'Be the Boss' Scholarship for Women in Business

Kia Bell is the creator of the Max & Maggie series, a collection of picture books designed to give families practical, engaging ways to teach kids values and real-world concepts from an early age. Her debut title, Max Learns to Be a Gentleman, follows a young boy learning the meaning of respect, kindness, and responsibility through everyday moments. Her second title, Maggie Helps Mommy, arrives in August 2026.

With years of experience as a lead toddler teacher in Brooklyn, Kia brings a classroom-informed perspective to every book she writes. This fall, she will begin her Ed.M. at Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she will explore how innovative education models and social entrepreneurship can open more doors for children and families.

Jayda Mayfield founded Mayfield Stories after self-publishing her first children’s book at just eight years old. Now 17, she has published four books and launched her first doll in 2022, inspired by her latest character, Princess Zaree.

Motivated by her passion for storytelling and representation, Jayda created Mayfield Stories to show children they can dream big and pursue their goals at any age. Her mission is to help kids see themselves reflected in the stories they read and the toys they play with. Through diverse characters, inclusive stories, and companion dolls, her work promotes literacy, confidence, and cultural pride among young readers.

Charlotte Gould founded Stitches by Charlotte at just seven years old to support children undergoing medical procedures. Inspired by her own experience with a cleft lip and palate, Charlotte created customizable surgery companion dolls that help ease fear, normalize scars, and celebrate healing.

Each doll comes with a kid-friendly sewing kit, allowing children, families, and caregivers to personalize their doll’s stitches to reflect the child’s surgical journey.

To date, she has sewn and donated hundreds of dolls, partnered with Operation Smile and top hospitals, and become a national advocate for cleft-affected children — lobbying for healthcare access on Capitol Hill and serving on multiple hospital boards.

Karla Mora founded Girls on Campus to address the challenges she experienced while navigating the college application process after moving to the U.S. Her mission is to empower first-generation and low-income girls by providing the tools and guidance needed to pursue higher education.

Girls on Campus has offered free resources like resume reviews, scholarship assistance, college essay editing, and SAT prep guides, growing into a vibrant community of over 10,000 website members and 48,000 social media followers.

In Fall 2024, the initiative launched a mentorship program connecting high school girls with college students and professionals, further leveling the playing field for young women striving for academic success.

At just 14, Alice Paredes founded ConexEDU to address educational barriers in low-income Peruvian communities. With fellow young leaders, they aimed to reduce educational inequality and help every child reach their potential.

In 2021, ConexEDU supported economically disadvantaged students by helping them access distance learning platforms and organized educational programs for over 100 students in Peru and Latin America.

Meanwhile, Alice is currently pursuing a dual degree in Economics and Political Science at Columbia University and Sciences Po to advance her career in social impact.

Temilolaoluwa Moronfolu is a talented British student who, at a young age, is already the founder of So Yorùbá.

This educational platform equips learners of all ages and backgrounds with a strong foundation in the Yorùbá language.

Offering an array of resources, from textbooks to flashcards, So Yorùbá is dedicated to enhancing writing, reading, and speaking abilities while also fostering an online community to amplify the vibrancy of Yorùbá culture and connect enthusiasts worldwide.

Twin sisters, Saarah and Maryam Kabal, are the co-founders of Twins’ Bakery 73, a home-based bakery business in Windsor, Connecticut.

At the young age of 11, they had already founded their bakery. They began with simple cake mix cupcakes, but over the past decade, they’ve crafted various gourmet recipes that have won their customers’ hearts. With gorgeous cake and dessert designs and a commitment to being halal-friendly, Twins’ Bakery 73 has become the top choice for an expanding circle of devoted clients.

In 2022, they participated in the URISE Ventures’ Pitch Competition and placed third overall.

Destiny Bethel is the founder of Motivated Scholars in Progress, a non-profit organization that aims to help low-income students take advantage of early admissions programs at colleges and technical schools.

