With National Black Business Month in full swing, all eyes are on boosting the entrepreneurial sector that holds the second-strongest link to wealth creation among African Americans.
Here in the nation’s capital, advocates say the emphasis starts an ecosystem as youth-led as it is action-driven; at least that was the consensus among the scholars who benefited from the Youth Entrepreneur Institute’s (YEI) annual KidBizCON.
“It actually just emphasizes how little kids can actually do stuff. Middle school, elementary … our program opens up that base,” said Deloris Betty, YEI alumna and founder of Chill N Thrill. “It’s open to help [kids pursue] a creative mind, creative space, to even want to build a business. I feel like it’s a very good start, influencing other people how I was influenced to build [my own].”
According to Betty, that spirit shone across the products that scoured Bard High School Early College DC for KidBizCON 2026 — the very institution that birthed her own trek to innovation as a freshman at the Southeast school in 2021.
Hosted Aug. 3-4, the momentous affair convened more than 200 participants, plus 30+ youth-owned businesses, entrepreneurs, community and industry leaders in a celebration highlighting the importance of investing in young minds.
“At YEI, we believe entrepreneurship doesn’t just create businesses — it creates futures,” said Tacharna Crump, founder and executive director of Youth Entrepreneur Institute. “KidBizCON isn’t just about teaching entrepreneurship — it’s about creating an ecosystem where young people can build businesses, connect with mentors, and discover what’s possible when their ideas are supported.”
A culmination of a five-week grind, the two-day affair celebrated the breadth of local entrepreneurial talent while showing future leaders how to create lasting impact in their communities — and quite literally in the palm of their hands.
Day one kicked off with dozens of enterprises — from novel attractions to returning vendors — lining the Southeast D.C. gymnasium in a triple-feature Youth Business Pitch Competition, marketplace, and VIP Preview.
Students as young as 9-year-old Journey Walker donned pride and creativity in a vast array of businesses that many developed through the YEI program. Plus, the added incentive of $1,500 in total cash prizes offered a gateway to scaling the visions proudly showcased on Aug. 3.
“To have something that you know you built, you own it … and it can’t be taken from you … it teaches something that is not taught in schools: understanding [how to go] into business for yourself,” YEI lead cosmetic instructor, who goes by Mark Untitled Love, told The Informer, “not just product selling, but how to sell yourself as a person.”
According to YEI, no topic was off limits for the young minds at the helm of innovation, including discussions on marketing, product innovation, advocacy, community leadership, digital fabrication, and business creation.
Thus, education met empowerment at KidBizCON’s Leadership Lab Experience on Aug. 4, which hosted eight interactive lab rotations led by entrepreneurs, business professionals, educators, makers, and community advocates.
More than that, YEI advocates note the value of teaching youth to thrive in environments where high stakes meet high rewards, and in many cases, the outcome is a better society overall.
“These things that the world doesn’t tell you that [youth] are, and [the negatives] that they might start to believe … I think this [does] a really good job at encapsulating a safe and welcoming space,” said the lead cosmetic instructor, “so they come back to their roots and get re-energized to go back out longer.”
Fantasies Turned Financial Gains: YEI Invests in Scholars, Communities
From self-defense tools to skin care and method art jewelry, the future of entrepreneurship is as purposeful as the scholars using their products to expand resources in Washington, D.C.
Take Elijah Robinson, an 18-year-old Southeast native who turned lemons into lemonade — or more specifically, an idea into a soluble fragrance — with the launch of his cologne-bomb company, 2Fresh.
“I really like fragrance, and like a lot of people, I have sensitive skin. Or [people] want something that lasts way longer compared to spray colognes,” said Robinson about his business muse during the Youth Marketplace on Aug. 3. “I started with all-natural products, and I wanted to know what type of base would last long. Plus, certain textures, like roll-on oils, smell good, but they also have a greasy feeling, and I didn’t want that.”
After competing in KidBizCON 2025, Robinson said his 10th-place ranking was nothing short of a blimp on the radar of what would soon come for 2Fresh. Since then, the self-starter has expanded his business’s product offerings and become a regular vendor with YEI at Eastern Market in Southeast D.C., even advancing to one of the top sellers, he adds.
