The mission of The Gray Matter Experience is to unlock the self-determining power of Black youth and strengthen their ties to community through real world experience in entrepreneurship.

Gray Matter aims to educate, empower and assist students in creating their own businesses while providing them access to resources and support to ensure students understand that their ideas are valid and vital to the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Meet Our Founder

Britney Robbins is the founder and CEO of The Gray Matter Experience. Britney has worked within Chicago's entrepreneurship and tech community for the past seven years working within some of Chicago's top venture capital firms and incubators including Sandbox Industries, Lightbank and 1871. She has been recognized as one of Ariel Investment, BMO Harris and WVON's 40 Under 40 Gamechangers, Essence Magazine's Woke 100, a finalist for Ebony Magazine's Power 100 People's Choice Award, featured on Fox32, Chicago Inno, BlackEntrepreneur.com, DNAInfo Chicago, Chicago Tribune, Forbes and Essence Magazine for her work through Gray Matter.   

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Britney is passionate about the intersection of entrepreneurship, education and youth and believes in empowering others to use their passions and strengths to create opportunities for themselves. In 2015, she authored and published her first children's book and is working to complete the second book of the series early 2020. Britney is committed to inspiring youth to reach their full potential and aims to continue to create channels for them to do so. 

Apply For The Gray Matter Experience

The Gray Matter Experience is a 12-week entrepreneurship exposure experience that gives select students across Chicago the opportunity to build their own business. During the program, you will work with students across the city learning business concepts from entrepreneurs and professionals. You'll then take that knowledge and create a business to help impact South and West Side communities. Throughout the program, you'll also go on several interactive field trips to see hands on applications of entrepreneurship and behind-the-scenes processes of some of Chicago's coolest industries. All participating students will receive financial stipends to be used towards a scholarship, internships or seed funding to start the businesses created during the program.

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Think You Have What It Takes To Be A Member Of The Gray Matter Experience?

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Are You?:
•  A current high school freshman, sophomore, junior or senior 
• Available to attend each program session
• Full of determination, able to work well in teams, not afraid to take
risks, confident, reliable and passionate about finding ways to improve their communities/city

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