The GEMZ, a mentoring and leadership program for girls between the ages of 11 and 18, hosted its first GEMZ STE(A)M and Entrepreneurship Camp on July 19 to 21. It was a full three days of activities that included sessions and workshops on voiceover technology, introduction to TV production facilitated by the Greenbelt Access Television, and personal branding.
On the second day, the girls participated in an all-day entrepreneurship workshop facilitated by BEACON DC at WeWorks in Washington’s Navy Yard neighborhood, where they were taught how to come up with a business idea by providing a solution to a pressing problem, conduct market research, create a business plan and minimum viable proposition, and the art of pitching. The girls brainstormed problems they would like to address including the lack of clean water in low income neighborhoods, enhancing mental health awareness, decreasing suicide rates among teens, create hygiene and body products with no harmful ingredients and the need to connect youth to age-appropriate volunteer opportunities in the D.C. metro area.
The last day included a hands-on software coding/programming class where the girls were taught how to code and build a personal or business webpage from scratch using html and java. The girls also participated in a science lab where they created unique personal fragrances. The day wrapped up with educating the girls on the importance of personal branding and how to stay safe online and on social media platforms. The camp was possible due to The GEMZ founder Adeola Ariyo Enikanoselu’s vision, The GEMZ volunteer staff and team, Greenbelt Community Foundation, City of Greenbelt, New Wave Foundation, BEACON DC and Walmart. For more information on The GEMZ visit makemeagem.org or send an email to info@makemeagem.org. The GEMZ’ social media pages (Facebook and Instagram) are @thegemzinc.