T9 Pitchfest Nonprofit Edition
We’re in the business of supporting women owning, risking, and leading. We support athletes, adventurers, entrepreneurs, activists, and any woman daring to change her world and the world around her.
In 2022, Pitchfest Nonprofit Edition (NPE) focuses close to home with California-based women leaders in the nonprofit sector. Over two days at T9 HQ, finalists tell their stories, pitch their programs, workshop their communication and outreach skills, and win some cash to build their organizations.
T9 Pitchfest Nonprofit Edition
We’re in the business of supporting women owning, risking, and leading. We support athletes, adventurers, entrepreneurs, activists, and any woman daring to change her world and the world around her.
In 2022, Pitchfest Nonprofit Edition (NPE) focuses close to home with California-based women leaders in the nonprofit sector. Over two days at T9 HQ, finalists tell their stories, pitch their programs, workshop their communication and outreach skills, and win some cash to build their organizations.
Pitchfest NPE focuses on women-run programs serving women and girls in the following areas:
• SPORTS & OUTDOORS: Empowering women and girls to move, grow, and adventure
• REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE: Supporting every person’s right to bodily autonomy
• POLITICS & LEADERSHIP: Eliminating the barriers to elected leadership and inspiring women and girls to step up in all aspects of their lives.
Ladies, Your Grassroots Are Showing
Celebrating women leading, risking and owning — in the face of the world today is paramount. And powerful. Check out our 2022 video recap, serving up some majorly inspiring leadership.
Meet the Leading Ladies
Novelly
Represented by Anna Gabriella Casalme, Founder
As an educator, founder Anna Gabriella Casalme heard from students who were afraid their parents wouldn’t come home from the hospital, who were bullied because of their race, whose homes were damaged by fires or flooding. She wanted to create a safe space to share, to read, and to heal. Novelly is a digital publishing platform dedicated to amplifying diverse youth voices by helping teenage readers to use the power of courageous storytelling to lift up the voices of marginalized communities. $5000 awarded to expand SPEAK! Leadership Certification & Awards that celebrate accomplishments in dialogue facilitation.
eiFocus
Represented by Sarah Kivel, Founder
For every coach that goes through the eiFocus training in emotional intelligence, 45 athletes are positively impacted. When we do the math, that’s a pretty big team of athletes benefiting from this program based in mindfulness, awareness, and gratitude. EiFocus is working toward an inaugural SWEAT (Success With Empathy and Trust) in-person training program in Southern California geared to coaches of female athletes from all backgrounds and sports and hopes to reach 5000 coaches (225,000 athletes) in the next five years. $3000 awarded to expand their in-person programming reach.
Birth Companions Community Center
Represented by Veronica Fregoso, Founder
This SF Bay Area organization provides perinatal education and doula support for more than 200 Latinx, Black, and Indigenous new mothers and their families every year. They organize mutual aid, wellness education and resources, and train new doulas in the community. Doulas at Birth Companions are currently volunteers, taking time away from their full-time jobs and their own families to provide this service. $3,000 awarded to help fund fully paid doula positions.
Novelly
Represented by Anna Gabriella Casalme, Founder
As an educator, founder Anna Gabriella Casalme heard from students who were afraid their parents wouldn’t come home from the hospital, who were bullied because of their race, whose homes were damaged by fires or flooding. She wanted to create a safe space to share, to read, and to heal. Novelly is a digital publishing platform dedicated to amplifying diverse youth voices by helping teenage readers to use the power of courageous storytelling to lift up the voices of marginalized communities. $5000 awarded to expand SPEAK! Leadership Certification & Awards that celebrate accomplishments in dialogue facilitation.
eiFocus
Represented by Sarah Kivel, Founder
For every coach that goes through the eiFocus training in emotional intelligence, 45 athletes are positively impacted. When we do the math, that’s a pretty big team of athletes benefiting from this program based in mindfulness, awareness, and gratitude. EiFocus is working toward an inaugural SWEAT (Success With Empathy and Trust) in-person training program in Southern California geared to coaches of female athletes from all backgrounds and sports and hopes to reach 5000 coaches (225,000 athletes) in the next five years. $3000 awarded to expand their in-person programming reach.
Birth Companions Community Center
Represented by Veronica Fregoso, Founder
This SF Bay Area organization provides perinatal education and doula support for more than 200 Latinx, Black, and Indigenous new mothers and their families every year. They organize mutual aid, wellness education and resources, and train new doulas in the community. Doulas at Birth Companions are currently volunteers, taking time away from their full-time jobs and their own families to provide this service. $3,000 awarded to help fund fully paid doula positions.
Our Returning 2021 Participants
We also got to hear from 2021 Pitchfest winners about what they’ve been up to in the last year:
Freedom Community Clinic
Represented by Bernadette Lim & Eli Jimenez, Co-founders
Co-founders (and last year’s Pitchfest Nonprofit winners) Bernadette Lim and Eli Jimenez have a lot to celebrate. In the last year they opened two physical healing spaces, hosted 100 pop-up Community Healing Clinics serving over 3000 people, and oh, Bernadette also graduated from med school. Dedicated to whole person community healing that combines ancestral and Indigenous modalities with the strengths of western medicine, Freedom Community Clinic is creating a new standard of what community and family medicine can look like. They partnered with over 40 organizations to prioritize healing services for BIPOC women, created Empower, a program providing free therapy, primary care for Spanish speaking at-risk youth, and established themselves as a critical community healing pillar in the Bay Area. $5000 to fund Community Healing Clinics.
