Bossgirls is a summer entrepreneurship program from the Zahn Innovation Center at The City College of New York (CCNY) for high school (current 9th-12th graders) girls and nonbinary students. The program is fully sponsored by Standard Chartered, as part of its Futuremakers Initiative. Check out the accomplishments of our 2024 cohort here.
If you’ve ever thought about running your own business, inventing something new, or being part of a movement to create change in the world, Bossgirls is for you! You’ll join a community of other bossgirls like yourself to discover entrepreneurship. You and a team of other bossgirls will focus on a problem, come up with an innovative solution for it, research the market, compare competitors, learn how to price your product & prototype it, and create a brand around your idea. At the end of the program, you’ll pitch your idea to an audience--think Shark Tank without the sharks. All the while, you’ll get to meet entrepreneurs & get advice from expert mentors from Standard Chartered, our program sponsor.
And just so your parents know... our goal is to introduce entrepreneurship to you as not only a possible career path, but a mindset that advances any course of learning. Our curriculum puts the customer first, introducing you to a human-centered design approach to problem-solving. You’ll learn how to analyze a problem and find a business opportunity within it. Plus, having this on your resume or college application looks great!
The Summer 2025 program will be hosted in-person at The City College of New York (160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031).
The schedule is as follows (subject to change):
- 5 week program
- Mondays - Thursdays 10:30am-1:30pm
- First day: Monday, June 30, 2025
- Last day: Thursday, July 31, 2025
Please carefully review our eligibility requirements:
- Current high school girls and nonbinary students (9th - 12th graders)
- If you are currently in 12th grade and will be out of high school this summer, you are still eligible.
- If you are currently in 8th grade, please consider applying next year.
Residents of the tri-state region and commute to CCNY campus this summerCan commit to the full duration of the program
We look for students who can think critically, communicate clearly and collaborate with others. Strong applicants should demonstrate their motivation for the program and curiosity about entrepreneurship, business and creative problem solving, though no prior experience is required. They should also be open-minded, responsible, empathetic and community-minded.
We accept applications on a rolling basis, but The final deadline is Monday, March 31, 2025 at 11:59pm