Whenever you speak with Girls Inc., St. Louis CEO Cheryl Jones, you know she means business.
Whether it’s developing a Saturday session on the importance of voting and understanding the legislative process or finding ways to enhance young women’s exposure to financial planning and entrepreneurship, Jones is always looking for new educational opportunities.
When the opportunity to partner with First Bank to launch the Girls Inc. Entrepreneurship and Business Academy (GEBA), Jones quickly took advantage.
“This is right in our wheelhouse,” Jones said of the program which will introduce young women in grades 8 through 15, primarily of color, to business and entrepreneurial professionals, curriculum, and opportunities.
It will engage with a small cohort of young women (12 to 15) for five years with programming, hands-on-learning, internships, and college-preparation workshops.
“We want to start and maintain generational wealth and reach back into the community,” Jones said.
“These girls can take it and make the next girl better.”
GEBA is modeled after the successful Eureka! Program which exposes and engages young women to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers and fields.
Ellen Dierberg Milne, a First Bank board member, wanted to create a way to get young women who might not be exposed to business and entrepreneurship a chance to learn about it, meet women in these fields, and help them gain real-life work experience,
Dierberg Milne discussed her ideas with Stacy Clay, Midwest retail lead/director of community affairs, First Bank.
“When we met with Cheryl Jones, President and CEO, Girls Inc. St. Louis, we knew we had found the right partner,” said Clay.
Beginning to educate girls in the ways of business and entrepreneurship at an early age will help them for years to come, according to Dierberg Milne.
“If we can reach the girls before they start high school, we can give them the skills to become leaders in entrepreneurship,” she said.
“We ask them to not only pay attention to the world around them, but to also do research on women in business around the world [and] find women in careers that would excite them.
“We want them to find a goal for themselves and use that as they go on the path to adulthood.”
Jones said the program emphasizes self-reliance and confidence that the girls can overcome “pitfalls” that may come their way.
“Don’t let [lack of] money or contacts limit you. Continue to build dreams. Use critical thinking skills to open doors. Don’t allow yourself to be put in a box.
First Bank has committed $25,000 per year for a three-year commitment. The partnership was announced on Nov. 9, 2023, at the Girls Inc. Strong, Smart, and Bold Luncheon.
“We actually began thinking about adding a business component two years ago,” Jones explained.
“That’s when we began having conversations with members, parents and the board.”
Jones contacted Perry Drake , chair of the University of Missouri St. Louis Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, who has often worked with Girls Inc. It was one of the youth groups that Drake invited to his annual Midwest Digital Marketing Conference in May.
Drake brought in Carla Jordan, the director of undergraduate advising and student services for UMSL’s College of Business Administration, , and Corlia (Lia) Spears, the recruitment coordinator at UMSL’s College of Business Administration.
Drake told UMSL Daily the girls would be given a budget of about $100,000 “and they will figure out how to utilize that to promote their businesses.”
“We’re talking about artificial intelligence, software, cloud computing, marketing, developing a marketing plan, working with accounting ledger sheets, all of that. It’s a heavy workload, but it’s exciting,” he said.