Name
Becca Robison

Age
15

Company
Science Camps for Girls, since 2001. Camps: Astrotots: Space Camp for Little Dippers Love Bugs: Science Camp for Wiggle Worms Mad Female Scientists

Website
Visit Homepage

Home
Layton, UT (USA)

Education
Freshman, Weber State University

Motto
Only a life lived for others is a life worth living. Ghandi

Becca is the perfect example of a girl who knows how to turn a dream into reality. Better yet, she knows how to share this dream with others. At just 10 years old, she started her very own space camp. Becca had joined one before and begun her own, as it had motivated her to become an astronaut and she wanted to show young girls how great science could be. She got more and more requests for her camps to be organized. Now, her venture has gained so much attention that she’s been all over the USA and even abroad. She has appeared in People Magazine, Teen People, on ABC and has even met the president. Her venture has also won many awards, enabling Becca to share her mission to girls around the world.

A brief overview of what your company does:
We provide FREE science camps for “at risk” girls ages 4 - 10 to encourage early science education. Our focus on “at risk” girls is because we feel that science can be a ticket out of poverty for those girls. We want to change girls attitudes ABOUT science as well as the world’s perception about girls IN science.

How did you get into business?
At ten I attended my first space camp and became passionate about becoming an astronaut. Other girls gave me the “thats a boy’s job” attitude. I decided girls needed earlier exposure to science to know how cool it was. I developed my first science camp, ASTROTOTS, in my back yard and now encourage girls all over the world to reach for the stars. Mh little backyard camp has grown to an international success!

Did you run into many obstacles?
Yes, there are always obstacles along any path to what you really want in life. Funding is always a big problem as the camps cost $500 each to put on and I insist on making them free to all girls. I have been very excited to find organizations that fund youth projects such as YouthVenture and YSA. Their support and the media attention they generate on my behalf has helped keep us afloat.

Which achievements are you proud of?
I am most proud of the changing attitudes of young girls about science. I am told by teachers that my camps are helping girls in their classes have a more enthusiastic attitude about science. I am also proud to connect with other summer camps who have asked me to incorporate my curriculum into their camps this summer, including a burn victims camp for children who have been severely burned.

What differentiates you from other designer entrepreneurs?
I don’t know that I am terribly different. I know that we all do what we love, or we wouldn’t be doing it. I do know that I have found a real need in the community and am trying to fill it, one camp at a time.

What have been the keys in bringing your company to the present level?
I think the key to my success is my passion for what I do. I truly love science and feel that girls need a little extra exposure at an early age to really grasp how exciting it is. You see many girls gravitate toward the arts and things like that, which are wonderful pusuits, but if you notice, they are also the things that parents involve their girls in when they are young. Things like dance lessons, voice lessons, community theatre, art classes are all things that are available to girls very young. I sut want to add science to that list.

Has your age given you an advantage in getting where you are now?
I do think my age has been an asset. Because it is unusual for a girl my age to be so pro-active, it gets attention. People want to step up and help me succeed. Help comes from unexpected sources such as the Hubble Space Telescope Staff and Women Science professionals. I have found that people want to see young people who want to be involved in positive things, succeed.

How do you keep yourself motivated to work hard and to get even better at what you do?
I think if you are going to start something, it had better be something you love. If not, you just won’t be able to sustain it. What motivates me are the faces of girls launching their first rockets, or watching them create their own Martian Landscapes out of clay. Their faces tell the story, and tell me that I am making a difference.

What are the most important lessons you have learned along the way?
Evaluate and be willing to change. Since I work with very young girls, with short attention spans, I have to know how to capture and keep their interest. After every camp we have a volunteer meeting where we talk about what worked, what didn’t, and what we could do differently. This has helped the camps evolve into something that is really perfect for the age group we serve.

What is your goal in life?
I want to work for NASA and I plan to open science centers for girls across the planet.

Who do you get support from?
My family and friends are my BIGGEST support group. They are my volunteers, and my team. If the camps are local, or abroad they help me find the support I need to make things happen.

Who are your role-models?
Dr. Sally Ride, of course, for paving the way for all women to step into roles traditionally held by men. Maxine Clark, CEO of Build a Bear Workshop – a social entrepreneur at heart, she uses her success in business to raise money for the causes she holds close to her heart. And my mom who has taught her five children that they have the power to impact the world for good.

How important do you consider networking to be?
Networking is vital. I help support the projects of others and they step up and help me. I have an email network that is amazing where we share ideas, successes and failures and brainstorm to make us all more successful.

Apart from running your business, are there any other things you’re passionate about?
Yes, I am passionate about education. I am 15 and am a full time college student. I am already planning my educational path to include a PHD. I also am passionate about, OK, this shows I’m a normal kid, Harry Potter. I can’t wait until the next book comes out! I am one of those geeks that stands in line, complete with a Harry Potter robe, to be one of the first to get the new books.

What would you advise people who dream of doing what you do now?
I would say that all it takes to have an impact on your community is to be the person who is willing to try. After that, the doors will open for you, and everything else, with a lot of work, will fall into place.

Any websites/ books or other resources you can recommend beginners?
YouthVenture and YSA

What can we expect from you in the future?
My goals include more education so I can better serve the girls I work with. I am also developing new camps that will capture girls interest in Physics and Environmental Science.

Who would you like to be contacted by?
Anyone interested can contact me.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 7th, 2007 at 4:10 am and is filed under Articles, North-America, Entrepreneur, Non-profit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.