Emerging Leaders refine their projects at Pitch Summits

At the TechWomen Regional Summits, Emerging Leader teams gathered with Peer Advisors and Impact Coaches to share their progress, workshop their action plans and get feedback on how to create successful and impactful pitches. By the time teams convened once more at this month’s three Pitch Practice Summits, Emerging Leaders had further refined their pitches, arriving ready to practice, share their challenges, and gather feedback that would allow them to put the final touches on their action plan projects.

Here are some sneak-peeks into the Pitch Practice Summit breakout rooms, where Emerging Leaders shared their progress and where Impact Coaches and Peer Advisors were able to ask questions, share their expertise and engage in conversations meant to support Emerging Leaders in finalizing clear, concise (just three minutes!) and impactful pitches that communicate the ways in which they plan to uplift their communities.

Team Algeria: empowering youth and tackling waste issues

With DZ Train 2 Recycle, the Algerian Emerging Leaders hope to address both youth unemployment and waste issues by empowering young people to transform waste into recyclables. Their goal is to reach 100 unemployed youth by 2022, empowering them to sharpen their entrepreneurial skills by creating microenterprises. “We want to turn raw materials into a successful business for young people,” the team said. “We want to show them the possibilities. It’s up to us to help them.”

The Impact Coaches encouraged the team to find a “hook” for their introduction — something that pulls the audience in — and to be prepared to explain how they plan to scale.

Team Uzbekistan: supporting women on maternity leave

In Uzbekistan, women on maternity leave take an average of three years maternity leave per child, and are often left isolated and at a financial disadvantage. With a lack of affordable child care, the Emerging Leaders argue, women are not only left financially vulnerable but also lack the support and community they need. Team Uzbekistan’s solution is to create a platform for women to support one another with childcare as well as work with major firms to create childcare spaces in the workplace, allowing mothers to get back to work faster.

After their pitch, the Impact Coaches and Peer Advisors encouraged the team to define their success criteria and make a clear plan to how they’ll grow their platform.

Team South Africa: providing interactive STEM kits to kids

South Africa faces a shortage of STEM professionals, and the Emerging Leaders want to inspire youth by providing simple, affordable, fun and educational STEM kits. With Letsatsi STEM Kits — Letsasi translates to “sun” — the Emerging Leaders hope to enlighten kids with lessons on water purification, food science and more. The team has already engaged with the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA), and soon hope to bring 500 kits to kids within a 12-month period.

“I can tell you’ve been practicing,” said Caitlin, Algeria’s Impact Coach. She then encouraged the Emerging Leaders to look at the competition in the market and find how they add differentiated value. “I think you can brag about yourselves more a little bit,” she said. “It’s ok to mention skills you have that don’t have a certification that comes with them.”

Team Lebanon

After the 2020 Beirut explosion, communities were left battered, vulnerable and without the resources they need. The mission of Fadfedi باللبناني, which means express yourself freely, is made up of three pillars: supporting women through testimonials and live chats, connecting them with mental health experts and providing a community of other women facing similar struggles. The goal of their mobile app is to address mental health issues that could arise from events like the explosion and to raise awareness about resources. Already, Emerging Leaders have met with mental health experts who are guiding them on how to best support their community.

The Impact Coaches and Peer Advisors were moved by the impactful start of their pitch, and provided their feedback on ways to best apply for funding that will allow the Emerging Leaders to expand on their app and further their mission.

Team Turkmenistan: educating women on breast cancer awareness

“We want to save lives,” said the Emerging Leaders of Turkmenistan as they presented their breast cancer screening and awareness tool. Through an online platform, they hope to address the issue of a lack of diagnostics in their country and potentially save thousands of lives. With a social media campaign and local partnerships, the Emerging Leaders want to empower women 16 and up to take preventative action and reduce the number of breast cancer cases in the country.

During feedback, the Impact Coaches shared existing resources that the Emerging Leaders can use to help educate women in their country. They encouraged the team to connect their project to the greater international issue of breast cancer awareness while providing solutions that are specific to their country’s needs.

Team Rwanda:

Ineza means “kindness” in Kinyarwanda, and with their Ineza-Connect platform, Team Rwanda wants to address the stigma on disability by supporting differently-abled children. Their community-focused online platform will offer educational videos and testimonials that will help families navigate challenges and connect with others going through similar issues. The Emerging Leaders also hope to train healthcare workers to become disability advocates in addition to working with partners who will support them in spreading their message. “We have drive, passion and a will to give back to the community,” they said.

After their pitch, the Impact Coaches and Peer Advisors wanted to know more about how the online community will work, and how they’ll engage stakeholders. The group also spoke about the outcomes they hope to see and how they plan to define success.

This week, Emerging Leaders will be submitting their final three-minute pitch videos that will be reviewed by a distinguished panel of Bay Area-based judges. The judges will be providing feedback based on potential for impact, pitch delivery and leveraging resources. In a change from previous years of TechWomen, all of this year’s Emerging Leader teams will receive a small seed grant that will allow them to begin to implement their projects. Follow along on Twitter as we watch their progress and capture their impact!

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