WHAT IS HSMP?
Who We Are
The High School Mentorship Program is an educational program created by the NAWBO-SA Foundation in 1999 to encourage young women to begin exploring entrepreneurship and understand what it takes to be successful.
The NAWBO-SA Foundation is a volunteer organization within the NAWBO-SA Chapter, with members who dedicate their passion, time, and resources to support this program. Through a collaborative effort among NAWBO-SA members, school representatives and administrators, community leaders, and university and corporate sponsors, the High School Mentorship Program reaches hundreds of teenage girls in high schools across San Antonio.
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Our Mission
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To empower, encourage, and educate young women to explore entrepreneurship through mentorship and financial literacy
How the Program Works
The NAWBO-SA Foundation High School Mentorship Program is a nine-month program and experiential learning opportunity for high school girls. Through three conferences and in-school mentorship meetings, we empower students with leadership skills and life tools that will prepare them for success in school and beyond.
HSMP's program is three-fold:​
1) Ignite a passion for business education and entrepreneurship and provide practical experience necessary to apply it to real-life situations.
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2) Open the door to economic empowerment and place students on a path to prosperous futures for themselves and their communities.
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3) Transform mindsets by opening students' eyes to the opportunities that surround them, and then giving them the necessary tools to take action.
The program culminates in a scholarship competition where the teen girls create a business plan. While developing their plans, students utilize the skills gained during the educational conferences and receive guidance from their champions, who are experienced entrepreneurs. The school champions meet with the girls once a month and mentor them through the process of writing their business plans. At the end of the program, the business plans undergo a thorough blind judging process, after which the top four plans are selected, and the participants are awarded college or trade school scholarships.
Through participation in the program, students have the opportunity to receive a certificate of participation for meeting the required attendance at program events, as well as a separate certificate for fulfilling the requirements to participate in the business plan competition.
Testimonials from Previous Winners of the Business Plan Competition
