Pitch Day for Youth Impact Hub Fellows!
Benjamín Gonzalez on the mic! Each Fellow has 5-7 min to present their plan for their social enterprise, with each presentation culminating in a Community Ask. (i believe this idea of making requests to your community is a key take-away of the program - for ALL of us! When’s the last time you recognized a need you have, and then made a request of your family, friends, or extended community? We are conditioned to perceive this as weakness, when in fact, it builds strength for all involved.
MCs Jasmine Honey Gold and ab commanding the stage in front of a packed house. These two program alumni now co-facilitate the Fellowship meetings with Gino Pastori-Ng. It’s been awesome to watch them emerge into their visions and goals these past years.
Ben and i attempting to form the In Lak’ech symbol with our hands…
aManda Greene, Co-Founder of Youth Impact Hub and creator of the Fellowship program transitioned on February 12, 2019. The loss was devastating for her co-founders Gino Pastori-Ng (pictured) and Galen Silvestri, for the young people who have received so much love and guidance from aManda, and for the United Roots and Bay Area social justice communities at-large. The picture of aManda on my door at home reminds me each time i leave the house that i aspire to embody her graceful balance of strength and kindness. Love you, girl.
aManda Greene, 1981-2019
It’s finally here! Pitch Day 2019!!!
The ten Youth Impact Hub Fellows present their pitches for their social enterprises to the public, and the “judges” decide if each Fellow is ready for their seed funding now - or later, after some revisions to the plan.
Ben and i have been working since early January on his social enterprise, In Lak’ech Productions, a project that leverages his existing screen printing business to support the immigrant community in Oakland. So cool, right? The concept is to make a series of workshops in which immigrant participants are guided to tell their stories and then develop collective designs that embody these stories. These designs then get printed on apparel that will be sold to Oaklanders and the world at-large. Immigrant stories get amplified, and proceeds go to local immigrant support services. The goal is to have the first workshop and correlated designs and screen prints complete by December, when the Fellows will showcase their goods and services at a public Marketplace event.
In Lak’ech is a traditional Mayan greeting, meaning “I am you and you are me.” Ben wants to embody that sentiment in his social enterprise, and really in everything he does.
Emani Holyfield, a mentor in this year’s program, adds feedback to one of the Fellows’ projects. Wait, that’s her mentee’s project! :)