TECHSTARS STARTUP WEEKEND: SOCIAL IMPACT

JOIN US for a transformative weekend of entrepreneurship + innovation, at Durham's Techstars StartUp Weekend-Social Impact.

In just 3 days, you will experience the highs, lows and pressure that make up life as a startup. As you learn how to create a real company, you'll meet the very best mentors, investors, cofounders, and sponsors who are ready to help YOU get started. Your community is here to help you!

HOW IT WORKS:

You don't need any experience in tech or the startup ecosystem. Just come with a collaborative spirit, be prepared to have fun and soak in all the knowledge about how to create your very own startup business.

On the first evening, our event facilitators will break the ice as you break bread and get to know your fellow attendees. Anyone who would like to pitch a startup idea is given 60 seconds to give it a go. Afterward, participants who wish to get the full startup experience will vote on their favorite ideas and join their teams.

Over the course of the weekend, participants will continue to meet up with their team as they attend workshops on building a business plan, customer validation, marketing, and mastering their pitch. Participants will also work closely with experienced mentors, who will provide guidance and support as they develop their ideas.

At the end of the weekend, the teams will present a pitch deck to the audience and an expert panel of judges for their chance to win valuable prizes.

No Ideas? No Worries. Join a Team and work with them OR just come watch the magic!

WHAT WILL YOU GET?

Your ticket will grant you access to:

• Hands-on activities aimed at providing participants with the tools and resources they need to launch their own Social Impact startup
• A restorative breakout activity
• A dope industry kick back event on Saturday night
• Lots of good food and coffee!
• Access to people making big footprints in the industry

We request a small donation (See tickets) so that you have some "skin" In the game, AND to ensure we can keep these events going for future Innovators and disrupters just like you.

Join us and take the first step towards turning your innovative ideas into a reality!

HOW DO I PREPARE?

You can find a list of tools that can help you prepare for the weekend here:

https://www.techstars.com/communities/startup-weekend/organize-a-startup-weekend/plan-your-event/tools-for-participants

Doing some market research will give you a better understanding of the problem you are trying to solve.

Practice your pitch. You'll have 60 seconds on Friday to persuade other participants to join your team. Make it clear, concise, and convincing!

The elements of a good 60 second pitch are to:

State who you are and what your background is

Mention what problem your product is solving

Explain the product and how it solves the problem

What skill sets you need on the team like a developer, marketer or designer

Provide a name for your startup

Get familiar with some of the tools that you can use during the weekend like the Lean Canvas.

Check out our awesome Facilitators Mentors, and Judges:

Meet Our Awesome Facilitator: Austin Lopesilvero (He/Him): StoryBrand Certified Guide & Creative Swiss Army Knife | Community Builder & Connector | Business Made Simple Certified Coach

As the founder of Aspen Studios, Austin helps organizations craft compelling stories that connect with their audiences and drive results. He is a StoryBrand Certified Guide with over 10 years of experience in creative, marketing, and content strategy. Austin has worked with diverse clients, from startups to nonprofits, to create engaging and impactful digital and social media campaigns, websites, videos, and podcasts. Austin has also been a lead organizer and facilitator for several Techstars Startup Weekends.

Mentor: Tiffany M. Griffin is the CEO, Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Bright Black, a social enterprise that uses scent to share positive stories about Blackness. Tiffany is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a PhD in Social Psychology, and of Boston College with BAs in Psychology and Communications. Before founding Bright Black, Tiffany worked at the US Agency for International Aid (USAID) in the Center for Resilience as a Sr. Strategic Advisor. Prior to her work at USAID, Tiffany worked in the US Senate on health policy for Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and in academia as a Social Psychologist focused on racial identity, racial discrimination and public policy. Tiffany lives in Durham, NC with her husband Dariel and their daughter Elena. When not running Bright Black, you can find her developing new recipes or on a nature walk.

