Free Entrepreneurship Program

Bossgirls flyer

Bossgirls is a summer entrepreneurship program from the Zahn Innovation Center at The City College of New York (CCNY) for high school (current 9-12th graders) girls and nonbinary students. The program is fully sponsored by Standard Chartered as part of its Futuremakers Initiative. Check out the accomplishments of our 2023 Bossgirls cohort here.

If you’ve ever thought about running your own business, inventing something new, or being part of a movement to create change in the world, Bossgirls is for you! You’ll join a community of other bossgirls like yourself to discover entrepreneurship. You and a team of other bossgirls will focus on a problem, come up with an innovative solution for it, research the market, compare competitors, learn how to price your product & prototype it, and create a brand around your idea. At the end of the program, you’ll pitch your idea to an audience–think Shark Tank without the sharks. All the while, you’ll get to meet  entrepreneurs & get advice from expert mentors from Standard Chartered, our program sponsor.

And just so your parents know… our goal is to introduce entrepreneurship to you as not only a possible career path, but a mindset that advances any course of learning. Our curriculum puts the customer first, introducing you to a human-centered design approach to problem-solving. You’ll learn how to analyze a problem and find a business opportunity within it. Plus, having this on your resume or college application looks great!

The Summer 2024 program will be hosted in-person at The City College of New York (160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031). The schedule is as follows (subject to change):

  • 5 week program
  • Mondays – Thursdays 10:30am-1:30pm
  • First day: Monday, July 1, 2024
  • Last day: Thursday, August 1, 2024

We accept applications on a rolling basis.

Apply by end of day                 Get Notified

January 31, 2024                     Late February

February 29, 2024                    Late March

March 31, 2024                        Late April

The final deadline is March 31, 2024 at the end of day, though we strongly encourage early submissions.

If you have any questions about the application process, you can email contact@zahncenternyc.com.

A Successful Holiday Cabaret

Photos from the event

After painting the Blackbox Theater, it was transformed into a Holiday Cabaret venue.

Students, family and friends, along with school administrators, Chuck Vassallo and Leah Dyer, enjoyed our 1st PPAS Holiday Cabaret and Luncheon.

Thank you to our talented performers
Skyler Staiger accompanied by Chuck Vassallo
~ Jonathan Bamfo ~ AvaLee Cruz ~ Kaden Charles ~AJ Roseau ~ Justin Charles ~ Olivia Bucknor ~ Sammy Dell ~ Saharrah Dukes ~ Chelsea Wordsworth ~ Niyi Valdez, and our special guest performer, Alfred Howell from our custodial staff!

Many hands participated to create this wonderful event:
The Dukes Family, The Whipple Family, The Dell Family, Yanet Cruz, Jamie Campagnola, Debbie Greenwald, and Melissa Ellis.

December PTA Meeting

Join us for the last PTA Meeting of 2023!

It’s happening this Thursday, December 14
at 6 p.m., in person at PPAS.
We’ll then attend opening night for the
Middle School performance of Be More Chill.

We will hear from Principal Leah Dyer,
who will talk about our school and its mission and vision.

During the meeting, we will also elect new members
to the School Leadership Team (SLT) and a cultural delegate.