Disney is investing in future business leaders at Disney Dreamers Academy

Since 2008, Disney Dreamers Academy has selected 100 high school students from all over the country to participate in a several -day mentorship event at Walt Disney World which highlights career development and personal growth. These exceptional students, with passions that range from medicine and engineering, to space and journalism, come from various horizons and are considered to be the next generation of commercial and opinion leaders in their fields.

More than 1,700 children participated in the history of the program. “We are delighted to trigger new possibilities and provide these future managers with the tools they need to continue their dreams,” said Shannon Smith-Conrad, a Walt Disney World Ambassador in a press release. “After 18 years of reception of the Disney Dreamers Academy, we continue to be inspired by these teenagers and their incredible achievements.”

Recently, the next 100 high school students were invited to join the Disney Dreamers Academy in March 2025 in Walt Disney World. Throughout the event of several days, the selected adolescents were able to network with individuals in specific career fields and undergo training on self-value and empowerment. They also participated in career workshops called Living Laboratories through Walt Disney World, including learning animal protection and science at Rafiki’s Planet watch at Disney Animal Themed Kingdom park, and problems with problem -themed park attraction with Walt Disney Imagineering.

The judgment process at Disney Dreamers Academy

But entering the Disney Dreamers Academy is not easy. Thousands of students apply each year and answer a series of trial issues ranging from their personal stories and the people who have influenced them, to their big dreams for the future. The last 100 students are selected by a panel of judges, which this year included Tamaira Sandifer, Juju Green and Ty Allen Jackson.

Sandifer said to me: “I was invited to become a judge, and we conduct all the tests that the children have submitted, and he became very clear for me that we are dealing with a different brand of brilliant with regard to these children.” Another thing that the judges noticed about children is that even at such a young age, some of the children dream more than ever and are in the heels of today’s business leaders to such a young age.

The judgment process seems very simple outside, but for Sandifer, it was much more difficult than expected. “We all sat together and read each test. It was difficult to reduce it, ”she explains. The judges were not only looking for tests saying that one day, the student wanted to do something, they really was looking for students who were already starting their “day” and did not wait until high school or college are really starting to make changes to the world.

From the point of view of a Disney Dreamer

Two of the 100 students, Myanel B. (16), and Lauren R. (15), both want to become Imagineers by Walt Disney A day. Myanel is the founder of a program that joins the Philippines schools to increase access to STEMs (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), and Laura began to study the sciences of materials at the University of California in Irvine last summer.

“Now that I am here, it’s always super surreal because the opportunities that have been given to me and the people I met, it’s more than I could never have dreamed of,” explains Myanel.

The two participants were able to dive in depth in what is happening at Walt Disney Imagining through a career quest that put them in the middle of the action. During the quest, Myanel, Laura, and a handful of other students, worked alongside an imagine to go through each stage of the attraction process, Blue Sky concepts that work through brainstorming, financial problems and concept and development works.

Students move away from Disney Dreamers Academy Inspired

In addition to practical learning, students heard inspiring leaders from many areas, including Dr. Sian Proctor, who is a geoscience teacher, artist, poet and astronaut. She was a mission pilot for Four inspiration, the first civil mission in orbit in 2021. She was the first commercial astronaut, spaceship pilot and the only African-American woman to be a mission pilot.

During his session with the Disney Dreamers Academy students, Dr. Proctor told them to ask what they wanted. “If you don’t ask, you will never have the opportunity,” she told me. She also wanted students to understand that if you get a no, you are still where you were, and “no” do not push you back, but a yes can push you forward. “No is not a rejection, it’s not now,” she continues.

Dr. Proctor, as well as the hundreds of people who help Disney Dreamers Academy each year are there to inspire high school students and push them to their goals. “I want children to be fueled in hope, determination and grain, because there are challenges. They grow up in a world where technology and information change quickly, and it’s not about choosing a job, it’s about solving a problem, “said Dr. Proctor. “This is flexibility, it is adaptability. It’s about believing in themselves, no matter how things change, that they can find and navigate on their way. ”