Calling all girl entrepreneurs.
This Saturday, Girls Preparatory School in North Chattanooga will be hosting its fourth annual Mighty, Brilliant and Determined event for women and girls across the region to support young, female entrepreneurs.
Originally MBD stood for "Mad, Bad and Dangerous," but event organizer Ronna Renee Jackson said they've changed the name and a few other things in recent years. The event is free to the public and will be from 1 to 7 p.m. at the school's campus at 205 Island Ave.
"None of these events are just for GPS students," Jackson said. "It's GPS' gift to the community."
The event will include three components, including a "Marketplace" where girls 8 to 18 years old can sell goods they have made. When the event started four years ago, Jackson said the marketplace consisted of mostly women-owned businesses in the community, but it has since been refocused to concentrate only on girls.
There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the marketplace at 12:50 p.m., and then customers can shop at over 50 booths with various items for sale, including CDs, books, jewelry, bath products and more.
There will also be a 24-hour generator for 11th and 12th-grade girls that begins Friday afternoon. With a team, the girls will be given a real problem a local business is currently having and they will have 24 hours to solve it. Their pitches will be presented at 5 p.m. Saturday, and first-place winners will earn $1,000 with second place earning $500.
Learning Blade will sponsor a "Tinker Lab" for girls from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. where they can create objects with a 3-D printer, laser cutters and more. Toastmasters International will hold a "Speaking with Confidence" program for girls from 1 to 2 p.m. and 4 to 5 p.m. Attendees can also attend a panel held by parents of young, girl entrepreneurs and learn how to inspire and support their daughters in their business ventures.
There will be other workshops offered for adults, too. For information on workshops and panels, visit getyourmbd.com.
According to figures provided by LAUNCH Chattanooga, a nonprofit dedicated to helping local entrepreneurs, more than 70 percent of small businesses in the city are owned by white males. Jackson said the GPS event is meant to connect girls from all different schools - public, private and home-schooled - who would normally never meet and to foster an entrepreneurial environment in the next generation of female entrepreneurs.
"They will meet girls from all over the region," Jackson said. "We want girls to realize there is power in connectedness and a collective voice."
Contact staff writer Allison Shirk at ashirk@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6651.