NYC Kid Entrepreneurs Pitch Inventions and Business Ventures to Industry Pros Today

LeAp's Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs, a unique entrepreneurial program serving up to 1,600 disadvantaged, at-risk, 3rd though 6th graders in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx, will celebrate the with students with winning inventions, apps and innovative business venture ideas at a culminating luncheon. Selected students from each 12 school gather to share their completed projects with professional entrepreneurs. The students will present their projects to invited industry professionals, receive feedback, and learn about what the next steps in their business plan should be.

TOMORROW'S ENTREPRENEURS LUNCHEON is set for today, June 18, 11:30am-1:30pm, at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park (enter park at 72nd Street).

LeAp' Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs Program, funded by Blackstone Charitable Foundation, gives underserved students an understanding of the business world and shows them how an innovative idea can be developed into a successful business venture. Through in-school residencies with LeAp Teaching Artists and visits from inventors and professional entrepreneurs, students are inspired to develop innovative service ideas and products.

"These students need to know that, regardless of resources and socio-economic background, they can rise to the top. Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs was developed to target this population and inspire them to realize their potential," said Ila Lane Gross, LeAp Executive Director.

Blackstone Charitable Foundation the funder of this program and its mission is to connect with innovative, early stage programs that directly support entrepreneurs globally and help these selected organizations pilot, expand or replicate projects or programs that will catalyze the growth of successful businesses, industries, and communities.

Learning through an Expanded Arts Program (LeAp) is a nonprofit, arts education organization committed to improving the quality of public education through a unique, hands-on, arts-based approach to teaching the core curriculum. Since 1977, LeAp has provided more than two million New York City students in kindergarten through 12th grade with music, dance, theater, digital media, and visual arts programs that directly teach the academic curriculum. LeAp offers in-school residencies, afterschool activities, teacher trainings, parent workshops, and assembly programs to schools citywide, conducts programs in hospitals, shelters, and cultural institutions and develops educational materials. LeAp is an innovative leader in the field of arts education, and has received major awards, grants, and endorsements from the United States Department of Education, New York City Department of Education, Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), The After School Corporation (TASC), and the offices of the mayor and governor. For more information, visit www.leapnyc.org.