The Houston Independent School District is the first in the country to pioneer the G-Unity Business Lab.

The Lab debuted in 2021 with students from Kashmere, Wheatly, and Worthing high schools. The students underwent a rigorous application process, and seventy-five students were chosen for the program. They spent the school year engaging in activities and lessons that ran the entire business spectrum, from surrounding themselves with the right people to analyzing cash flow.

In 2022, the Lab added three new high schools to the program: Booker T. Washington, Jack Yates, and Madison.

Every year, the students work with mentors and coaches from businesses like Chase Bank and Microsoft and local companies like Exotic Pop and She’s Happy Hair. At the end of the year, the companies compete in the “Hustle Tank” for seed money to finance their visions.

 

How do we know it’s working?

  • Students are achieving their first As in school

  • Attendance rates are rising

  • Better attitudes are prevailing

Dr. Bullard coaches students through our hardest lessons, business and finance.

Wheatley students discussing idea creation.

Kashmere students learning to trust and build with each other before they form their official businesses.

Domischca and Mr. Walker discuss the program’s financial class. We love that Domischca brings her little girl to class, we are starting her young on business literacy!

Student Spotlight

“The Lab has taught me to always take the opportunities I am presented with because I can grow academically, financially, and as a person. The Lab has given me real life experiences on how the business world works and the way people in it function. I have also learned about money and financial choices I should be making in order to grow myself and my business. The Lab is instilling knowledge and growth for me as a person.”

– Keithaisa Hatter

“The lab has boosted my confidence and is teaching me different paths to achieve success.”

– Dunley Sanders

“The G-Unity’s partnership with HISD will help high schoolers achieve their goals and dreams to become entrepreneurs and leaders on campus and in their community. What they learn in the G-Unity Lab will become lessons for a lifetime. As students train to acquire critical skills, they will conceive concepts for business that many of us could have never imagined. The opportunity to engage in MBA-type lessons will take students to the next level as they embrace the ideas of what it takes to launch their own business.”

– Millard House II, former HISD Superintendent