John Carroll University will host the second annual Dare to Dream Retreat, presented by Veale Youth Entrepreneurship Forum, on Monday, November 18 at the Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square.
Three-time Olympic Gold Medalist Gabby Douglas will appear at the free event, which aims to leverage entrepreneurship to educate and inspire high school girls in northeast Ohio. Nearly 1,000 students from 50 schools in the region are expected to attend.
The retreat will focus on four key themes: dare to be courageous (ask your big questions), dare to be vulnerable (show the world who you really are), dare to create (make something that means something), and dare to act (slow and steady wins the race).
Discussion of the themes will be facilitated by guest speakers Douglas, Anjua Maximo (life and movement coach and entrepreneur), Gabriella Kreuz ’14 (freelance broadcast/commercial talent and advocate), and Kahrin Spear ’19 (freelance videographer and copywriter).
The event is deeply personal for Doan Winkel. The Kahl Chair in Entrepreneurship started the event in memory of his sister, Laura, who lost her battle with cancer in 1998. “She was always thinking of other people, always putting them first,” he says. Soon after her passing, he had an idea: there needed to be a way to enable and empower young women like Laura.
The Dare to Dream Retreat is the culmination of that thought process.
Winkel believes this retreat can stand as a resource for young girls to take the first step on the road to leadership.