For the last fifty years, the Walker Career Center has helped students in Warren Township train for careers in various professions, including broadcasting and car repair. Now, with the help of InnoPower LLC and funding from the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI), students are setting their sights on becoming entrepreneurs.  

With classes held at Warren Central High School, the new curriculum is partnering with Ivy Tech Community College to help students focus on building an entrepreneurial mindset and approach to navigating life and building a startup business. The course is a full 16-credit course where students earn college credit for their work. Prospective students to the program even have to pass an Ivy Tech entrance exam to be accepted.    

InnoPower LLC is helping the Walker Career Center launch the program known as the Talent Rich Initiative. InnoPower CEO Emil Ekiyor says, “We know opportunity is unequal in urban cities like Indianapolis. Those trapped in poverty live with little investment, low financial services, and almost no ownership. The Talent Rich Initiative will empower students from the Far Eastside with the entrepreneurial skills to overcome the cycle of poverty they face daily.” 

InnoPower also provides mentors and access to field trips for the program. It’s all part of an effort to build the next generation of Black business leaders while developing an entrepreneurial mindset in students. “When you continue challenging them, you cast a vision of themselves that they don’t even see,” Ekiyor says. 

Meredith Bryant, an instructor at the Walker Career Center, says students in the program are working on brainstorming and developing business plans as part of their curriculum. She says a spark was lit with the group when they held a pitch competition, and students formed groups and began sharing ideas.

Bryant also says one key to the program’s success is the buy-in and support from the community. She was surprised to see the way business leaders stood behind the program and offered their support to students and staff members. 

To learn more about the program, visit https://wcc.warren.k12.in.us. 

SPONSORED BY: IEDC