About Us

Our Mission is to Create a Revolution of Socially Conscious Innovators, #OneKidAtATime.

Startup Skool is a community of creatives, trailblazers, visionaries, and most importantly, entrepreneurs. We are committed to educating youth on how to think with an entrepreneurial mindset, so that one day they can tackle our society’s most difficult social and environmental problems.

The landscape is changing. Careers that once existed are becoming obsolete. Youth are growing up educated yet unexperienced. The entrepreneurial mindset is about passion for solving real problems, creating opportunities in challenges, and adapting and growing in ever-changing circumstances. We need to prepare the next generation for this new landscape. Our programs focus on the core principles of entrepreneurship, design thinking, and technology. Through Startup Skool youth are equipped with the soft, technical, and creative skills they need to tackle the world in front of them.

How We Got Started:

Startup Skool was born from a set of experiments with elementary students in Victoria, BC. In order to test how youth would respond to the concept of entrepreneurship, a topic not currently studied in school, we began by giving these classes a $100 micro-loan and asking them to come up with ideas on how to use that loan to make even more money which would then be donated to their charity of choice. Throughout the process, we could sense their passion, excitement, and dedication to problem solving & execution of their ideas. The results were extraordinary. With businesses ranging from building bird houses to sell at a local market to selling green smoothies, these kids were able to turn that initial $100 investment into thousands of dollars for charity.
We realized that many characteristics of entrepreneurs are found in young students, but few are able to keep this mindset as they grow. By teaching youth the principles of entrepreneurship and harnessing their natural creativity, we’re arming the next wave of young leaders with the tools to one day tackle our society’s most difficult social and environmental problems in order to make real change.

Meet Ella, an inspiring 11 year old social entrepreneur!

Ella creates and sells her own sustainable bookmarks using sheep wool she collects from local farms and puts her profits towards the Southlands Therapeutic Riding Society, a project she is very passionate about. Ella joined our very first Innovation Camp and now helps us inspire more youth to learn about entrepreneurship and social responsibility. Follow @EllaPoms on her inspirational journey in becoming a social entrepreneur!