Mentor: Kaley Cross leads the Corporate Sustainability team at rePurpose Global, where she has spent the last few years supporting a variety of enterprises on their circular economy strategies, writing a global framework for Plastic Footrpinting and Corporate Plastic Action, and supporting the growth of a rapidly-growing start-up. A proud graduate of NC State University (BS) and Lenoir-Rhyne University (MS), she was inspired to pursue a career in sustainability after she attended her first sustainability conference in 2016. She currently serves as the Education and Growth Coordinator for B Local Triangle NC, as well as volunteers with Circular Triangle, trying to grow the understanding and presence of conscious companies and the circular economy.

Mentor: Justin Minott is a passionate community builder and advocate for economic justice in the Black community who believes that entrepreneurship is one of the best vehicles for liberation. Recently, his journey as an investor, speaker, author, business coach, and entrepreneur have led him to join The African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs as the VP of Membership Services. Justin is an impact-amplifier whose life purpose is to help maximize potential in people and organizations.

Facilitator: Lee Gray Associate Director, Knox St Studios

Lee has had the joy of playing in diverse professional sandboxes, including Design, Project and Retail Management, Ecosystem Building, and Entrepreneurship. Lee is a North Carolina A&T State University graduate, and her career path has seen her lead teams in Design and Visual Merchandising for well-known national clothing brands such as Nordstrom, Belk, and Bevello. Her experience extends to Social Impact and Community Development at the state level, where she contributes her skills and expertise. She has also been selected as the Ecosystem Builder-in-Residence for the statewide Black Wall Street Forward initiative.

Currently, Lee holds the position of Associate Director at Knox St. Studios. In this role, she effectively manages programs, oversees project implementation, and sets the strategic direction for the organization. Lee's educational background is diverse and includes a Masters in Operations Management, a B.S. in Marketing and International Business, and career certificates in Non-Profit Management, Fashion Design, and Merchandising.

Mentor: Rachel Haynes is a Program Manager at the Business Sustainability Collaborative, Poole College of Management at NC State University. She is also a part-time Operations Director at the nonprofit B Academics which is a global community focused on advanced research, teaching and engagement on B Corps and benefit corporations. Her mission is to help educate the next generation of leaders through innovation in business education. She holds an MBA from the NC State Jenkins program and a BA in International Studies and Economics from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

Mentor: Lebone C. Moses, Founder and CEO of Chisara Ventures

Lebone is a strategic business executive, and investor with 20+ years of experienceadvising boards and c-suite leaders on strategic, sustainable business growth, including ten years asa Big 4 auditor and seven years with global financial services firms leading risk, internal controls,compliance, cybersecurity, data privacy and data governance programs. Her career spans highlyregulated industries, such as financial services, technology and healthcare, with companies rangingfrom Fortune 100 to startups. As the Founder and CEO of Chisara Ventures, Inc., she helps clientsbuild strategies to manage and monitor risk and to implement fit-for-purpose risk management andcompliance (e.g., HIPAA, NIST, SOX) programs.

For over a decade, she has advised startup founders on organizational strategy, investor relations, financing options, valuation and leadership development. She also spent several years helping to build out a NC-based VC fund focused on investing in African-American founders, delivering strategy related to deal flow, investor relations, due diligence and investment vehicles; and served as the fund’s Investment Committee Chair and a member of the Advisory Committee.
For nearly two decades she been serving on non-profit boards, and currently serves on the board of Bentley University, First Flight Venture Center, Uncornered Boston (formally College Bound Dorchester) and The Justice Theater Project. She is passionate about giving back and has also co-founded programs purposed to address the wealth gap by equipping and empowering underrepresented individuals to build wealth and elevate their financial status through acquisition entrepreneurship and financial education.
A thought leader, she has been a speaker at numerous National and international business and investment conferences and panels, including InBIA, the National Institutes of Health, the National Academy of Medicine, Brown University, the University City Science Center and First Flight Venture Center. She has also been a guest speaker for entrepreneurship courses at Duke University Fuqua School of Business, UNC Chapel Hill Kenan School of Business, Delaware State University, and Bentley University, and continues to serve as a judge, start-up coach, and speaker at pitch competitions and venture programs around the country. For more information visit www.lebonemoses.com .

