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2011 Fast Pitch Finalists and Showcase Participants
Winner of $20,000 Judges' Award and $20,000 LASVP Investee Award
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Los Angeles Diaper Drive
Presenter: Caroline Kunitz
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| LA Diaper Drive provides diapers to low-income families in the Los Angeles area by partnering with 22 other nonprofits that already serve low-income populations, and encourages them to use the diapers as incentive to attend parenting, life skills, GED prep, and other life-improving classes. In 2010, LA Diaper Drive gave away 1.3 million diapers. Watch Caroline's pitch here. |
| www.diaperdrive.com |
Winner of $10,000 Annenberg Audience Award
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Gumball Foundation
Presenter: Ezequiel Olvera
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| Gumball Foundation helps students gain access to college by helping them start their own small-scale vending machine businesses. Upon graduation, they walk away from the Gumball Foundation program with a business skill set, $10,000-$20,000 in matching funds, and an acceptance letter to a university. Watch Ezequiel's pitch here. |
| www.gumballfoundation.org |
Winner of 5,000 Coaches' Award
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Get on the Bus
Presenter: Karen Van de Laat
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| Get On The Bus offers free transportation that allows children to visit their parent in prison, helping families maintain the important bond that research has shown to decrease the negative impacts of parental incarceration on children, as well as decrease the rates of recidivism for offenders once they are released. Watch Karen's pitch here. |
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www.getonthebus.us
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Other Finalists
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Beauty Bus Foundation
Presenter: Wendy Levine
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| Beauty Bus brings free beauty services to chronically or terminally ill people and their caregivers, helping their clients maintain dignity and providing respite during difficult times. Watch Wendy's pitch here. |
| www.beautybus.org |
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Cardborigami, Inc.
Presenter: Tina Hovsepian
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| “Cardborigami” is a portable shelter made of treated cardboard that is folded into an origami structure and carried around as a backpack. The Cardborigami structure can be used to provide shelter for the homeless and for victims of natural disasters and other emergencies. Watch Tina's pitch here. |
| www.cardborigami.org |
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GRID Alternatives
Presenter: Susie Chang |
| GRID Alternatives uses volunteers, job trainees and students to install solar electric systems for low-income families, reducing their electric bills by 75% and cutting down on harmful greenhouse gases. Watch Susie's pitch here. |
| www.gridalternatives.org |
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Inner-City Arts
Presenter: Sharyn Church |
| Inner-City Arts is a nonprofit arts education organization in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles that brings students from their public school classrooms to art classes in specially designed campus studios, exposing students to everything from painting to dramatic arts. Watch Sharyn's pitch here. |
| www.inner-cityarts.org |
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Mother's Day Radio
Presenter: Shaunelle Curry |
| Mother’s Day Radio takes a service-learning, peer mentor approach to media literacy, with college students teaching teens to think critically about misogyny and violence in media. Watch Shaunelle's pitch here. |
| www.mothersdayradio.org |
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Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden
Presenter: Patrick Larkin |
| Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden is on a mission to get California residents and businesses to convert from “thirsty” plant landscapes to water-efficient native plants through a mass marketing campaign that places native flora in large retail outlets, providing customers with plants that will both lower their water bills and help conserve precious natural resources. Watch Patrick's pitch here. |
| www.rsabg.org |
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Village Market Place
Presenter: Neelam Sharma |
| Village Market Place sells and distributes fresh "beyond organic" produce grown by Community Service Unlimited's urban mini-farms and other local farmers, increasing access to locally-grown healthy foods while creating meaningful jobs for youth and adults. Watch Neelam's pitch here. |
| www.csuinc.org |
2011 Showcase Participants
Black Women for Wellness
(it) Magazine
Project Goodness
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor
New Roads School
Step Up Women's Network
Student Voice Project
Therapeutic Living Centers for the Blind
Young & Healthy
To see the 2010 Program Participants, click here.
To see the 2009 Program Participants, click here.
To see the 2008 Program Participants, click here. |
