At Ascend Indiana, we believe the most effective way to prepare students for the workforce is simple: give them the opportunity to do real work.

That’s why we are leaning into student-led businesses as meaningful work-based learning experiences.

Student-led businesses move beyond traditional work-and-learn models. Instead of observing or participating in short-term projects, students take ownership by managing operations, solving problems and making decisions that have real consequences. In doing so, they build the durable skills employers consistently tell us they need: communication, adaptability, teamwork and critical thinking.

For students, this creates clarity and confidence. For employers, it creates earlier and more meaningful connections to emerging talent. For Indiana, it strengthens the alignment between education and the needs of our economy.

We also see an important opportunity for schools. Student-led businesses allow students to work within the four walls of their school building and create products and services of value, eliminating some of the common barriers to work-based learning. Educators serve as facilitators of real-world learning and local employers engage in many ways – by helping to shape projects, providing mentorship and reinforcing industry standards and expectations.

There are several things needed to scale student-led businesses:

• Awareness among educators and employers about the promise of student-led businesses as talent accelerators
• A clear understanding of how to create a student-led business and how to align with Indiana’s work-based learning requirements
• Start-up funding to begin a student-led business, which can become sustainable over time with the sale of products and services