Destiny started taking college courses while still in high school to obtain her Associate of Arts Degree. She noticed that many of her friends were also interested in enrolling in pre-college programs. However, many families did not have the resources to access them. She then created Motivated Scholars in Progress to educate parents and their children from disadvantaged communities about the opportunities they could access as top students.

With our scholarship, Destiny will be able to spread her non-profit’s mission even further.

Katie Hewlitt is an enterprising high school student who runs Creative Book Folding, her third entrepreneurial venture thus far.

Katie’s business refurbishes second-hand books into unique pieces of art. Since launching in 2021, Creating Book Folding has saved over 800 books destined for a landfill.

In just over a year, Katie has single-handedly garnered a dedicated following on social media and won several entrepreneurship awards.

Angel Coulter founded Curly Assembly in 2020 in the hopes of providing quality hair products for people trying to grow out their hair.

Angel saw that most products available on the market weren’t as effective as advertised and contained unnecessary and sometimes harmful ingredients.

Curly Assembly aims to provide quality hair care products for all hair types and people.

Natalie Diezyn, Kiara Botha, Nadia Ladak, Harit Sohal, Simone Godbout

Run by five female founders from Ivey Business School, Marlow is disrupting the menstrual product space and transforming the way we experience and talk about periods.

Marlow’s five founders have combined experience and expertise in social entrepreneurship, sustainability, community building, creative direction, customer experience, and data analytics.

Jessica Anuna is the Founder and CEO of Klasha, a technology company specialising in building software to power African commerce. Klasha is backed by Techstars and Ginco Investments and is part of the Alibaba and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s eFounder’s program. Jessica holds a degree in Journalism from City University, London and has studied Chinese at Imperial College London, King’s College London, LSE and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. She has been featured in Forbes, WWD and BBC London News.

As a travel enthusiast, it wasn’t hard for Dominique to jump at the opportunity to co-own and operate an online travel company. XpertTravelers was birthed in 2019 from a deep love of travel and the need for quicker, more convenient travel planning services. The website is set to launch in 2020 with future plans including an app and so much more. Thanks to the GoSkills Scholarship, XpertTravelers can put more money towards marketing and quality assurance.

Hannah founded her business, Oak Barn Beef, in 2018. She aims to bridge the food chain education gap by selling her premium, family farm beef direct to consumers across the USA and sharing her entrepreneurship journey on social media. She plans to use her GoSkills scholarship funds to continue growing her business. Hannah is pursuing a Bachelors in Animal Science and minoring in Agribusiness Entrepreneurship at the Univerity of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Ritika co-founded Sani, a line of Indian inspired occasion wear, with her sister when she was 16. With the GoSkills scholarship funds that she has received, she is growing her business further by making Indian fashion more accessible to women across the United States. Ritika will be attending North Carolina State University to major in Fashion Design and Computer Science.

Alexandria started her business, Sweets by Alexandria, when she was just 17, and was soon dubbed “the Queen of Sweets.” Alexandria now delivers her signature cupcakes across the United States, and is putting the GoSkills scholarship funds she received towards growing her business further. She is also studying Marketing at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

While still in high school, Serene won third place at the Young Founders School with her app prototype, Purpose. With the scholarship funds awarded by GoSkills for her app, Serene is exploring her passion for entrepreneurship while pursuing a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree at the University College London (UCL). Serene’s plans for the immediate future include participating in two startup programs run by UCL, Business Game and Kickstart Programme.

When Lia applied for the GoSkills scholarship, she had just funded a successful Kickstarter campaign for her startup Pepper. With the scholarship funds she received, she was able to fulfill all of the 2,000 pre-orders and fully launch as an e-commerce company. In the following year, Pepper has seen organic and consistent month-over-month growth. Most recently, they closed a pre-seed round to be able to continue to scale next year. Lia is also an MBA Candidate at NYU Stern School of Business.