NEXT Youth Entrepreneurship Cohort

    Your Child's Business Could Start Here.

    The NEXT Youth Entrepreneurship Cohort is a 6-week hands-on experience where young people learn how to turn an idea into a real business, build a website, use AI and business technology, develop pricing, learn sales, and launch to real customers.

    Students do not leave with only a business plan. They leave with a business built to generate revenue.

    Waitlist closes September 5. Spots are limited.

    Enrollment Opens In

    10Days
    13Hours
    22Minutes
    15Seconds
    A confident Black teenager building a business website on a laptop at a modern workspace in Jackson, Mississippi

    See How NEXT Works

    Watch this short overview to learn how the NEXT Youth Entrepreneurship Cohort helps students turn ideas into real businesses.

    NEXT Is for Young People Who…

    Students do not need prior business experience.

    Already have a business
    Have an idea they want to turn into a business
    Sell products or services already
    Love creating, designing, coding, cooking, building, or solving problems
    Want to learn how businesses actually make money
    Have never started a business before but are curious about entrepreneurship

    What Students Will Build

    Students build an actual youth-led business during the cohort.

    This is not a class where students spend six weeks filling out worksheets. They will build, test, launch, and sell.

    A defined business idea
    A real product or service
    A target customer
    Pricing
    Basic branding
    A sales strategy
    A published business website
    A marketing plan
    Basic financial systems
    Hands-on experience using AI and business technology
    Experience selling to real customers
    A business capable of generating revenue

    What Students Receive

    Every student receives the full package below.

    1. Six-Week Youth Entrepreneurship Cohort

    Hands-on instruction in entrepreneurship, leadership, financial literacy, sales, marketing, AI, technology, and business development.

    2. NEXT Founder Kit

    Value: $75

    A complete student business kit including curriculum workbook, business planner, notebook, budgeting and pricing tools, sales worksheets, learning materials, and supplies.

    3. One Year of Platform Access

    Value: $3,300

    Students receive one full year of access to business technology tools so they can continue operating and growing their business after the cohort.

    4. Business Website

    Value: $500

    Students will build and publish their own business website or landing page.

    5. AI & Business Technology Training

    Value: $300

    Students learn how AI, CRM systems, automation, digital marketing, and other tools are used inside real businesses.

    6. Business & Financial Literacy Training

    Value: $250

    Students learn pricing, revenue, expenses, profit, budgeting, reinvestment, customer value, and basic financial responsibility.

    7. Sales & Marketing Training

    Value: $300

    Students learn how to communicate their offer, market their business, talk to customers, and make sales.

    8. Mentorship & Business Exposure

    Value: $250

    Students receive exposure to business owners, professionals, mentors, and real-world entrepreneurship.

    9. NEXT Market Experience

    Value: $250

    Students participate in the NEXT Market as part of graduation and sell their products or services directly to real customers.

    10. NEXT Graduation & Certificate

    Value: $100

    Students receive recognition for completing the program and launching their business.

    Total Program Value

    $5,325+

    Student Tuition

    $100

    Full scholarships are available for families who need them.

    Scholarships

    NEXT does not want cost to prevent a young person from participating.

    Full scholarships may be available based on scholarship funding. The scholarship process is trust-based and should not require families to upload income documents.

    Scholarship requests will not affect a student's eligibility for the program.

    Jackson's Next Generation of Entrepreneurs Is Already Here

    Some are selling products now. Some are coding. Some are creating brands. Some have ideas they have never told anyone about.

    NEXT is being built to give those young people somewhere to turn an idea into something real.

    Why NEXT

    NEXT exists because Jackson's young people should not have to wait until adulthood to learn how to build businesses, use technology, understand money, or create economic opportunity.

    We want students to see themselves as more than future employees. We want them to understand what it means to become founders, owners, problem-solvers, and employers.

    What are you building, and what do you need to keep going?

    Join the NEXT Waitlist

    The waitlist opens Monday, August 24, 2026 and closes September 5, 2026. Official enrollment spots open on September 5, 2026.

    Complete the form below to join the waitlist.

    Enrollment Opens In

    10Days
    13Hours
    22Minutes
    15Seconds

    The waitlist closes when enrollment opens. Joining the waitlist does not guarantee a spot. Enrollment will be first come, first served once registration officially opens.

    Parent FAQ

    Their Idea Could Start Now.

    Your child does not need the perfect business idea. They need somewhere to begin.

    Join the waitlist for the NEXT Youth Entrepreneurship Cohort and be among the first families notified when official enrollment opens.

    Waitlist closes September 5, 2026. Spots are limited.

    Because Jackson's children deserve more than the story they inherited.