Square1

We seek support for our High School NEXT program, which we deliver to over 30 Greater Cincinnati-area high schools and middle schools, with a focus on schools in low-income areas. NEXT impacts the attitudes and outcomes of our community’s future workforce and next generation of leaders. We help students develop key professional skills, learn about social equity, and navigate the rapidly changing workforce. Square1 will use donations generated through Cincinnati Gives to enhance our ability to address these challenges. 

Only 20 percent of students feel “very prepared” to enter the job market, according to the 2015 Workforce Readiness Survey conducted by McGraw-Hill. This is particularly true for students living in low socioeconomic areas who disproportionately lack access to the career guidance, professional networks, and resources compared to their middle- and upper-class peers.  

NEXT fills this gap by teaching the skills necessary to succeed in academics or careers, including communication, networking, presentation, time management, and teamwork skills. We primarily work with low-income student populations who lack access to the resources provided in NEXT. In Cincinnati, children born into poverty have less than a 5% chance of escaping it (Xavier Community Building Institute). We empower underserved students with marketable career and life skills to help them escape generational poverty and close the opportunity gap.  We teach the ability to think critically, find creative solutions, take risks, and be innovative. 

How NEXT Works

The NEXT program is held in ongoing sessions throughout the school year with local middle and high school students. The program begins with students exploring how their personal interests can translate into the professional world, allowing them to dive deeper into exploring potential careers and industries. In this phase, students learn to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, refine their skillset, learn how to leverage LinkedIn, and build a professional network. 

The program then shifts to center around business formation. Students are asked to identify a social issue or unmet need in their community and develop a business or nonprofit that offers a solution to the problem. Students learn how to think critically as they refine their ideas to suit the market's needs. Students present their ideas in a series of pitch competitions to their peers and local professionals, culminating in the Final Pitch Competition. This process pushes students out of their comfort zone and refines their presentation skills, as well as their ability to welcome constructive criticism. 

Upon completion of NEXT, students gain unmatched exposure to professional networks, and the ability to leverage their new relationships. They leave the program with more confidence, a better sense of where they want to go in their education and career, and some even begin their entrepreneurial journey. Although Square1 is centered around entrepreneurship education, we recognize that starting a business is not for everyone. The value of our curriculum is in the multitude of essential skills that students gain when they learn to think like an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs must have the ability to solve complex problems that don’t have definite answers and use creativity to find innovative solutions to problems. Through entrepreneurial education, students learn to think outside the box, recognize their strengths, voice their ideas, collaborate with others, and many other professional skills that prepare them to enter the workforce.