Today is the International Day of the Girl, and it was a big day for a nonprofit founded by a Verona resident a decade ago.
Allison Wright’s ESchool4Girls rang the opening bell at the NASDAQ stock exchange in midtown Manhattan. The nonprofit is dedicated to building the next generation of female entrepreneurs and leaders by helping them to understand what they could accomplish with an entrepreneurial mindset. Its flagship program is a two-week summer session at New York University aimed at high school students from under-resourced and minority backgrounds.
ESchool entrepreneurs learn in a hands-on, step-by-step framework to develop ventures focused on identifying and solving today’s real-life problems. The program covers personal skills, as well as professional and business development in a collaborative pre-college environment that allows students to engage with successful entrepreneurs, college professors, and corporate leaders.
Wright (second from right, above) attended the NASDAQ event alongside Program Coordinator Emily Sebiri, with alumni Aminata Drame, Lula Torres, Yaleza Fernandez, and Ashanti Bruce. “To say I am ecstatic about our future is putting it lightly,” said Wright, who as Allison Sebiri graduated Verona High School with the class of 1983. “I know that we can do this and I know that our future is in great hands with these amazing women.”
“When I started ESchool for girls 10 years ago,” she added, “I could only have imagined standing up on that stage with some of our alumni to show the world the power of girls for today and the future.”
