VentureGirls: Raising Girls to Be Tomorrow’s Leaders

From an engineer and entrepreneur, a conversation-changing parenting book about how to engage young women in science, technology, engineering, and math, filled with practical advice for both parents and educators.

 

As the female CEO of a tech startup, Dr. Cristal Glangchai was outnumbered twenty to one. At Google, Twitter, and Facebook, women currently fill just ten to twenty percent of technical jobs. While career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math have increased dramatically in the past twenty years, the achievement gap between men and women has only grown wider.

In VentureGirls, Glangchai offers a unique solution based on her own experience as an engineer and entrepreneur as well as the founder of the VentureLab, an academy of entrepreneurship and technology for girls. Practical, accessible, and filled with success stories, VentureGirls argues that a key part of raising strong, confident young women is giving them the tools of entrepreneurship to engage in STEM.

Entrepreneurship isn’t just about starting companies, Glangchai writes, it is a skillset and a way of thinking that is particularly useful in the fields of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. Entrepreneurship involves identifying needs, brainstorming creative solutions, innovating, and taking calculated risks. In short, it’s about having a vision and making it a reality. The true value in learning and practicing entrepreneurship, Glangchai argues, lies in nurturing and growing an overall mindset—the ability to learn from failure and to work well with others to bring your ideas to life.

Deeply informative, warm, and grounded in real-world experience, VentureGirls includes a plethora of activities and lessons that focus on strengthening kids’ ingenuity and resilience. VentureGirls is essential reading for anyone who wants to raise girls and young women who realize their strength, engage in the world, and feel empowered to make a positive impact.

 

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“Startups are the heart of the American economy, driving everything from economic growth to new jobs to innovation. But fewer and fewer businesses are launched each year, and women and minority-owned businesses remain a small percentage of all startups. Luz Cristal Glangchai and VentureLab address these twin challenges by unleashing the creative dynamism that exists in all kids–especially girls–and teaching them how to think and act like entrepreneurs.” - Jo Kwong, Director of Economic Opportunity, The Philanthropy Roundtable

“A VentureGirl is a girl with the creativity, cleverness, and courage to start her own business and pursue her dreams. Here’s hoping Luz Cristal Glangchai’s powerful book will help jumpstart the careers of some of the millions of VentureGirls the world so desperately needs.” - David Cohen, founder and co-CEO, Techstars

“VentureGirls is a roadmap to a better future. Luz Cristal Glangchai moves us beyond gender bias to full engagement in STEM and entrepreneurial education. Her teaching connects girls to their mathematical, scientific, and entrepreneurial potential, empowering the young women of today to solve the problems of tomorrow, to serve and create markets, and to achieve new levels of innovation and insight. This is the future we all want.” - David Anderson, President, Trinity University

“Too many American kids–especially girls–have bought into the idea that math and science are ‘too hard’ or ‘just for nerds.’ In VentureGirls, entrepreneur and educator Luz Cristal Glangchai shows parents and teachers how they can make science and technology creative, exciting, and above all, fun for every girl and boy. This is a must read for all who are conscious that we must lay the groundwork for the upcoming generation if we are to succeed in all aspects of our civilization.” - Carol L. Karotkin, Texas Women's Forum

“On the surface, this book is a master guide for turning millions more kids into entrepreneurs. But below the surface, it’s about how entrepreneurial learning shows every girl her most amazing self–the creativity, motivation, fearlessness and resilience she was born with. That may be Dr. Glangchai’s best contribution of all.” - Bill Schley, author of The UnStoppables: Tapping Your Entrepreneurial Power

“Where will America find all the entrepreneurs it needs to thrive in the new era? As VentureGirls shows, already here: the young girls playing in our back yards and school yards all across the country. This is the kind of book I wish we had growing up. Every parent and educator should read it.” - Graham Weston, Co-founder and Former Chairman, Rackspace

“This game-changing guide to empowering young women will inspire them and their parents.” - Publishers Weekly

“Glangchai delves into the specifics of what VentureLab seeks to do and provides interesting examples of how it helps participants succeed…. [She] is clearly onto something with VentureLab, and students will benefit from its programs, whatever path they ultimately follow. Creating an “entrepreneurship ecosystem” is certainly something communities should pursue, and a sure pathway is provided here.” - Booklist

“If you are a parent, a teacher, or anyone who wants to help establish a more equitable future for today’s children and youth, I absolutely recommend giving VentureGirls a read.” - The Ed Tech Roundup

“Deeply informative, warm, and grounded in real-world experience [. . .] VentureGirls is essential reading for anyone who wants to raise girls and young women who realize their strength, engage in the world, and feel empowered to make a positive impact.” - Where Learning Clicks