Sustainable Lessons: ReDonna Rodgers

BLUR continues to feature profiles of business people who could be focused only on making good for themselves, but instead are devoting their lives to giving back. Find out what they are doing, and let BLUR know about others who are doing the same.

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Center for Teaching Entrepreneurship

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From Milwaukee to Dakar, social philanthropists are teaching the poor and disadvantaged basic business tools in unique ways to help them meet economic challenges today and in the future. Here is a profile highlighting one who is changing the world around her in a very positive way:

ReDonna Rodgers, founder, Center for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Child advocate ReDonna Rodgers has been helping kids find their place in the business world since 1991. Rodgers is the founder of the Center for Teaching Entrepreneurship (CTE) in Milwaukee, where students age 9 to 24—mostly urban African-Americans from single parent households—get exposed to the concept of business ownership and leadership. Students receive training in entrepreneurship, technology, business etiquette and networking, as well as in the fundamentals: reading, writing and mathematics.

“Instead of being reactive, we want students to be proactive and take control of their education and opportunities,” says Rodgers of the non-profit CTE, where students often spend up to three years in the program exploring business concepts through programs like Your Life is Your Business and WAGE, We are Girl Entrepreneurs.

Since Rodgers started the CTE, more than 15,000 inner-city kids have gone through the program and have “graduated” into the community, some launching their own start-ups in Milwaukee and in other cities. Regardless of whether students develop their own businesses, the point, says Rodgers, of the inquiry-guided instruction in which students ask questions, problem-solve and meet successful entrepreneurs, is they learn about their earning potential.

“Many of these kids grow up in homes where the average annual income is $25,000. We want them to know they have something to bring to the table.” Rodgers believes that an entrepreneurship education model helps kids become self-resilient, and teaches them how to strategically maneuver in the economy—and life. “They learn a sense of accomplishment and what’s possible. We’re in the business of helping them realize they are the CEO of them,” she says.

Rodgers was a 2004 recipient of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research’s Award for Social Entrepreneurship. A well-deserved honor for a woman who is making a difference.

ReDonna Rodgers, founder, Center for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Rodgers was a 2004 recipient of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research’s Award for Social Entrepreneurship. A well-deserved honor for a woman who is making a difference.