The ARK Entrepreneurial · Chicago
Inspire.Educate.Transform.
One ladder, ages 5 to 24 — from a first market stall to paid work for real clients, right here in Chicago.
One ladder, ages 5 to 24 — from a first market stall to paid work for real clients, right here in Chicago.
Four rungs on one ladder. A child joins at five and can still be here at twenty-four — by then being paid to do the work.
Hi I am Baby BossAshton!
As a Baby Boss 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.
Meet Ashton
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!
Meet Melanie
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.
Meet Akyla
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.
Meet Jaime
Delivered through our Summer Camp and After-School Program · Financial assistance available
To create opportunities for inner-city youth through entrepreneurial development.
They are not practicing. When you hire a Mini-Boss you get the work you paid for — and they get a client, a deadline and an invoice.
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.
A second home at 2221 S. Lawndale Ave., opening in 2028 — more classrooms, a technology lab, and room for the businesses that come out of them.
Cameras, code, business plans, and big ideas — a look inside a week at The ARK.
Class in session
Your money buys the things that make it real: materials to build a product, a mentor who picks up the phone, a bus fare, a wage. This isn't charity. It's an investment in Chicago's next founders.
The ARK Entrepreneurial is a nonprofit organization · Tax ID 42-3240734
