Aboriginal Entrepreneurs to Compete for Prize Money at First Pow Wow Pitch Competition Saturday, June 20th, Ottawa Summer Solstice Pow Wow, Massey Park.

Media Release
June 16, 2015

Aboriginal Entrepreneurs to Compete for Prize Money at First Pow Wow Pitch Competition Saturday, June 20^th, Ottawa Summer Solstice Pow Wow, Massey Park.

In three days time the first ever start up pitch competition supporting indigenous entrepreneurs will take place at the Ottawa Summer Solstice Pow Wow. Organizer and former Dragon’s Den competitor and mother of four, Sunshine Tenasco, launched the competition in response to the lack of indigenous entrepreneurs participating in today’s vibrant start up ecosystem which includes pitch competitions and incubators.

“There is such huge interest in entrepreneurship in the Aboriginal community. We wanted to create a contemporary but culturally relevant space where Aboriginal people can showcase their business dreams! Holding a pitch competition at one of Canada’s largest Pow Wows made a lot of sense. It is a place where we celebrate who we are, and share our culture. And now we can also celebrate our capacity for social innovation.” says Tenasco.

Tenasco believes that indigenous entrepreneurs are not well connected to, nor believe they have access to today’s impressive and often government funded start up support programs which are designed to help reduce risk and increase start up success rates. Tenasco says “So far, we are not doing a good enough job at making entrepreneurship a viable choice for Aboriginal communities. We believe that by creating our own opportunities like Pow Wow Pitch, we can open doors for our people”

Entrepreneurship is not just about seeing gaps, but also acting on them. And this is exactly what Tenasco did. Recognising the importance of culture and community in indigenous lives it was only a short leap from there to link entrepreneurship with Pow Wow and Pow Wow Pitch was born.

The competition will be taking place on the 20^th of June starting at 9.30am at the Ottawa Summer Solstice Pow Wow. It’s open to anyone who has an idea for a new business. The format is that people (max thirty) will turn up and have one minute to pitch their ideas to a panel of five judges who will then reduce the number to ten. The remaining ten spend the rest of the day being mentored and refining their idea, where they will have three minutes at the end of the day to pitch their business to the judges and audience on the main entertainment stage at the Pow Wow. The winners will receive prizes to kick start their venture.

As a start up idea itself Pow Wow Pitch is practising what it preaches. It has started an Indiegogo campaign to help raise prize money, it is totally staffed by volunteers and is being supported by other entrepreneurs through sponsorship and in-kind services.

Tenasco says indigenous people have always been entrepreneurs and traders. So by bringing pitch competitions to community events like Pow Wow we are recognizing that proud history and empowering future generations with new tools to help them on their entrepreneurial journey. Tenasco, in a call to action says “Let’s create a new generation of Aboriginal entrepreneurs with strong values rooted in culture and communities. And let’s honour and support them by making entrepreneurship a celebrated activity in our communities and events.”

What next? Well, perhaps Pow Wow Pitch will go nation wide as she believes every community has the potential to run a pitch competition.

Links:
Powwowpitch
http://www.powwowpitch.com/

Indiegogo Campaign
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pow-wow-pitch-inspiring-aboriginal-entrepreneurs#/story

Pow Wow Pitch Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/powwowpitch?ref=hl

Twitter
https://twitter.com/PowWowPitch

Release Contact: Sunshine Tenasco,

Email: quemeez@hotmail.com

Phone: 819 665-2150