ABL Programs

Summer Business Institute (SBI)

Using a combination of traditional and creative hands-on educational techniques, SBI is a free seven-week program that targets underprivileged students 11 to 18 years of age from over 85 inner city middle and high schools each year. SBI participants are hosted on the campuses of the University of Southern California (USC); California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA); California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH); California State University, Fullerton (CSUF); and Santa Monica College (SMC). At the end of the program, students receive up to 10 units of high school credit through various school districts. Also, students placed at SMC receive six units of business college credits and 20 units of high school credit. Participants are provided with over 225 hours of instruction by MBA professionals and qualified instructors, and are lectured daily by prominent corporate and civic leaders. In addition, they participate in college preparation workshops, receive 30-40 hours of mentoring from volunteer trainers, read the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal daily, and participate in weekly field trips to over 21 Fortune 500 corporations where they meet with senior executives in boardrooms and learn about their field of expertise.

SBI activities include hands-on projects related to the stock market, finance, and all aspects of entrepreneurship. In group settings, students manage and track a $100,000 fictitious stock portfolio on StockTrak, and prepare a business plan for a “real” start-up using MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Business Plan Pro from Palo Alto Software. At the end of the program, students present and pitch over 36 business plans in PowerPoint format to a panel of distinguished business leaders and are awarded over $18,000 in prize money for the highest returns on investment in the Stock Market Competition, the best Written Business Plans, and best Oral Business Plan presentations. Furthermore, students engage in lessons in personal finance, leadership development, core values, career development, and pre-college planning.