Keynote Address: Crystal Dreisbach, CEO of Upstream

Crystal Dreisbach is a reuse pioneer whose life goal is to disrupt the status quo of our throw-away economy. She has 13 years of executive leadership experience at the helm of an organization whose mission is to create solutions that prevent waste. She has led local and state policy changes to reduce single-use plastics, created a startup to solve single-use problems, and built infrastructure (logistics, wash, staffing) that makes reuse possible. Her goal is to help shift our economy to one that is just, sustainable, and builds economically resilient communities. She believes reuse must be our societal norm, not the exception.

Crystal's award-winning work has been featured on national news including PBS, NPR, Treehugger, and Fast Company Magazine. In 2021, she was awarded Activist of the Year at The Reusies®. She has a Masters degree in public health and is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. In her spare time, she connects with the natural world by camping, hiking, and fishing. She’s the mother of two school-age boys.

M entor: Santiago Ramos

Mentor: Mel Hubner

Mel is passionate about sustainability, community building, and business innovation to solve social and environmental issues around the world. As Brand Fuel's Director of Social Impact and Sustainability, Mel focuses on continuing to grow their collection of sustainable products, their partnerships with other mission-driven organizations, and the positive impact on their team, clients and communities as a Certified B Corporation. As a B Local NC Triangle Board Member, Mel creates the space for local B Corps to engage, collaborate and support each other.

Judge: Michelle Egger Investment Partner @ XFactor Ventures | Founder BIOMILQ | Duke MBA | Scientist Turned Entrepreneur | Forbes 30U30

Diversely experienced Scientist with an eye to global food systems change and fighting for our climate. Entrepreneurial expertise in social impact and sustainable business models. Skilled in fundraising, business strategy development, product innovation, commercialization, company building, servant leadership, and public speaking.

Judge: Jayant Khadilkar, CEO & Co-Founder at ImpactKarma

CEO and co-founder at ImpactKarma, a certified B-Corp. ImpactKarma equips consumers with credible & transparent information about the environmental & social impacts of over 15,000 brands they support. ImpactKarma is launching its branded Karma Wallet debit card to help consumers shop with socially and environmentally conscious brands, earn cashback while doing good and amplify the positive impact on people and planet.

As a mentor & investor, I have the privilege of supporting businesses that not only provide great services but who do so with a conscious mindset towards our planet and its future.

Senior advisor to Sandbox Insurtech Ventures and associated with Pelican Ventures.

Judge: J onathan Blitz

Jonathan Blitz is a Co-Founder of Mystic Farm & Distillery, a field-to-bottle bourbon producer in Durham, North Carolina. Mystic’s Broken Oak Bourbon was awarded the San Francisco World Spirits Competition Best in Class Medal for Best Small Batch Bourbon in 2023. Prior to founding a technology startup in 2008, Jonathan served as judicial clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, and later practiced civil and criminal litigation in state and federal courts around the U.S..

Libations Host: Che Ramos- The Black Bourbon Guy

Che Ramos is a restaurant-and-bar kind of guy: He has spent nearly 20 years working at Triangle restaurants and bars, notably the Vidrio and STIR, both in Raleigh, along with the University Club and Counting House at the 21c Museum Hotel, both in Durham.In late 2020, Ramos started The Black Bourbon Guy to offer professional training as well as private whiskey tastings, cocktail classes, and restaurant consulting with the goal of increasing the presence of people of color both behind the bar and among the patrons at the bars he likes to visit.

Mentor: Keith Daniel:

