The story of Young Innovators started in 2015. CEO and Founder Marnie Forestieri noticed that young children exhibited all the character traits of innovators. Yet, research was pointing out that by the third grade, the same students were no longer interested in STEM subjects– the field where innovators are needed the most.

Her concern was that traditional preschools were offering the same curriculum for decades and that the early years were the most fertile years to preserve the skills and mindsets. There was an urgent need to redesign learning environments and outdated curriculums to deliver better experiences for young learners.

Marnie recruited a group of passionate professors from the University of Central Florida, including Dr. Debby Mitchell, Dr. Deirdre Englehart, and Donna Carruthers to embark on the journey of designing a STEAM curriculum. To design the prototype, Marnie purchased a struggling school in Oviedo and with the help of school director Erika Seger and the teaching staff the school became a success.

The team started gaining national attention, writing books for national publisher Gryphon House and designing toys for Kaplan Early Learning. As they opened new locations in Central Florida, they realized that the original prototype lacked important components to accomplish their mission.

After visiting college campuses around the country with her daughter, Marnie came back with a solution to create a program to help prepare children for the challenges of an uncertain future and connect with the learner’s interests, passions, and skills.

Yet, it required the team to scale back to the original location to redesign the prototype.

A story of courage and resilience on how a mission-driven team practiced the same principles they incorporate into their lessons to teach children how to learn, empathize with others, build confidence and resilience, learn to fail, work with others, make it happen, and iterate.