Companies create revenue stream, deduct expenses, experience profit/loss, formulate income statement, and calculate company value

BizWiz

• Students form investment teams that set a financial goal, analyze economic forecasts and create an investment strategy • Students participate in simulated trading sessions to achieve their investment goal

BizMovie

• Integrates business and technology as students start, fund and run a movie production company • Students produce, market, and sell tickets to their animated film 17

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Setting the BizWorld Stage

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Pitching the BizWorld VC

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BizWorld Design and Manufacturing

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BizWorld Finance

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BizWorld Marketing Campaign

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The BizWorld Sales Bazaar!

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Over 270,000 students

have participated since 1997 •

Over 4,700 educators

teaching our programs • Successful programs in all

50 states

• Taught in over

80 countries

(with 4 major international partners, including Netherlands, Korea, India, and Singapore) •

Alliances

with schools, districts, after-school programs, non-profits, camps, and others • Students show

an average increase of 61%

in their understanding of basic business, math, and economic concepts after completing the BizWorld program 25

Why Educators Love BizWorld

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Embedded learning

: “academics in disguise” that are engaging for all learners (and fun for the teacher!) •

Reinforcement

of highly-tested concepts in meaningful context •

Relevant

: answers the age-old question, “Why are we learning this?” • Opportunity for integration of

21 st Century skills

• Model of

project-based interdisciplinary instruction

• Provides hands-on activities that culminate in a

showcase

(press release template to encourage community involvement provided) • Tool for developing

authentic relationships

between school, community, parents, teachers and after-school instructors to

close the achievement gap

• Meaningful platform for developing relationships with

community partners

for support and sustainability (mentoring/fundraising) •

Inexpensive and reusable

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Why Parents and Volunteers Love BizWorld

Parents

• Love to see their children learning life skills • Enjoy the opportunity to engage their children in conversations about what they do at work • Appreciate being able to volunteer in their child’s classroom in a meaningful way

Volunteers

• Easy to teach (no teaching experience necessary) • Flexible (can be taught in as few as 10 hours) • Utilizes their skill set (share time as well as expertise in business and finance) • Engagement (can develop long-term relationship with school by teaching every year) 27

Why Volunteers Love BizWorld

• Easy to teach (no teaching experience necessary) • Flexible (can be taught in as few as 10 hours) • Utilizes their skill set (share time as well as expertise in business and finance) • Engagement (can develop long-term relationship with school by teaching every year) • Fun! The kids love the program and love having volunteers to support them 28

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“BizWorld programs reach beyond what regular curriculum can deliver. I support their programs and see the terrific benefits.”

– Don Fisher, Founder, Gap, Inc.

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“I learned that you could do anything in life.”

– Luis, 5 th grade, Silver Hills Elementary School •

“I learned that to start a business you need to take risks and be creative, and I learned to work as a team efficiently.”

– Ananya, 5 th grade, Perry L. Drew Elementary, East Windsor, NJ •

“BizWorld is truly a joy to teach because our students learn life lessons through the program that will stick with them for years.”

– Heidi, Waxahachie Preparatory Academy, Waxahachie, TX 29

Who Are We?

• 501c3 non-profit • Nationwide organization based in San Francisco, CA • 15 employees (from education, public, and private sectors) • $1.6M budget • Major funders: • Financial institutions (e.g. Visa, Franklin Templeton, NYSE) • Venture capitalists (e.g. Draper Fischer Jurvetson) • Banks (Merrill Lynch/Bank of America, Wells Fargo/Wachovia) • Foundations and individual donors 30

How You Can Help

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Bring

BizWorld programs to your school or community •

Teach

or support the teaching of a class •

Visit

a classroom •

Invest

in our growth •

Spread the word

on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn •

Sign up

for our e-newsletter at www.bizworld.org

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Contact us:

415-503-5880/[email protected]

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