Richard King Mellon Foundation grants $250,000 to jump-start program for Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship

The Richard King Mellon Foundation granted $250,000 to help jump-start a digital career readiness pilot program for Pittsburgh-area Elementary students.

The grant was awarded to MicroSociety Inc., a Philadelphia-based education nonprofit, to collaborate with the Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship (PHCSE) and Duquesne University on the project.

“We are very grateful for the foundation to take this lead to do something large for young people, and we chose the perfect school to do this,” said President and CEO of MicroSociety Carolynn King-Richmond.

The nonprofit has been in a partnership with PHCSE since 2011 to integrate its in-person model into the charter school for K-8 students learning about entrepreneurship and leadership. PHCSE CEO Wayne Jones said students ran real businesses, such as Mad Science Labs and Fuzzy Pets, and operated their own bank and government.

This project will feature MicroSociety’s new online platform called MicroSociety 2.0, which offers the ability to conduct all MicroSociety activities any time and anywhere. The platform was an answer to limitations encountered during virtual learning this past year.

“MicroSociety is very hands on in relation to how we offer it in a brick-and-mortar setting, so we want to make sure we educate students virtually and offer innovative programs. Times are changing,” Jones said.

Jones said students will be able to run their businesses and banks online along with creating advertisements and marketing campaigns when running for office.

Duquesne students majoring in entrepreneurship at the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business will serve as mentors for PHCSE students.

“We are trying to build our reputation across all populations so this is a tremendous opportunity to engage students and those majoring in entrepreneurship,” said Peter Gianiodis, a Merle E. Gilliand Professor in entrepreneurial finance and professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at Duquesne’s Palumbo Donahue School of Business Entrepreneurship.

On the platform, students will be able to work from home and invite students from other Pittsburgh area schools to participate in MicroSociety activities. Students will also be able to connect with community-partner mentors and Duquesne University fellows.

“One of our larger goals is to expose students to business opportunities and give them exposure to the kind of skills and beginnings to develop those skills they need for the workplace,” said Content & Development Director at MicroSociety Riva Richmond.

The project will be tested for 18 months during the upcoming school year. During the trial, the group will be monitoring the project’s engagement, security measures and performance.

“There are so many areas we will be looking at, and narrowing that down will be a challenge,” King-Richmond said.

Community leaders and entrepreneurs will also visit the school throughout the year to spread their knowledge and skills to students. Jones said with this effort and MicroSociety 2.0, hopefully a wider net of business leaders — locally, nationally and globally — will want to become partners.

“This is truly just going to be able to take the program to another level and show schools how to offer robust entrepreneurship programs,” Jones said.