Girls Crushing It
Represented by Roxanne Christophe, Founder
Grass certainly doesn’t grow under the feet of Roxanne Christophe, who in the last year partnered with T9 on two major initiatives to boost 30 lucky girls on their entrepreneurship journey (not to mention the 1000 other girls this organization impacted through their routine workshops and curriculum kits). Hot on the heels of the first Corporate Field Trip to the T9 Mothership (think: behind the scenes learning on product development, marketing, and number crunching), Girls Crushing It got plans in motion for a Girls Edition Pitchfest. Pitching for a chance to peddle their wares at the T9 Berkeley store, these girls got a chance to hone their public speaking skills (thanks Practice Space!) and expand their visions of what entrepreneurship can look like. $5,000 to expand their curriculum and reach over 2000 girls in the next year.
The Practice Space
Represented by AnnMarie Baines, Founder
Fueled by the important work of elevating underrepresented voices, The Practice Space rode the momentum from last year’s Pitchfest and served an additional 400 new participants (for a grand total of 1600 people) through in-person and online public speaking coaching and support. Over the last year they worked with the first City of Richmond Poet Laureate, partnered with 16 community organizations in underrepresented communities, and created the Expressive Leaders program to encourage young leaders to use their voices to support positive community change. As AnnMarie Baines says, “our afterschool programs are quirky, silly, and fun, but our mission is serious.” $10,000 to expand school programming and community reach.
Freedom Community Clinic
Represented by Bernadette Lim & Eli Jimenez, Co-founders
Co-founders (and last year’s Pitchfest Nonprofit winners) Bernadette Lim and Eli Jimenez have a lot to celebrate. In the last year they opened two physical healing spaces, hosted 100 pop-up Community Healing Clinics serving over 3000 people, and oh, Bernadette also graduated from med school. Dedicated to whole person community healing that combines ancestral and Indigenous modalities with the strengths of western medicine, Freedom Community Clinic is creating a new standard of what community and family medicine can look like. They partnered with over 40 organizations to prioritize healing services for BIPOC women, created Empower, a program providing free therapy, primary care for Spanish speaking at-risk youth, and established themselves as a critical community healing pillar in the Bay Area. $5000 to fund Community Healing Clinics.
Girls Crushing It
Represented by Roxanne Christophe, Founder
Grass certainly doesn’t grow under the feet of Roxanne Christophe, who in the last year partnered with T9 on two major initiatives to boost 30 lucky girls on their entrepreneurship journey (not to mention the 1000 other girls this organization impacted through their routine workshops and curriculum kits). Hot on the heels of the first Corporate Field Trip to the T9 Mothership (think: behind the scenes learning on product development, marketing, and number crunching), Girls Crushing It got plans in motion for a Girls Edition Pitchfest. Pitching for a chance to peddle their wares at the T9 Berkeley store, these girls got a chance to hone their public speaking skills (thanks Practice Space!) and expand their visions of what entrepreneurship can look like. $5,000 to expand their curriculum and reach over 2000 girls in the next year.
The Practice Space
Represented by AnnMarie Baines, Founder
Fueled by the important work of elevating underrepresented voices, The Practice Space rode the momentum from last year’s Pitchfest and served an additional 400 new participants (for a grand total of 1600 people) through in-person and online public speaking coaching and support. Over the last year they worked with the first City of Richmond Poet Laureate, partnered with 16 community organizations in underrepresented communities, and created the Expressive Leaders program to encourage young leaders to use their voices to support positive community change. As AnnMarie Baines says, “our afterschool programs are quirky, silly, and fun, but our mission is serious.” $10,000 to expand school programming and community reach.
Thank you to these female-powered vendors: Azalina’s Artisan Kitchen Nana Joes Granola BrownBag Popcorn Co. Cafenated Coffee Co. Always Yours Bakery & Cafe A Girl Named Pinky BRAMS Beer Just Enough Wines
Stay In The Loop
In 2023 we will be opening up our Pitchfest Nonprofit Edition applications to all US based organizations. For application info and to learn more, sign up here.
To learn more about our Pitchfests, check out the 2022 Pitchfest Nonprofit recap and our original Pitchfest Outdoor Edition.
FAQ’s
What about covid-19?
The safety of our teammates and our community is our top priority. For now, we are opening the Pitchfest NPE application as planned in hopes we will be able to safely meet the finalists in person at an outdoor event where we can observe appropriate social distancing and safety practices. If that isn't possible, we will host Pitchfest NPE virtually. So, either way: game on!
What do you win?
• A chance to win a grand prize of up to $10,000 in funding.
• Pre-event virtual mentorship.
• Organizations serving girls will receive an annual subscription to Alliance for Girls ($200 value).
• Organizations focused on sports/fitness will receive promotional support from T9 Mermaid Series.
• Monthly Zoom meetings with all Pitchfest Nonprofit finalists to share learnings, support.
• Quarterly knowledge sharing with T9 experts (such as HR, Accounting, Social Media, Marketing) and a bi-annual joint meeting with T9 Movers & Makers.
• Promotion of your events and campaigns through T9 social channels.
• T9 swag and goodie bag.
When do you apply for Pitchfest Nonprofit Edition?
• Applications for Pitchfest NPE 2022 are now closed. Sign up for Title Nine emails to get info on future Pitchfest events.