Keith is the Co-Founder and Managing Director for Resilient Ventures, LLC a committed capital fund investing in African American-led high-growth companies. He is also the owner of Madison Consulting Group, LLC (MCG), a company committed to serving individuals and institutions striving for the greatest good where all may enjoy flourishing work and life outcomes.
Keith has served as the Executive Director of Operations and Strategic Partnerships for StepUp North Carolina, the Executive Director of DurhamCares, Inc, and served as a minister on the Duke University Chapel staff and Director of the Program for the Theological Exploration of Vocation known as PathWays. He led the multi-million-dollar initiative funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. to what is now the Chapel’s core student ministry. In 2011, he was promoted to the post of Director of Community and Campus Engagement. Keith has also served as the Interim Director of the Office of Black Church Studies at Duke Divinity School as well as Program Director for Duke’s 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the Integration of Black Students.
He served as program director for the Duke LEAD Summer Business Institute hosted by the Fuqua School of Business (1994-97, 2002-2020). In 2011, he helped launch the first annual Summer Youth Business and Entrepreneurship Academy inspired by LEAD at the North Carolina Central University School of Business. Keith is a Duke Divinity School Spiritual Formation Leader/Instructor, Special Projects. His career in higher education spanning three decades includes practitioner and director-level positions in the Duke Career Center, the Fuqua School of Business, and Duke Human Resources.
As an ordained, American Baptist minister and organization consultant,Keith compassionately serves throughout Durham and the Mid-Atlantic region as a mentor, pastor, facilitator, and community change agent. He serves on several boards and committees including Chair, The School for Conversion, Justice Matters, Duke University Chapel, and the Duke Health Chaplain Services and Education.
Keith enjoys spending time with his greatest gift, his community, and his family which includes his wife Lorna and two wonderful young adults Madison II and Loren.

Mentor: Anjanette Miller

Anjanette has 20+ years experience in entrepreneurship and program development. Currently she is the co-founder and CEO of Echo - an entrepreneurial support organization in Durham, NC supporting any age, any stage entrepreneurs. Prior to Echo, Anjanette helped a startup nonprofit, Audacity Labs - a youth-centered entrepreneurial program originated by a Duke student in collaboration with the Museum of LIfe and Science - scale and receive a $1 mil award from the City of Durham. She moved to Durham, NC in 2019 after successfully exiting an educational advocacy organization that she founded in Dallas, TX. Moving to Durham had been a dream of hers for many years, and she is honored to call it her home, enjoying all of the many wonders that NC offers.

Mentor: Waddell Blackwell

Waddell has been developing teams and individuals in both commercial and functional areas for many years. He is keenly aware of the cultural differences and diversity that support consistent high performance having worked in a number of senior corporate positions in the United States, Europe and South Africa.

He has a strong desire to add value in uplifting our humanity through our ability to work and play together while learning, growing, and developing ourselves. He strives to work with a small group of companies and individuals on an on-going evolving basis, adding value to their drive for success in the market place and building cultures of high humanity and leadership.

Waddell has coaching relationships with Novo Nordisk, Discovery Channel International, IKEA, Levi Strauss, Dockers, Puma, Diesel, Scripps Networks International, VF corporation, and a number of other companies. He coaches on many levels in organizations from senior leadership teams and executives, to T minus 1 and 2 levels both in headquarters and field locations.

His coaching vision of success and foundation for ways of working are rooted in:

1. Aligning individual/team vision/values with the vision/values of the business
2. Focusing business priorities in strategic development and operational delivery
3. Building positive business relationships to ensure shared objectives are delivered and there is a successful navigation through matrix structures.
4. Building humanity and leadership in establishing a high performance culture that prepares the next generation to be pulled by the opportunities of the future

Mentor: Mel Wright

Mentor: Jeff Kirschner

Founder & CEO of Litterati, a global community working to create a litter-free planet. We are taking a data-driven approach to understanding one of humanity's most complex and challenging problems. (www.litterati.org)
Litterati has been featured by Rolling Stone, CNN, National Geographic, USA Today, Time Magazine, Huffington Post, Upworthy, the San Francisco Chronicle, and many more.
I'm also a public speaker. Over the last several years, I've been a keynote speaker for Fortune 500 corporations, universities, government organizations, and conferences. Examples include: Google, Facebook, eBay, Keep America Beautiful, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the University of Michigan, University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business, and 100+ others.
Previously, I was the Co-Founder and Creative Director of two other startups. Intro, an SMS-based platform designed to help conference speakers meet, engage, and follow up with their audiences. (Acquired by Bizzingo, Inc.), and Razz, a mobile entertainment company, backed by Mayfield Fund, Cardinal Venture Capital, Siemens Acceleration in Communications, and Guy Kawasaki's Garage Technology Ventures.
My career began at TBWA/CHIAT/DAY, where I was a writer working with clients such as Levi's, Sony, and Novartis. I've continued to consult to advertising agencies such as MuhTayZik Hofher working on clients such as Google and HP.
My passion lies in storytelling. I've written several scripts and taught Story at the Miami Ad School.
I sense I'm on this planet to share the stories of what's possible, then create the change to make them happen.
You can reach me anytime on Twitter @jeffkirschner

