In this month's issue of Straight from the Hearth, FORGE intern Linnea discusses how Sweden developing an entrepreneurial mindset in youths by allowing them to run a business venture in high school, as well as the benefits it brings.

Join us in taking a look back at this wild year, filled with plans, pivots, and perseverance. From in-person pitches in the beginning of the year to virtual cohorts and student challenges later, it has certainly been a special year.

On December 12th, FORGE celebrated the graduation of the F20 Advanced Entrepreneur Program. FORGE is offering the top three graduates from our cohort 6 months free in UACI's startup incubator. Today, we are excited to announce the three teams moving forward to UACI!

"Women are leaving the workforce at four times the rate as men. When I came across this statistic in the course of my research for FORGE, it felt like a punch in the gut." FORGE intern Giovanna Thull shares her piece on COVID-19's effect on women in the workforce.

Arizona FORGE and University of Arizona Center for Innovation have teamed up for a pilot program to ensure a continuum of startup support services. The top startups who complete FORGE’s Advanced Entrepreneur Program have the opportunity to advance their businesses by entering the structured incubator program at UACI aimed at helping them launch their startup grow and scale.

"And at FORGE, we try to harness that entrepreneurial spirit by supporting startups in the same way one would support a lemonade stand." FORGE intern Shaw Zeider shares some of his new insights since starting his role, including his ideas of what the internship might teach him.