Announcing the winners of this year’s Pitch My House SXSW contest!
For many women 2017 was a year of reckoning and realization about the pervasiveness of sexism, we women have had enough. This year is an extra-special year at SXSW, because it’s the first time I’ve dedicated my annual contest slash makeshift social experiment exclusively for the ladies.
To counterbalance and begin to change the gender dynamics that have formed we have to reach across our traditional boundaries to help and empower those out of our immediate social spheres. Growth often means a little discomfort. With some help from my friends and my awesome team I was able to reach all of these incredible women and learn their stories, one by one.
With the contest this year I have assembled a super squad of my fellow female entrepreneurs along with a few mentors to help me support the entrepreneurs during the festival. It is my experience that approaching SXSW with a well-coordinated team proves more effective than going it alone. We’re stronger as a group. Each winner will receive a goodie bag, access to professional coaching, networking opportunities and events. PLUS…. all the social media and press attention I can secure for the ladies and their companies.
I am honored and extremely proud to be hosting such inspiring ladies, who are coming from different parts of the country with unique areas of expertise. We don’t know how SXSW is going to turn out this year, but what I am very certain of is that when women work together, we’re more than unstoppable. In no particular order, meet the winners!
Temiloluwa Adeniyi
Each year, more children die from pneumonia than measles, malaria, and AIDS combined. Temiloluwa’s goal is to change this fact, by combining engineering and health care in non-traditional ways through her company Nopneu. By leveraging her background of more than 10 years, in biomedical research, through programs funded by prominent organizations, such as the National Science Foundation, biomedical engineering, and medical device development, she aims to change this fact. Nopneu is developing a rapid, diagnostic test for pneumonia that provides color-coded results that allow users without specialized backgrounds to receive an easy diagnosis, in location independent settings. She dreams of a world, where no child does pre-maturely from pneumonia.
Adia Dightman
Adia Dightman is a dedicated to the startup ecosystem. As the former Director of Business Development for Zuvaa, a marketplace focused on African design and aesthetics, Adia was able to carve a niche within an oversaturated fashion industry which increased the startup revenue by $2million. Her wealth of experience in business, technology, curation, and the community has impacted the role female entrepreneurs make in developing these diverse sectors in Africa and it’s diaspora.
Sherrie “Shero” Robertson
Shero has been in 360/VR/Mixed Reality the last four years and is the founder of Blaze VR/AR. She has recently won several awards for her Virtual Reality storytelling/producing work including “Best in Show” at the SFVR hackathon and Google’s Project Tango hackathon. She also has a #metoo movement dramatic feature titled, “Juke Box Hero” in post-production and an interactive VR experience titled, “My Name is Te”, in final stages.
Sonja Dewing
Sonja Dewing is CEO and Creativity Instigator for Plot Duckies, a support system and subscription box for creative writers. She’s also a One Million Cups organizer in Albuquerque, a startup mentor through Catalyst Week, and a rostered player for Albuquerque Roller Derby. In addition, she’s an award-winning creative writer, published freelance writer including Aviation History Magazine and New Mexico Entertainment Magazine, and her first novel, Toy of the Gods, is now on Amazon.
In Conclusion
Last year was such a hard one for so many reasons. I am determined to make this year at SXSW a stronger one than ever before. Slowly but surely all of their dreams have become my dreams, too. Together we’ll find our power and take SXSW by storm!
