Our Evolution
Entrepreneurship Project
Our story began in 2007 in two Detroit Public Schools, one a trainable center for cognitively impaired students, the second a general education middle school. Laketa saw hidden gems in the cognitively impaired population that were being overlooked. Those students were not given the same opportunities as general education students in other Detroit schools. These students had gifts and skills that were not being embraced and developed into career opportunities. Yet, there was another Detroit Public School in the community servicing general education students who did not know these cognitively impaired populations existed. Laketa brought both Detroit schools together and designed the country’s first inclusionary entrepreneurship program. Students worked together in teams of four, two cognitively impaired, and two general education. Students created a company, developed their own products, and sold them throughout their community.
It became the Entrepreneurship Project (EP), a specialized entrepreneurship program that met the unique learning styles of marginalized youth. It was designed to create new career options, reduce the dropout rate, raise the self-esteem of students and provide tools for competition in the global marketplace.
National Awards
In 2009-2012, the Entrepreneurship Project received national awards. The Michigan Chronicle and The Detroit News have done press releases on the EP, calling it “The country’s first inclusionary entrepreneurship program”. The EP also received the Educator 500 Award from the 3E Institute Excellent Educator in Entrepreneurship from West Chester University in Pennsylvania, The National Leavey Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education, The National Entrepreneurship Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Field of Business Creativity and Entrepreneurship by the National Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education, and the Best Entrepreneurship Classroom in Michigan by the Council for Exceptional Children.
“Time is the most important commodity you have- don’t waste it pursuing a dream that is not yours”!
- Laketa Dumas
The Entrepreneurship Project birthed the R U Ready 4 BIZness curriculum, which introduces a revolutionary pedagogy for the classroom. Students actually take on the role of entrepreneur to not only learn, but experience the process of starting and running a business. In 2012, RU Ready 4 BIZness did their pilot launch at a Detroit Public School Transition Center for students with disabilities. A documentary called “Don’t Count Us Out” tells the story of how students with learning disabilities embraced entrepreneurship and how it changed their lives.
In 2016, R U Ready 4 BIZness launched the springboard for BIG. The BIG Institute brings financial empowerment to low-income communities through our five pillars: entrepreneurship, financial literacy, career navigation, college readiness, and life’s blueprint. Our goal is to educate youths by ending the perpetual cycle of poverty and propelling them to a life of financial stability. Sadly, the poverty mindset plays a huge role in holding youths back from living up to their truest potential. BIG is working earnestly to elevate this generation of youths beyond societal constraints to their personal sphere of genius, so they can unleash their gifts and skills to become tomorrow’s problem solvers of the world!
Do It BIG Academy was launched in 2020, but due to COVID, our team was not able to go into the schools or youth organizations to bring our entrepreneurship or financial literacy curriculum. We had to pivot, but it became the purpose of fulfilling a greater mission reaching youths all over the globe, helping them accomplish their dreams.
Our courses are designed to empower youths to live life on their terms by creating their own financial freedom. The courses are real-world ventures of the founder herself, who has walked through the hurdles and obstacles in her own businesses! Her courses will guide you on how to turn the impossible into I’M-Possible! By embracing your inner strength in becoming unstoppable no matter how many times you fall or what life throws at you!
Do It BIG Academy is birthing CEOs and game-changers! We are unlocking the door to who you truly are— instead of what society said you should become!
It’s time to design your life’s blueprint and pursue what you were put on this planet to accomplish!