Youth entrepreneurship in action
July 23, 2025 ·
Contributed by: Natalie Plechinger, Communications Assistant
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Entrepreneurship does not always begin with a clear plan – it often starts with curiosity, collaboration and the motivation to try something new.
To encourage entrepreneurial endeavours among Hamilton’s youth, this past year DeGroote partnered with Junior Achievement South Western Ontario. Their programming provides underserved youth with the opportunity to delve into the entrepreneurial world. After being away for 15 years, the program returned to Hamilton with DeGroote’s support, providing high school students with the skills, support and knowledge to develop a business. The Hamilton team navigated challenges along the way but ended up winning the southwestern Ontario regional competition. This summer they advanced to the national finals where they competed with teams from across Canada in the Social Enterprise Category.
Participants of this program successfully navigated the complexities of starting a business while turning to creativity and philanthropy to give back to their community. By embracing an entrepreneurial mindset, the Hamilton team not only ran a successful venture, but also developed personal and professional skills.
About the JA Company Program
The Junior Achievement Company Program is an 18-week experiential entrepreneurship after-school program for students in Grades 9 to 12. This safe learning space allows youth to explore several aspects of running a business including developing team roles, participating in pitch competitions and a social media challenge, in addition to learning financial education.
This year’s Hamilton team included 16 students who came together to take on different employment responsibilities, create a product to sell, and launch a company. “They were truly an exceptional group of students,” says Karen Chafe, Director, Programs & Operations, Junior Achievement South Western Ontario. “They really embraced the experience, and they had a great group of mentors who encouraged them to dream big and overcome some of the challenges that they experienced.”
Students were tasked with building a fully operational business, which required creating a team of vice presidents to oversee areas such as marketing, finance and human resources. “What is unique about the Company Program is that it is a larger group of students working on one project together, and that’s part of the challenge,” explains Chafe.
Throughout this process, the student team navigated challenges and resolved disagreements, learning the importance of collaboration to ensure the success of their business. Students were guided along the way by volunteer mentors Richard Dunda, Trinity Allen and Liam Dunda.
The Hamilton team, named “Cherish n’ Care,” developed a product called “BrightBox” – a kit filled with various art supplies like stickers, crayons and colouring pages and creative activities including a DIY bear – designed to spark creative expression in children.
More than simply selling a unique product, the Hamilton team established a community connection by partnering with the Boys and Girls Club (BGC) Hamilton-Halton to raise money for the local organization.
“The way that they formed community partnership behind their product motivated them to do more because they were seeing the impact they were having,” explains Chafe. “It wasn’t just a business; it was also having that bigger impact in their community which is something we try to foster for young people to create that change.”
However, executing their vision came with challenges. “They were struggling with how to create and market the creativity kit,” explains Chafe. “The original concept was a kit specifically for children who are going through illness or having a lengthy hospital stay. So that is why the audience focus pivoted, looking broadly at young people and how they could influence their ability to be creative.”
Entrepreneurship in action
To effectively market their product and reach their target demographic, the Hamilton team turned to the digital marketplace.
“They were able to identify that with the digital age and so much exposure to video content, games and online experiences, there’s not as many encouraging things that you can get for a child that’s going to foster creativity,” explains Chafe.
To bridge the gap between hands-on creativity and the digital world, the team implemented digital aspects within each BrightBox, such as a QR code. The code linked to instructions on how to make a teddy bear out of a washcloth and elastic bands, blending traditional creativity with digital learning.
This strategy proved to be successful, with the team selling almost $3,000 worth of products in just a few weeks. Staying true to their commitment to community, the team set a goal to donate $5 from every product sold back to charity and proudly donated $500 to BGC Hamilton-Halton.
And in true entrepreneurial spirit, the profit Cherish n’ Care made meant students saw a return on their original investment. Students raised capital to start the business by purchasing a $25 share in the company. They were able to turn that investment into $71.94, an impressive 187 per cent return on their investment.
‘Outstanding Company of the Year’ was awarded to Team Hamilton’s entrepreneurial venture Cherish n’ Care. They won regionals where they competed against 14 teams across southwestern Ontario.
The importance of experiential learning
In addition to making a positive impact on their community, students of the program gained tangible skills, developed their confidence, plus learned how to navigate challenges as a team.
“High school students are at a very pivotal time in their lives where they are formulating their understanding of the world and their sense of self. Experiential learning allows them to become active versus passive learners, and to have ownership in their own learning and how they navigate that understanding of self and world,” explains Chafe. “An experience like Junior Achievement encourages creative thinking and problem-solving that students need to have as they navigate the challenges of today’s world, and they learn through experience that there are many roads to addressing a problem.”
Through participation in this program, students explored numerous paths to entrepreneurship, learned how to navigate team dynamics, and gained the tools needed to run a successful business. Along the way, students also developed skills in collaboration, leadership and communication – building a strong foundation for both personal and professional growth. This year, the Hamilton team exemplified these qualities by winning the regional competition where they were up against 14 teams across southwestern Ontario. The next step of their journey led the team to secure a spot as winner of the Social Enterprise category at the national JA Company of the Year competition.
“Ultimately, through this experience, we’re hoping that young people are able to figure out what they’re capable of, to build self-esteem and to come away from this experience with confidence that they can face the big challenges in life head-on, to have the skillset to navigate their own personal lives, but also to have that positive impact in the community,” says Chafe.
High school students can get involved in the JA Company Program next year. For more information and to register, please visit the JA website.
Inspiring entrepreneurship at DeGroote
Supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs is a key pillar of DeGroote’s business education, which emphasizes opportunities for hands-on learning.
“The DeGroote School of Business is proud to partner with Junior Achievement to support young learners in developing their entrepreneurship skills,” says Sarah King, Manager, Experiential Learning-Academic at the DeGroote School of Business.
“Both of our organizations are committed to fostering entrepreneurial skills and mindsets in our students and an effective way to engage students is through these rich experiential learning opportunities. By helping young people see themselves as entrepreneurs early in their academic journey, we help foster a new generation of business leaders in our communities.”
DeGroote looks forward to hosting Junior Achievement students this upcoming season in the McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery, a purpose-built facility designed to foster entrepreneurship and enrich the student learning experience in a dynamic university setting. The McLean Centre will prepare students for the future of business by fostering collaboration, creativity and a hands-on approach to learning. This innovative space is where DeGroote and McMaster students, faculty, staff and community partners will come together to solve authentic problems and tackle challenges facing society.
The Marinucci Entrepreneurial Bridge will be the physical home of entrepreneurship at McMaster. This dedicated space will support innovation at every stage—from ideation to scale—through mentorship, resources and experiential programs that turn ideas into impact. To become involved in McMaster’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, please contact askmccd@mcmaster.ca.
Visit McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery for more information.
