The ARK Entrepreneurial · Chicago
Inspire.Educate.Transform.
The ARK equips youth and young adults ages 6–24 with the skills, mentorship, and real-world experience to become entrepreneurs, innovators, and creators of opportunity.
The ARK equips youth and young adults ages 6–24 with the skills, mentorship, and real-world experience to become entrepreneurs, innovators, and creators of opportunity.
Four pathways, one mission: helping young people discover what they're capable of, build marketable skills, and create opportunity for themselves and their communities.
Hi I am Baby BossAshton!
As a Boss Baby at The ARK, you learn the basics of entrepreneurship through fun and play-based activities. You'll be introduced to customer service, basic counting, service skills, and product distribution in a way that's engaging and age-appropriate.
Hi I am Mini BossMelanie!
As a Mini Boss at The ARK, you dive deeper into the world of business. You'll learn how to create a business plan, develop marketing strategies, explore graphic design, and bring your product ideas to life. The best part? You'll receive funding to create your products and showcase them at our annual Youth Boss Expo!
Hi I am Big BossAkyla!
As a Big Boss at The ARK, you receive all the training provided to Mini Bosses — but with an added level of professionalism. You'll have the opportunity to legally register your business as an LLC and take real steps toward becoming a young CEO.
Hi I amJaime!
Be Entrepreneurial at The ARK is a workforce development program for young adults who want to innovate without the risks of business ownership. This program introduces intrapreneurship — teaching how to lead, create, and problem-solve within the security of an established organization.
Delivered through our Summer Camp and After-School Program · Financial assistance available
To create opportunities for inner-city youth through entrepreneurial development.
Our students don't just practice — they build real ventures. When you hire a Mini-Boss, you get quality work and they get the experience that turns learning into opportunity.
Two of our Mini Bosses were hired by a Chicago Public School to cater its End-of-Summer Celebration — one selling ice cream, one selling guacamole. In their words:
Being a Mini Boss taught me that my business can go beyond selling to family and friends. I was hired by a Chicago Public School to cater ice cream for their End-of-Summer Celebration! I got to take what I learned at The ARK about entrepreneurship, customer service, and running a business and use it with a real customer.
It felt good knowing that a school trusted my business to serve their students and families. I'm not just learning about entrepreneurship, I'm actually an entrepreneur!
I started by learning how to turn something I enjoy making into a real business. Now, I was hired by a Chicago Public School to cater my guacamole for their End-of-Summer Celebration!
The ARK taught me how to think like a business owner, talk about my product, serve customers, and understand that people will actually pay you for something you create. Getting hired for a real event showed me that I can take my idea and turn it into an opportunity.
Our new development at 2221 S. Lawndale Ave. will bring even more room for Chicago's next generation of entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders.
Cameras, code, business plans, and big ideas — a look inside a week at The ARK.
Bosses at work
Class in session
Chicago made
Your support gives young people access to skills, mentors, transportation, technology, and real work experiences — the opportunity to turn ideas into action. This isn't charity. It's an investment in Chicago's next founders, innovators, and leaders.
The ARK Entrepreneurial is a nonprofit organization · Tax ID 42-3240734
