Disclosure: In partnership with VentureLab, this post is the third in a series about their summer camps. In exchange for learning and sharing about VentureLab’s camps, I am being provided with complimentary camps for my children to attend. No other compensation will be received and all opinions are mine.
When VentureLab CEO Cristal Glangchai started her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, she noticed she was practically the only woman around. While working for 3M in Austin, she was the only woman. Other engineers would see her and ask her to bring them coffee!
While earning her her PhD in biomedical engineering, Cristal started a drug development company and – again – realized no women were there to join her. After eight years in that company, she decided to do something about the lack of women in her chosen field. Joining the faculty at Trinity University to teach engineering, Cristal added a focus on entrepreneurship to her classes when it became obvious that the young women she taught had never been exposed to the idea.
Not long after, she created VentureLab to introduce the idea of entrepreneurship to kids as young as five years old.
Five seems young to some people to teach kids to become entrepreneurs, but I believe that it’s the BEST time to teach them. At VentureLab we tell kids they can do anything – design apps, build things, start their own companies – BEFORE they get into junior high.”
Last summer when VentureLab started, their programs were for girls only, allowing the campers to feel comfortable speaking up and sharing their ideas openly, something they may not have felt as free to do when boys are around.
The camps were wildly popular and parents of boys asked for camps for their sons. This year, VentureLab offers girls-only and co-ed summer camps for kids ages 5-19. Camp topics include youth startup 101, gamer, and urban farmer. Full descriptions are on the VentureLab website.
Through VentureLab, Cristal and her team are inspiring a new generation to become creators, developers, and business owners. Kids learn at a young age that anything is possible, opening them up to future professions they never knew existed.
VentureLab’s curriculum is based in science and core educational classes that students need to learn. We deliver it all in a fun way and with an entrepreneurial twist – kids grow to see themselves as business leaders.”
VentureLab’s weekly summer camps start on June 6 and run through August 22. Spaces are still available. Register your kids to open them up to a world of entrepreneurial possibilities!
More about VentureLab:
Entrepreneurial summer camps for kids from VentureLab – FAQs
VentureLab: STEM summer camps with an entrepreneurial twist
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