Girls With Impact Spring Program Now Open for Registration

Girls With Impact (GWI) offers a free 10-week entrepreneurship program to high school students at MCPS. Developed with Harvard leaders, this program focuses on building critical business and leadership skills through a hands-on curriculum that covers topics including business planning, marketing and financial literacy.

Read how this program impacted the lives of three students.

Girls With Impact Prepares Me For My Future 

Annelise Allport, a senior at Poolesville High School, has plans to own her own business one day.

She came to GWI for a specific purpose—to learn how to be a business owner.

“My favorite part of the course was seeing my business plan presentation finally come together,” she said. “This program helped me solidify the direction I want to take in my career journey.”

Annelise said she learned a lot in the program’s 10 weeks, including budgeting, attracting and building relationships with customers, and dealing with finances.

“I never realized that social skills and budgeting are practically the backbone of your business and without these you would never be able to run a successful business,” she said.

Annelise believes other young women should participate in GWI to learn skills beyond what students are taught in school. “Knowledge from this course can even be applied to everyday life, even if you end up choosing not to do anything business-related in your future,” she said. “It’s an amazing opportunity and you will come out of it feeling more confident in yourself!”

Girls With Impact Sharpens My Presentation Skills 

A junior at Winston Churchill High School, Jaylin Adames got involved with GWI to gain leadership experience and pick up business tips. She was one of five students chosen to present her business venture—affordable curly hair products with healthy ingredients. She said that making the business pitch was her favorite part of the program; she also enjoyed collaborating with MCPS students from other schools.

She said that GWI helped hone her presentation skills and learn business management skills.

The program also helped her realize she wanted to pursue nursing and business degrees in college.

“Hopefully, I’ll open a private practice and be able to manage it with my new business skills,” she said.

Girls With Impact Boosts Confidence 

Elisha Senga, a senior at Quince Orchard High School, credits the Girls With Impact (GWI) program with boosting her confidence, prioritizing her well-being and learning the value of serving the community.

“We are all capable of making a difference,” Elisha said. “One of the GWI lessons was not about how you can make profit, but what you can do for the community. I will take that with me into college and for the rest of my life.”

During the program, she entered a business venture competition and won first place (and $1,000). Her business idea, Unicart, is a subscription-based application that delivers nutritious meal plans and chore management solutions for university students. Unicart aims to provide convenience and affordability, and prioritizes the mental health of students.

Elisha said GWI was a perfect opportunity for her and she encourages other young women to participate. The program is “exactly where we need to be. GWI is for us!”

Registration Now Open: The spring session of GWI, begins the week of March 3. Learn more and register.