Our Programs
Gray Matter Experience exists to provide opportunities for Black High School students to learn about and practice entrepreneurship at an early age. Gray Matter provides an environment and community where Black students can explore business and creative areas within an innovative space - fostering the development of entrepreneurial skills, mindsets, self-agency, and the transferability of these skills and mindsets into school, career, and life.
Our students gain knowledge, access and resources to transform the way they and others view their communities. They collaborate to develop solutions around problems that plague their communities and use their newfound knowledge gained through The Gray Matter Experience, to help shape their business approach.
These students are becoming well equipped to navigate through our booming technological and entrepreneurial economy. They're learning to use the resources and information gained through the program to catapult their futures to great success. They're learning to be change agents within their communities with the hope of continuing to rebuild and reinvigorate their neighborhoods as they achieve various forms of success. These students are #GMEChangers.
HEAR FROM SOME OF OUR STUDENTS
MCKAYLA CARRUTHERS
Cohort 2 Alumni
JULIEN SIMS
Cohort 4 Alumni
JOVONEY MORTON
Cohort 2 Alumni, Design Intern
Bootcamps
Our Bootcamps are foundational entrepreneurship development courses for teens across the country aged 14 - 24. Each Bootcamp gives students the opportunity to explore entrepreneurship through hands-on, practical applications. Throughout each program, students are exposed to people, places and information to help them better understand and gain access to the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Bootcamp I - “IDEATE” - Our 10-week foundational course in entrepreneurship teaches the basics of how to think like an entrepreneur, strategies and tactics of generating a strong & viable business idea - and a host of soft skills that will ensure our young entrepreneurs' success.
Bootcamp II - “ACTIVATE” - Our 2nd level course in entrepreneurship, where participants take a validated idea for a product or service, and build an MVP to go to market. Students learn to better understand the customer journey, market research and will have the opportunity to test their idea in the marketplace.
Bootcamp III - "ACCELERATE" - Our summer Accelerator is designed for teens who have business ideas and need more resources to execute that idea AND teens who are already running businesses, but need more support to grow their company. Through our 9-week program, they'll be connected to the resources, coaches, curriculum and support needed to launch and grow their business. As a participant of the accelerator, students will also gain access to startup capital to help support the growth of their business.
Hustle Hacks
Our newest program, Hustle Hacks, is designed to help teens and young adults who are already running businesses, but need more support to grow and put structure around what they've started. Through our 8-week program, participants will learn best practices for building more effective operations, money management, accounting and bookkeeping, and tips on how to better engage customers. The program curriculum also focuses on other areas that we see small minority-owned businesses struggling with most, including customer service, marketing and branding, and strategic planning, to name a few. By the end of the program, you'll be connected to the resources, coaches, and support you need to launch and grow your business. Learn more and apply here.
Interested in partnering with Gray Matter to bring our programming to your schools or organization?