From the Block to the Boardroom
Boss Up Boston operates under the nonprofit Partners Uplifting Our Daughters and Sons (PUDS), where Dr. Jamila T. Davis serves as Program Director. PUDS is committed to helping youth and women overcome emotional trauma, tap into their power, and lead with purpose. That mission came alive in the summer of 2024 when Dr. Davis joined forces with Ayana Bean, Boston-based advocate and founder of the A Year And A Day Foundation, to bring Boss Up to the city for the first time.
Together, these two justice-impacted women built an earn-while-you-learn entrepreneurship program supported only by youth stipends through Boston’s SuccessLink Summer Youth Employment Program. With no operational budget, they turned community spaces into classrooms and belief into business plans.
Justice-Impacted Women Leading the Way
What makes this story revolutionary isn’t just the curriculum—it’s who created it. Behind Boss Up Boston is a powerful sisterhood of justice-impacted women who turned their incarceration into inspiration. In addition to Dr. Davis and Ayana Bean, the program received early seed funding from Syrita Steib, a fellow justice-impacted visionary and the Executive Director of Operation Restoration. Steib saw the power of the model and chose to invest in its launch, helping lay the foundation for what would soon become one of Boston’s most impactful youth initiatives.
“This program, for me, is about righting my wrongs,” said Dr. Jamila T. Davis, who served a 12½-year sentence in federal prison for bank fraud. “My lack of financial literacy and doing the wrong thing landed me behind bars. I want to teach students how to do it the right way so they can avoid the pitfalls that may lead them down the wrong path.”
Dr. Davis’s passion for healing through education began while incarcerated. During her sentence, she authored the Voices of Consequences Enrichment Series—a groundbreaking trauma-informed curriculum for incarcerated women. That program has since been adopted by the Bureau of Prisons and is approved for First Step Act time credits as an evidence-based rehabilitation tool. That legacy of transformative curriculum development laid the foundation for what would later become Boss Up!—a youth entrepreneurship program designed to dismantle the trauma-to-prison pipeline before it starts.
Entrepreneurship as Liberation
The program was rooted in Boss Up! The Official Guide for Teen Entrepreneurship, a curriculum Davis developed after her release and adapted into a digital platform complete with video lessons, Canva-based branding labs, and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) integration.
Through this curriculum, students learned how to pitch ideas, create business plans, build brands, understand profit margins, and launch actual ventures. Youth launched a variety of businesses—from clothing lines and beauty brands to catering services, wellness products, and service companies. Each one reflected their identity, culture, and creativity.
Ayana Bean, whose own incarceration became the spark for her advocacy work, reflected on the power of proximity: “Some say we’re not qualified to lead—but we’ve been where these kids are. We’re not guessing at the solutions—we lived the problem. And we’re using our stories to light a different path forward.”
From Classrooms to College Campuses
Students toured Yale University and Seton Hall, stepping onto campuses many had never imagined themselves visiting. There, they engaged with faculty and fellow teen entrepreneurs from cities like Newark and East Orange. Exposure to those spaces shifted their perspectives—helping them see themselves not as high school students in a summer job, but as CEOs with long-term goals.
Brands like Gliddick (“Chase No One”), MDC Haircare, and Lashed by Nye Marie emerged—not just as projects, but as businesses with products, logos, and real customers.
Recognition and Resilience
Despite having no official program funding, Boss Up Boston produced powerful results: 29 students completed the program, 99% program attendance rate, 40+ youth-led businesses launched, 3 public pop-up shops, 400+ community members engaged.
The program was publicly recognized by the City of Boston’s Office of Women’s Advancement, which honored Ayana Bean with its Extraordinary Women Award. Two student entrepreneurs, Rex and Maliyah, received the same distinction—highlighting how youth leadership and innovation are being celebrated at the highest levels.
From Pilot to Permanent: A Program the City Couldn’t Let Go
What began as a bold, eight-week pilot has now become a year-long commitment—without any new funding. After witnessing the incredible transformation of the summer cohort, city leaders and community partners asked: “How do we keep this going?” The answer? Keep building—despite the odds.
The program expanded to serve 20 additional students in a second cohort, who are now creating dynamic businesses of their own. This current group is receiving mentorship from successful entrepreneurs and community leaders, proving that the Boss Up model is as much about community as it is about curriculum.
The year-round model continues to thrive on grit, vision, and volunteer leadership. And still, no dedicated funding has been secured—only the belief that this work must go on.
The Blueprint for a Movement
Boss Up Boston has done what few grassroots programs can—scaled without funding, grown by demand, and transformed lives in the process. What started as a pilot is now a model, and what began as a small dream is now a call to action.
The success of Boss Up Boston reinforces what the Institute of Research for Social Justice and Action advocates nationally: that those closest to the pain are also closest to the solution. Co-founded by Dr. Davis, the Institute works to advance policies, training, and curriculum that support grassroots innovation and justice-impacted leadership—exactly the kind of work Boss Up represents.
“This isn’t a program. It’s a movement,” said Dr. Davis. “If we can do all this without funding, imagine what we could do with real investment.”
Boss Up Boston proves that you don’t need million-dollar grants to spark generational change. You need heart. You need lived experience. And you need women who are willing to build, even when no one’s watching.
The blueprint exists. The youth are ready. The time is now.
Boss Up.
To learn more about the Boston Boss Up Teen Entrepreneurship Program, visit Partners Uplifting Our Daughters and Sons at www.eglpud.com.
