Two Boulder businesses helmed by women are teaming up to create a leadership camp aimed at boosting the confidence of the city’s high school girls.
MergeLane, an accelerator for women-owned startups, will partner with Avid4 Adventure, which hosts outdoor camps for youths, to offer a one-time, one-week summer camp.
The teens will spend mornings in the classroom at Galvanize and afternoons outside hiking, biking, climbing and kayaking.
“We’ve reached a couple hundred women in our leadership camps for adults,” said Sue Heilbronner, CEO of MergeLane. “I routinely hear from entrepreneurs, ‘I wish I had come to this earlier in my own life.'”
A study published last month by the journal Science found that girls’ confidence in their own intelligence and abilities starts to wane as early as age 6.
Mastering the outdoors can help restore some of that self-confidence, according to Ileana Street, senior vice president of new business at Avid4 Adventure.
“Outdoor experiences can tap that ‘I can do it’ attitude when you face a situation that may look scary, difficult or impossible,” Street said. “The confidence comes from assessing the situation and realizing you know exactly what to do.
“That translates to all parts of life.”
To sign up for the summer camp
What: Bold Summer: Leadership camp for high school girls
When: Aug. 7-11, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: New Vista High School, 700 20th St., Boulder
Cost: $549 (financial assistance may be available)
More info: (and to register)
