ETSU Elevates Pitch Competition Winners

The ETSU Elevates Pitch Competition was the first event in ETSU's inaugural Founders Week.

Nine East Tennessee State University student teams took the stage on Monday, Oct. 9, to pitch their ideas to tackle community challenges. A panel of judges selected three prize winners, and the crowd voted for its favorite.

In total, the ETSU Elevates Pitch Competition invested $25,000 into the region. The pitch competition kicked off the university’s inaugural Founders Week, a celebration of ETSU’s history and mission to improve the lives of the people of the region.

ETSU Elevates featured nine projects that paired students with nine different community partners to address an economic, social or environmental issue of their choice.

The winners of the 2023 ETSU Elevates Competition include (left) Sarah Mohammed, first place and Audience Choice; (center) Abby Simpson, second place; and (right) third place Rebecca Pearson and Leah Loveday.

Sarah Mohammed, a clinical psychology major, took home the first prize and was also the recipient of the Audience Choice Award. Her project, titled  “Black Mental Healthcare Access,” aims to mobilize Black communities’ self-advocacy for mental health. Mohammed partnered with the Northeast Tennessee Association of Black Social Workers.

Earning second prize was Abby Simpson, a rehabilitative health science major, who pitched “Looking Ahead,” a project to ensure that students have a clear path ahead when they graduate from high school. Simpson partnered with Hawkins County Schools.

Third prize was awarded to Leah Loveday, Rebecca Pearson and Lillian Hollenbeck, whose project “PEER-iod Education,” was designed to facilitate comprehensive menstrual health education to adolescents and their parental figures. They partnered with RISE: Healthy for Life.

The ETSU Elevates judges included Bradley Eshbach, owner/operator of The Generalist and managing director, Creative Energy, Johnson City; Melissa Roberts, executive director, Appalachian Promise Alliance, Bristol; and Aundrea Salyer, chief business development officer, Kingsport Office of Small Business Development and Entrepreneurship, Kingsport Chamber of Commerce. 

Learn more about ETSU Elevates at etsu.edu/elevates.