A pair of central Illinois leaders of youth in an entrepreneurship program recently outlined the challenges of the 2020-21 school year.

The Central Illinois and Sangamon Valley CEO programs are entrepreneurship programs offered to high school students in Clinton, Blue Ridge, Monticello, Cerro Gordo, Bement, Warrensburg-Latham, Maroa-Forsyth, and Argenta-Oreana. Melanie Brown heads the Central Illinois CEO program that encompasses Clinton, Blue Ridge, Maroa-Forsyth, and Warrensburg-Latham, she is thankful they were able to execute a full year of the class despite the challenges.

Lisa Shephard leads the Sangamon Valley CEO program that has students from Monticello, Cerro Gordo, Bement, and Argenta-Oreana. She is thankful for the communities being willing to step up and support them through such uncertain times.

One of the positives for Brown that came out of the pandemic for the program was the ability to connect with business leaders from areas of the state and even country that perhaps they wouldn't have before.

According to Shephard, being flexible and adapt to challenges was a big part of the development of her and her students. She felt they all developed a solution-based mindset.

Looking to next year, both leaders indicate there could be opportunities for them to reopen their applications because they did not get the chance to market the program to students during the school year like they usually thanks to COVID.