Grant brings business, STEM concepts to girls in Inspiring Minds Summer camp.

WARREN

Treona Crenshaw, 15, has participated for two years in Inspiring Minds Summer Camp and says it’s been time well spent.

“They show us the world,” Treona, a sophomore at Warren G. Harding High School, said. “I’ve seen things I’ve never seen before and probably wouldn’t get to see” without the program.

Friday, Treona and 25 other young women at the camp learned how to make a business plan, pitch it to potential investors and develop a website for it.

The Youngstown Business Incubator received a $5,000 grant from the AT&T Aspire program to introduce entrepreneurial principles and science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts to the girls in Inspiring Minds Summer camp.

The girls range in age from 14 to 18.

“We’re focusing on introducing young girls to entrepreneurship,” said Stephanie Gilchrist, director of YBI’s Women in Entrepreneurship.

Friday began with the girls, divided into teams, coming up with ideas for their own businesses.

Each business had to give back to the community in some way.

“They did a phenomenal job,” Gilchrist said.

Read what happened in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.