Mentor: Ramon Llamas

I'm focused on building ecosystems to address health disparities, designed with equity and health as a fundamental starting point. If you're working to build solutions/serve communities in workforce development, social impact investing, community engagement, housing and food security, transportation, entrepreneurship, let's chat.
My mission is to change how society currently views health, with a particular interest in empowering individuals to be proactive about their health. We cannot continue to depend on the providers of health care to fix our problems. Therefore, I envision health care as a collaboration between patient and provider to maintain, rather than repair, an individual's health and wellness. As public health professionals, our promotional efforts must focus on a holistic level of health and well-being that prioritizes health as a resource for living.

Mentor Katie Hunt

Katie Hunt is a dedicated environmental advocate and committed advancing equitable solutions to sustainability issues. Katie’s has built her career around working with community stakeholders to enhance local food access, campaign for subminimum wage reform, and organize grassroots public participation to affect policy change.

Most recently, Katie worked as a Sustainability Consultant with Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. In this role she contributed to the development of an Environmental Justice Action Plan, implemented sustainability policy, and provided subject matter expertise on a variety of enterprise-wide initiatives. Previously, as tenure-track faculty at two universities she led community-based research projects, published and edited for peer reviewed journals, and taught courses on environmental justice, social advocacy, and sustainable food systems.

Katie holds a PhD specializing in environmental communication from the University of Utah and a professional certificate in strategic planning.

Judge: Crashonda Andrew: Vice President, Individual Giving:

Crashonda is responsible for growing NAACP's individual giving team, which includes high-growth principal gifts, major gifts, planned giving, and integrated fundraising.

Crashonda has spent over 10 years in nonprofit development and as the founder of Valley Stream Fundraising simplifying nonprofit development for organizations, she understands the importance of community and camaraderie. She brings her passion for fundraising, building, and nurturing relationships to the role and her zeal for altruism carries over to programs and organizations, which support Black health and wellness.

She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Savannah College of Art and Design and later completed her Master's degree in Human Services and Development from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Mentor: Antony Evans

Antony Evans is COO at Wild Earth the leading plant based dog food company where he’s helped raise more than $40MM in venture funding. His mission to support the creation of a sustainable circular economy through driving adoption of advanced biotechnologies. He is focused on building and scaling companies developing novel consumer products sold primarily online. Experienced CFO/COO with skills in managing finance, raising money, data and analytics, direct-to-consumer growth/marketing and startup strategy. Former strategy consultant with MBA from INSEAD, the #1 international business school, and founder of first biotech to be funded by Y Combinator. MA in Mathematics from University of Cambridge.

Mentor: Mel Wright

Mel is an Army veteran, a mother of a 21 yr. old son, and the owner of 2 businesses Wright Stop Tax Preparation and The Wright Village. Mel is no stranger to the entrepreneurial lifestyle, with over 10 years of entrepreneurship experience. In 2018 after 2.5 years of Mel’s attempt at business # 2 Beau and Beauty a resale clothing store, she had to make a choice: lose her home or close the store. Spending tons of money to build a business she had no idea how to run, and knew nothing about a target market, analytics, or even the area, Mel decided to go back to school. She attended North Carolina Central and graduated in May 2020 with a BBA with a concentration in marketing. She knew that once she graduated she wanted to help other entrepreneurs avoid the same mistakes she made.

Always having a passion for helping others, she wanted to become this small business liaison. In December 2019, while looking for office space for her tax preparation business, she found the perfect space to build a coworking/incubator that became The Wright Village. Here, she would be able to help others and also build a village of like-minded entrepreneurs looking to collaborate, build, and grow their businesses with each other.

The Wright Village is a place for entrepreneurs to come and build their businesses while learning and helping others along the way. Providing the resources and the accountability that one would need to become successful, is what you will get by being a member of the TWV. It takes a village, ”The Wright Village.”

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

American Underground, 201 West Main Street, Durham, United States