Disney Invests In Future Business Leaders At Disney Dreamers Academy

Since 2008, Disney Dreamers Academy has selected 100 high school students from around the country to participate in a multi-day mentoring event at Walt Disney World that highlights career development and personal growth. These exceptional students, with passions that range from medicine and engineering, to space and journalism, come from diverse backgrounds, and are considered the next generation of business and thought leaders in their fields.

More than 1,700 kids have participated over the course of the program’s history. “We are thrilled to spark new possibilities and provide these future leaders with the tools they need to chase their dreams,” said Shannon Smith-Conrad, a Walt Disney World Ambassador in a press release. “After 18 years of hosting Disney Dreamers Academy, we continue to be inspired by these teens and their incredible accomplishments.”

Recently, the next 100 high school students were invited to join the Disney Dreamers Academy in March 2025 at Walt Disney World. Throughout the multi-day event, the selected teens were able to network with individuals in specific career fields and go through training on self worth and empowerment. They also took part in career workshops called Living Laboratories across Walt Disney World, including learning about animal care and science at Rafiki’s Planet Watch at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park, and going through problem solving strategies for a fictional theme park attraction with Walt Disney Imagineering.

The Juding Process at Disney Dreamers Academy

But getting into Disney Dreamers Academy isn’t easy. Thousands of students apply every year, and answer a series of essay questions ranging from their personal stories and people who have influenced them, to their big dreams for the future. The final 100 students are selected by a panel of judges, which this year included Tamaira Sandifer, JuJu Green and Ty Allen Jackson.

Sandifer told me, “I was invited to be a judge, and we’re riding all the essays that kids have submitted, and it became very clear to me that we’re dealing with a different brand of brilliant when it comes to these kids.” Another thing the judges noticed about the kids is that even at such a young age, some of the kids are dreaming bigger than ever before and are right on the heels of today’s current business leaders at such a young age.

The judging process seems very simple on the outside, but for Sandifer , it was a lot harder than expected. “We all sat together and we read through every single essay. It was hard to narrow it down,” she explains. The judges weren’t just looking for essays claiming that one day the student wanted to do something, they were really looking for students who were already getting started on their “someday,” and not waiting until graduating from high school or college to really start making changes in the world.

From A Disney Dreamer’s Perspective

Two of the 100 students, Myanelle B. (16), and Lauren R. (15), both want to become Walt Disney Imagineers one day. Myanelle is the founder of a program that partners with schools in the Philippines to increase access to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), and Laura began studying materials science at University of California, Irvine this past summer.

“Now that I’m actually here, it still feels super surreal because the opportunities that I’ve been given and the people I’ve met, it’s more than I could have ever dreamed of,” says Myanelle.

Both participants were able to take a deep dive into what goes on at Walt Disney Imagineering through a career quest that put them right in the middle of the action. During the quest, Myanelle, Laura, and a handful of other students, worked alongside an Imagineer to go through each stage of the attraction building process, from the Blue Sky concepts that work through brainstorming, financial issues, and concept and development work.

Students Walk Away From Disney Dreamers Academy Inspired

Along with hands-on learning, the students heard from inspiring leaders from many fields, including Dr. Sian Proctor, who is a geoscience professor, artist, poet, and astronaut. She was the mission pilot for Inspiration Four, the first all civilian mission to orbit in 2021. She was the first women commercial astronaut, spaceship pilot, and the only African American woman to be a mission pilot.

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

Dr. Proctor, along with the hundreds of people who assist with Disney Dreamers Academy every year are there to inspire high school students and push them towards their goals. “I want the kids to be fueled with hope and determination and grit, because there are challenges. They are growing up in a world where technology and information is changing rapidly, and it’s not about picking a job, it’s about solving a problem,” Dr. Proctor says. “It’s about flexibility, it’s about adaptability. It’s about them believing in themselves, no matter how things change, that they can find and navigate their way.”