Additionally, returning on Aug. 3 was a testament to what’s possible through YEI, he told The Informer, alongside a moment to uplift the next class looking to monetize ideation.
“They should get creative, honestly. Do something that I’m doing, or do something nobody ever heard of,” Robinson continued. “Being under pressure, a lot of people might not think that their product’s good enough, but I can tell [them] the product’s good enough. You just gotta realize that.”
In addition to reinforcing structure and discipline, Betty, 19, and Robinson touted the value of instilling the confidence and leadership skills that carry youth well beyond the program.
During the live pitch competition, Judges Kristen Barney, Kevin Hinton, Nicole McQueen, Samuel Moore and Nana Malaya offered each contestant feedback on their business pitch, emphasizing the power of self-assertion, eye contact, and knowledgeable entrepreneurs who can vouch for their products and their intended purpose.
Touting high spirits and what she calls a “passion for fashion,” 9-year-old Journey said her goal for Pink Art, the pinkalicious T-shirt business she presented Aug. 3, was simple: own one of the biggest companies in the world and be the nation’s youngest successful business owner.
Until then, she told The Informer, “I [hope it makes people] feel much prettier.”
“I like making T-shirts, and I’ve learned that art is something beautiful. Pink is like the pop of color, and the art that’s in it is very cute,” said the budding entrepreneur, standing behind a table of assorted Pink Art merch.
Journey didn’t leave with the cash prize that night, but she did tease the pitch that earned her the elementary-level runner-up status. Among some of the “greats” she touted about her business: various design materials, including press-on, puff, regular, and cut-outs; limited edition T-shirts, some of which sold to faculty and staff at the Ward 8 Ketcham Elementary School she attends; plus the personal accomplishment of gifting a shirt to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.
“When I thought about [what it means to be an] entrepreneur, I was thinking of creative stuff, and then I started creating,” Journey told The Informer, also crediting a library teacher who would often give her art supplies. “I want to be an entrepreneur because…you create your own business, your own name, your own designs. Sometimes you don’t know what’s inside you that could come out.”
Where Hustle Meets Heart
According to Mark Untitled Love, what he’d like to see more of in youth-centered work is a critical component in all aspects of life — and evidently, it stands in his name.
“Just love. Love what you’re doing, love getting up,” he told The Informer. “You shouldn’t wake up ready to go to bed every single day; there should be a purpose, there should be a reason … a 1% of why you’re doing something … and even if that’s brightening up a kid and giving them just one more day of motivation, that’s at the heart of it.”
Betty said turning entrepreneurship into change-making began with her introduction to YEI as a freshman at Early Bard High School DC in 2021. What started as a breach into a clothing and accessories brand has since manifested into a public safety cause, featuring more products, custom designs, and a critical focus on defensive accessories for women.
“It’s actually hard to take public transportation without worrying about whether you’re safe or not; it’s hard to even be by yourself in society,” said the George Mason University sophomore. “So my business emphasizes safety, not only women’s safety, but just safety in general. Carrying a keychain, it makes you feel confident. It makes you feel like you’re safe.”
Some of the other entrepreneurs present for the Youth Marketplace said they see self-starting as a way to create wealth and ownership in their lives.
Businesses like Naomi Evans’ CuteBunnyKandi, the fourth-place runner-up in the high school division, turned passionate daily hobbies into full enterprises, or as she told The Informer, “full-time jobs” designing special handmade crafts to help kids feel seen.
KidBizCON 2026 winners Laila Perry, of Beads and Tumblers by Laila (elementary/middle school category), and Black Beauty Bakes and Bracelets founder Laila Basir (high school category) elevated the value of freedom of expression through personalized products celebrating identity and common interests.
Meanwhile, local pride shone through customized T-shirts designed for D.C. natives, as well as gear hinting at mental and communal resilience with sayings such as “Choose Life” and “More than a Block.”
Reasoning aside, Mark Untitled Love said efforts like YEI’s KidBizCON serve as an annual reminder of why youth voices matter in designing a brighter future, especially one they can create with their own hands.
“Knowledge, especially with young Black Americans, can not [only] carry you farther in life, [but] it’s understanding how to build that knowledge properly, how to feel self-assertive in this world,” he told The Informer, “to feel you’re belonging, and just to help [others overall].”
