Girls Mean Business reaches 1,000 girls

When one intermediate student arrived at a Girls Mean Business workshop, she was reluctant to take part, preferring to keep to herself. Over the course of the day, however, something changed. By the final pitch competition, she was on her feet presenting an idea for a mental health-focused clothing line to the room. She went on to win second place.

For Girls Mean Business CEO Sophie Bradly, moments like this capture the programme’s impact.

“We don’t want the idea of being a successful entrepreneur to feel like some wild fantasy,” Sophie says. “We want them to see it’s a real path and know they are capable of achieving it.”

Girls Mean Business works with Year 7 and 8 students, introducing them to entrepreneurship and financial literacy through practical workshops.  

Participants learn about areas such as marketing and finance, develop their own business concepts and pitch their ideas. But before any of that, the programme focuses on something more fundamental: self-belief.

As Girls Mean Business has grown, its student facilitators have learned that building confidence can come down to seemingly small interactions, and that language matters.

Rather than describing a participant’s idea as ’cute’, for example, facilitators might call it creative, financially smart or impactful.

Pooja Venkataramani, Deputy CEO of Girls Mean Business says, “they need to see that we take their ideas seriously... they place their trust in us to build a platform for them to flourish, and we have to honour that.”

Sometimes, the ideas continue well beyond the workshop.

At Manurewa Intermediate, one group became so excited about starting a business that they contacted Girls Mean Business for additional mentoring before going on to sell their products at marketplaces and school events. Seeing that growth in confidence, Sophie says, has been the most rewarding part of the work.

Girls Mean Business is the flagship outreach programme of the Aotearoa Centre for Enterprising Women (ACEW) at the University.

Professor Christine Woods (Business School) first developed the idea when her own daughter was intermediate-aged. In 2023, students in her INNOVENT 310 Women and Entrepreneurship course were given the opportunity to develop and pilot Girls Mean Business workshops in schools. Sophie was part of that group.

The programme continues to be run by University students, with Professor Woods providing mentorship and oversight. It has also benefited from the support of Dame Theresa Gattung, while the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship has provided a space in which Girls Mean Business activities have been hosted.

Since the student-led programme was piloted in 2023, Girls Mean Business has reached 1,000 girls.

“We are incredibly proud,” Sophie says. “Girls Mean Business is the most meaningful thing I have achieved in my life, and nothing compares to watching the girls pitch their business ideas full of confidence and buzzing with new perspectives.”

Its ambitions are now stretching beyond workshops.

The team has brought on award-winning film producer Torisse Laulu and director Samson Rambo to launch a documentary series spotlighting Māori and Pacific women entrepreneurs.

They have also developed online learning resources and begun establishing a Girls Mean Business chapter in India.

By 2028, the team hopes to reach 5,000 girls.

To get there, Girls Mean Business is developing free workshop resources that schools throughout Aotearoa can download and use themselves. Train-the-trainer guides are also being created so teachers and parents can deliver the material without needing the Girls Mean Business team on site.

Reaching the 2028 goal will take a wider community behind the programme. Girls Mean Business is looking for women who can volunteer their time, schools keen to bring the workshops to their students, and organisations willing to support delivery through sponsorship or funding.

Those interested in helping Girls Mean Business grow can connect with the team through its website.

Every contribution helps open the door for more girls to experience entrepreneurship, build practical skills and see new possibilities for their future.