Penn student organization launches entrepreneurship mentorship program in West Philadelphia

The Ascendance Social Enterprise Club X Penn launched an international entrepreneurship mentorship program in Philadelphia on April 19. 

The Ascendance Game Changers Mentorship Program, which is primarily based in Southeast Asia, involves college students serving as mentors to teach high school students about entrepreneurship and financial literacy while providing guidance on tackling social problems. Ascendance was founded by College senior Harsha Ravindran, who is also a staffer for The Daily Pennsylvanian. 

College and Wharton first year Adi Lankipalle, the club’s vice president of mentoring, described their work as “changing lives around the world” by providing students with entrepreneurship skills, which “set them on the right path towards hard work and success.”

The program’s first event took place at Liguori Academy in West Philadelphia. At the event, high school students were split into teams of four to five members and begin brainstorming a startup relating to social impact and entrepreneurship with the assistance of Penn mentors.

The partnership with Liguori Academy marks the program’s debut in the United States. 

College and Wharton sophomore Melissa Liu, who is spearheading bringing the program to Philadelphia, said that the program at Liguori differs compared to its previous efforts in Southeast Asia.

“West Philly high schools are in a different environment in terms of political, economic, [and] societal situations,” she said. “[The students] are exposed to different social problems that they see present in America that are not experienced in Southeast Asia, and they can definitely tackle those issues accordingly.”

Vice President of Events at Ascendance and College and Wharton senior Luc Santilli, who is from Philadelphia, shared his excitement at bringing the program to the city — saying that he is “super thrilled” to be a part of it.

Penn student mentors will have in-person programming with Philadelphian students, a change from the previous form of the program. Besides the kickoff event, some workshops relating to financial literacy and entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, and operations will take place in person. 

“We’re launching in Liguori Academy to see how it may differ from working with international schools, but just first of all … so we can really hone down the foundational groundwork to … run this program in the States,” Liu said.

Liu added that she has been planning logistics and ensuring that all students have mentors with Liguori Academy coordinator Shaylyn Mayer. 

“[Mayer’s] telling us how excited the kids are. So, we’re equally excited to match their energy and reciprocate,” Liu said.