Everylightbulb moment” begins with a problem.

In 2021, gender equity is a bigger topic than ever. Girls can be anything they want, do anything they want, and follow their own paths in life …… but are the structures and experiences they’re having supporting those paths?

If all of the problems were solved by traditional classes and stellar grades, why is it that women make up only 7% of top CEOs, 24% of congress members, and 27% of tenure-track faculty? Girls have all of the “opportunities” in the world, but are less often given the real opportunities they need – guidance, space, and support to see these opportunities through and develop the mindset to make dreams real. That’s what entrepreneurial education is all about.

To us, entrepreneurship isn’t about operating a business. It’s about expanding horizons.

As an educator, you’ve experienced the signs. In co-ed classrooms, especially in subjects that are stereotyped as being “male”, girls’ have higher bars to clear to be acknowledged or embraced intellectually and socially. Career days come and go, yet girls are left with a finite list of potential jobs to pursue that feel “realistic”. Lesson plans and exercises in “leadership” are executed with hypotheticals, rather than giving girls the tools they need to bring their own ideas to fruition.

Mindset and Milestones’ curriculum opens up doors and reveals opportunities that have always been there, but that girls weren’t encouraged to see.

Mindset Essentials for Teachers was created to help educators like you facilitate meaningful discussions and collaboration that ultimately shift girls’ mindsets around what’s possible. It’s a turn-key solution that can be implemented into your existing curriculum and integrated with your teaching style to enhance the content you’re already presenting.

We’ve designed this curriculum at the intersection of life skills, college preparation, and classroom integration. It’s been reviewed and refined through the lens of students, their ideas, and the teachers that are willing to step into the mentor roles to guide girls on their entrepreneurial journeys.

We know what you might be thinking – not every girl wants to be a business owner. And we couldn’t agree more.

To us, entrepreneurship isn’t about owning and operating a business. It’s about expanding horizons, validating the problems girls see in the world, and empowering them to discover new solutions, whether they want to be business owners or high-performing employees in career paths they love.

Meet The Team

Founder

Founder & CEO

I’m Diondraya Taylor, and I’m the founder of Mindset & Milestones. I got my first exposure to entrepreneurship during my time at UCLA while getting my B.S. in psychobiology, and eventually picked up a minor in entrepreneurship purely out of interest in just how it’s a vehicle for pushing innovation.

At the same time, I also began to delve deeper into issues of gender equity and understood education to be a big part of the problem and also the solution. So I decided to ask more questions and am currently working on a PhD in education to do exactly that. As I worked in and fell in love with the startup space, I recognized entrepreneurship as an amazing tool to encourage innovation, goal setting, and boldness in girls at a time when gender inequity is still a reality.

When I created Mindset and Milestones, my initial vision was to develop a self-guided workbook for girls to explore entrepreneurship. What I quickly realized was that what girls needed wasn’t simply more resources, but rather a safe space, supported by trusted mentors, where they could experience mindset shifts and see for themselves how remarkably possible their own ideas are.

Advisor

Jill Finlayson is Director of the EDGE in Tech Initiative at UC. She has a strong background in strategy, entrepreneurship, and mentorship. Prior to Berkeley, she led mentorship and developed and delivered incubator and accelerator programs for Singularity University Ventures, whose mission is to increase the number of impact-focused startups and to educate, inspire and empower leaders to apply exponential technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges.

Finlayson has years of experience as a strategic leader building online communities, growing thought leadership, and leading marketing and branding for Silicon Valley startups, nonprofits, and foundations.

She ran the Toys category for five years at eBay, authored the book Fundraising on eBay, and was on the first board of the eBay Foundation. She managed a community of social entrepreneurs at the Skoll Foundation, led marketing at various startups, and consulted for the World Bank, Gates Foundation, and Ford Foundation. 

 

Get access to free teaching resources today!

Get access to all of our free teaching resources and start using them in your classroom right now!

Get Started!

We create materials to help teachers teach girls entrepreneurial skills! Our curriculum not only empowers girls but also gives educators the tools to lead entrepreneurial experiences in their own schools.
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram