ETSU Elevates pitch competition to invest $25,000 in region
September 25, 2023
From an immersive art exhibit to amplify the voices of the community’s population
experiencing homelessness to a program linking college students with older adults
in rural communities to reduce social isolation, students at East Tennessee State
University have many ideas to improve the quality of life for the people of this
region.
Those ideas and seven others will take center stage at ETSU Elevates, a pitch competition on Monday, Oct. 9, at the ETSU Martin Center for the Arts. Doors open at 5 p.m., and the competition begins at 5:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
ETSU Elevates is part of ETSU Founders Week, Oct. 9-13, a week full of festivities to commemorate the university’s founding in October 1911.
The pitch competition will feature nine projects that pair students with nine different community partners to address an economic, social or environmental issue of their choice. The students will present their pitches in front of a live audience and three judges.
The judges include Bradley Eshbach, owner/operator of The Generalist and managing director, Creative Energy, Johnson City; Melissa Roberts, executive director, Appalachian Promise Alliance, Bristol; and Aundrea Sayler, chief business development officer, Kingsport Office of Small Business Development and Entrepreneurship, Kingsport Chamber of Commerce.
On top of $1,500 in seed funding granted to each ETSU Elevates project, the projects are eligible for additional funding at the pitch events. Judges will award the ETSU Elevates first-, second- and third-place prizes and the audience will select the People’s Choice Award. ETSU Elevates will invest a total of $25,000 to address community needs.
“Many areas, agencies and groups in our community are addressed in these project ideas, so we want as many community members as possible to attend the pitch competition and cast a vote for their favorite project,” said Dr. Susan McCracken, vice provost for Community Engagement at ETSU. “These students have been working on their projects since June. I have heard them rehearse. Prepare to be blown away by their creativity and their commitment to piloting practical and scalable solutions to community challenges.”
ETSU Elevates was first launched in 2019 but ended abruptly in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The first iteration of ETSU Elevates was nothing short of amazing – from the community response and involvement to the opportunities it provided to our students,” said ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland. “We have been waiting a long time to relaunch a newly imagined ETSU Elevates, and our inaugural celebration of Founders Week was a good fit for an event that so perfectly supports our mission to improve the quality of life for the people of this region and beyond.”
The ETSU Elevates projects and their community partners are as follows:
- Appalachian Veterans Festival (community veterans organizations and ETSU Military and Veterans Services)
- Project Capture It: Creating Compassion for Underrepresented Communities (Manna House)
- Caring Connection (Mooresburg Community Association)
- Look Ahead (Hawkins County Schools)
- Black Mental Healthcare (Northeast Tennessee Association of Black Social Workers)
- PEER-iod Education (RISE, Johnson City)
- The Viola Project (Frontier Health, Johnson City)
- Delivering Eye Care to Appalachia (Appalachian Miles for Smiles)
- The Aloe Project (LXI, Johnson City)
Parking for the event is available in the Brinkley Center Parking Garage, located behind the Carnegie Hotel. To learn more, visit etsu.edu/elevates.
Video Transcript
ETSU Elevates. Nine pitches. Three judges. $25,000 community investment. Don’t miss the ETSU Elevates pitch competition on October 9th at the Martin Center. Become part of a live voting audience. You'll witness nine ETSU students and their community partners pitch their solutions to elevate our region in hopes of winning one of three grand prizes or the People's Choice Award. One night only on October 9th. ETSU Elevates.