According to folklore, college students and Saturday mornings are two things that rarely intersect. But not so for the Ed Pitch finalists on Saturday, February 10! Each of the finalists was on hand bright and early at the SVPAZ Ed Pitch Boot Camp.
Boot Camp provided an opportunity for the students to work with experts and volunteer coaches on their Ed Pitch presentations. Terri Wogan Calderón kicked off the day with a brief introduction to SVPAZ’s history, values and work in the community.
Two local storytelling and presentation experts, Ashley Bright (Founder and CEO, Ashley Bright Presents) and Liz Warren (South Mountain Community College Storytelling Institute Director), donated their time and talent at the Boot Camp and worked directly with the students to help them craft their presentations.
In the afternoon, several partners and Phoenix business leaders joined the finalists to work directly with each of the finalists to further develop their presentations and storytelling skills. The coaches will continue to work with the students to provide ongoing support and feedback between now and pitch night.
After the event on Saturday, we received the following note of thanks from finalist Samantha Mooney:
“Hi Terri and Lesley,
I just wanted to let you both know how much I’ve been enjoying the Ed Pitch process. I originally applied to gain networking skills in working with GPI and also building pitching skills- and I’ve been so surprised at how much else I’ve been able to work on through the program! I’m really looking forward to refining our program even more in these coming weeks!
Also- I know this is something new for SVP so I wanted to commend the process- it’s been nothing like the types of funding competitions that exist for students.”
Special thanks to the following coaches for their work with the Ed Pitch students and helping make the Boot Camp a success!
- Andrea Beaulieu, Former Partner and CEO, Andrea Beaulieu Creates, LLC
- Kaitlyn Fitzgerald, Partner
- Vince Kozar, COO, Phoenix Mercury
- Laureen Ong and Richard Skwarek, Partners
- Carrick Sears, Partner