The vibe at the Power2Plan Youth Showcase and Awards in Harlem on April 25 was all about young people getting into entrepreneurship, and they had a real-time opportunity to be the moguls they envision themselves becoming someday.
Erodita Anderson, who founded the Power2Plan Youth Financial Literacy program, hosts the annual youth business fair. This year’s event gave a group of youths, ages 6 through 18, a chance to participate in a marketplace and experience what it’s like to sell a product or service to paying customers. It also highlighted young business owners and their supportive parents as the young people sold their goods and services to an enthusiastic crowd.
“I like being a business owner because it gives me the opportunity to be able to be independent and create stuff for people they might love,” said Alleyah Diop, 13, who runs the Cute Crochet. She started the art of crocheting when she was about 6 years old. “I take custom orders. It might take awhile (to finish a request) because I’m a student and I’m trying to still keep my grades up … but it’s really just fun and amazing that I get to create my own stuff.”
Ariama C. Long photo
Denise Murray started Denise’s Sweet Scrubs, a line of fruit-themed lip scrubs and organic skincare products. “The tagline is ‘the sweetest treat for your lips.’ It makes your lips more moisturized and shiny, so when you want to go out to eat or do anything, you can look good,” she said at her table. The event also featured young entrepreneurs such as Nyla Tarathand, who owns Nyla’s Mystery Prizes; Gianna Duran, with Playful Pastry Paradise; and Joyserenity Sherrer, of Presson Pop Up Shop, among several others. In total, 14 youth businesses were displayed
Kayden Hern was named the New York State official poet laureate at 9 years old. Now 12, he’s made his first venture into being an author. He and his grandmother co-wrote the book “Who Am I?,” which illustrates a poem about a young Black boy living in America.
Ariama C. Long photos
Elani (left) and Nathan (middle) Hargress, 13, twins who founded a pen company, Double Trouble., with Senator Cordell Cleare (right) at Power2Plan youth showcase on April 25. 
Young vendors selling their products at Harlem youth showcase on April 25. 
Denise Murray, founder of Denise’s Sweet Scrubs, sells her products to customers at youth showcase in Harlem on April 25. 
Alleyah Diop, 13, founded Cute Crochet business and set up a table at Power2PlanYouth Showcase and Awards in Harlem on April 25. 
Amy Casado, who started Amy’s Finest Jewels, at her table. 
Kayden Hern, 12, New York State’s official poet laureate, sells his picturebook “Who Am I?” at Power2Plan Youth Showcase in Harlem on April 25. 
Power2Plan Youth Financial Literacy Program Founder Erodita Agard-Anderson. 
Councilmember Yusef Salaam (left) joins Senator Cordell Cleare (right) to speak at youth awards at state office building on April 25.
This year, Power2Plan has several partners, including State Sen. Cordell Cleare, Acton Academy, the Acton School of Business, and Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, which provided families with free meal vouchers.
“I’m honored to be here with Power2Plan, which is teaching and nurturing young people who have a gift, have a talent, have an idea, and they want to put that idea into reality,” said Cleare at the event. ”We have to be able to help our young people do that. We have to support them. We have to encourage them. We have to nurture that kind of independent, creative thinking.”
Cleare visited several tables to speak with the young business owners, and bought a few custom pens from Shavar Roberts, 7, who founded the Penmakers.
“Economic disparity and income inequality are no longer abstract concepts,” said City Councilmember Yusef Salaam at the event. “They are, in fact, daily realities, and for too many young people, the path forward can feel out of reach before it even (begins). That’s why financial literacy is not just a helpful skill. It is a means of survival. When young people are equipped with knowledge of how money works, how to budget, how to save, how to avoid debt, and how to build wealth, they, in fact, are prepared to navigate a system that cannot otherwise leave them behind. [That system is] betting on you not to participate.”