By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Through the help of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore teens are learning how to turn their ideas into businesses.
“It’s given me the mindset and the opportunity to expand my foam roller business,” said Brayden K. Leake, a student at Archbishop Curley High School who participated in the PrattPreneur program this summer. “I was given full creative control of my business with the assistance of multiple mentors. I was able to create my logo and to see my idea come to life. Knowing what steps to take legally has helped me to understand the back side of the business. It’s more than just having a product and selling it.”
The PrattPreneur Program is a six-week summer program for teens aged 14 to 16 in grades ninth through 11th. It guides participants through business development, pitching and product creation. Students also receive a marketing package and a stipend for participating.
“We’re not just thinking about opportunities or something for students to just do throughout the summer, but wanting to leave the lasting impression and plant seeds within our youth,” said Alayna “Lay” Davenport, director of the PrattPreneur and PrattForm programs for the Enoch Pratt Free Library. “We want to create a pipeline, an ecosystem that will encourage and empower students to pursue non-traditional pathways such as entrepreneurship.”
The PrattPreneur program, which has just wrapped up its second year, is now getting a sister program that will allow students to continue shaping their business ideas with the help of mentors at Enoch Pratt. The new PrattForm program will extend the help PrattPreneur offers into a year-round opportunity running from October 2025 through April 2026.
Four students from the PrattPreneur program will be joining the PrattForm program. One of them is 15-year-old Brayden.
Brayden said one of the most valuable skills he has learned through the program is being a boss.
“Being a boss sometimes means you have to be fair as well as make some hard decisions in order for your business to be successful,” he said.
He said he looks forward to leaning into the community of teens and mentors that the new program will provide over the coming year.
“We can support each other,” he said.
The expansion will offer teens access to ongoing workshops, pop-up events to network and pitch their businesses and gain hands-on experience.
Davenport said students throughout the Baltimore area are welcome to apply for the PrattPreneur program. The PrattForm program is currently exclusive to PrattPreneur graduates.
“They’ve been able to have conversations around fiscal responsibility, the fiduciary component of running a business and how that translates into personal banking on financing and integrity,” said Davenport. “This is something that our youth, specifically our Black youth, will be able to carry with them…. They will never forget it.”
Through the support of Enoch Pratt’s entrepreneurial programs, Brayden said he hopes to open several businesses and gain wealth, and hopes the same for the other teens that participate.
“I want all of us to be successful,” said Brayden. “There’s enough money out there for everyone.”