Peel Black and Indigenous High School Students Pitch Winning Business Ideas While Gaining Digital and Entrepreneurship Skills

On July 31, 2023, more than 30 Black and Indigenous youth in grades 10 to 12 from the Peel Region competed in a team-based business pitch competition as part of an Advanced Digital and Professional Training (ADaPT) and Entrepreneurship co-op program delivered and developed by the Diversity Institute, Ted Rogers School of Management and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), in collaboration with Peel District School Board (PDSB) and the PDSB Leadership, Capacity Building & School Partnerships department.

The business pitch competition is an opportunity for the students to showcase the skills they developed during the program and to celebrate their entrepreneurial spirit. Supported by the Ontario Government’s Black Youth Action Plan (BYAP) and HSBC the ADaPT and Entrepreneurship co-op program culminated in abusiness pitch competition. The program was one of two major projects and engagement opportunities with post-secondary institutions and employers. Unique to this program is that students were taught by university instructors and business leaders (while supported by two PDSB secondary teachers). 

Among their instructors were leaders from across North America: Kareem Perez, executive director, The Tech Effect; Dr. Susan Swayze, CEO & founder, Diversity Think Tank and associate professor at George Washington University; Uchechi Ezurike-Bosse, author, entrepreneur and founder, My Empowered Living; Sylvia Osbourne, professor at Centennial College; Chris Campbell, director of equity, diversity and inclusion, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America; Derek Bailey, director of Network Transformation Architectures, Cisco; and more.

All participants developed digital skills, completing online modules and applying those skills to building websites in team settings. They also had the opportunity to visit tech giant Cisco, George Brown College’s waterfront campus and Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as the Brampton Venture Expo, which offered several opportunities for students to network with digital and entrepreneurial experts and learn about the start-up space.

“The Peel District School Board is delighted to work with partners like TMU to collaborate to equip students with necessary employability skills, experiential learning opportunities and networking so they are future-ready. As director, removing barriers to success for all students and ensuring strong pathways and transitions is a priority,” said Rashmi Swarup, director of education, PDSB.

The winning pitches

After completing five weeks of training and meeting with industry and academic experts, the students were well prepared for the business pitch competition. Four executives from HSBC—Bunmi Akpomena, product Manager; Megon Campbell, head of personal and primary banking; Anupam Narula, head of chief control office; and Favour Eken, investigator, financial crime reporting—participated as judges and ranked the projects. It was a close competition full of innovative business concepts, but the judges deliberated and gave awards to the following teams: 

• First Place: Organic Beauty: An organic and natural products business that is eco-friendly and sustainable. Products include makeup, hair products and perfume. Tagline: "My natural beauty"
• Second Place: Mak: A bra and undergarments brand that caters to teens and tweens. Tagline: "A bra for your body"
• Third Place: Lodecy: An app that provides legal information to travelers to various destinations and connects users to law firms and legal help in foreign countries when needed. Tagline: "Your legal compass"

Training, wraparound supports and role models key to success 

“At the base of all our work is the recognition of the need to start early with training, with wraparound supports and, most importantly, with role models, because if you can’t see it you can’t be it,” said Wendy Cukier, founder of the Diversity Institute at the Ted Rogers School of Management. “While our work with the Future Skills Centre (external link)  and the 50 – 30 Challenge (external link)  focuses on access to employment and advancement, you cannot change the senior leadership representation at the top of an organization if you do not change who gets in the door.

“We need to invest upstream. The starting point for creating economic empowerment and generational wealth in Black and Indigenous communities is recognizing the pervasive reality of institutional racism, bias and microaggressions and challenging it at every turn. Whether in employment, leadership, entrepreneurship or the education system, the Diversity Institute works with partners to devise and implement solutions that will make a difference,” she said.

At the completion of the program, students earned two co-op credits (toward their Ontario Secondary School Diploma) and two professional “badges” from TMU, Advanced Digital and Professional Training (ADaPT) and Entrepreneurship, that will be highly valued on their résumés and social media work profiles for future employers to see.  

All of the students who participated received Chromebooks, also courtesy of HSBC, and walked away with a tremendous learning experience. Students, families and educators said they left proud of their work. “For myself, the program was very good. She learned a lot of new things and even the teachers were fantastic,” said a parent of one of the participants, Cylina Agborchi, adding that her daughter Shireen has had a different way of looking at herself since she started the program. “Thank you to every one of you who put in the time and resources to make the program a success. I will love Shireen to be part of the program again next year,” she said. 

The Diversity Institute and PDSB, with support from the Future Skills Centre, have partnered on several programs to support equity-deserving youth with skills development, tutoring employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.