Impact Hub Accelerator Day 2 “Meet the Mentors”

Following getting to know the cohort, day 2 was centered around best practices and getting to know the mentors. Reagan Pugh did a great job of walking the group through our first “did you do your homework exercise?” It’s important to hold each other accountable, as we all race towards solving complex work force development challenges.

We were also presented with our community mind map board. The goal with the board is to show where connections are made, and how our community develops along the way. I love the idea, but I hope they are prepared to add additional boards for Paul O'Brien and myself!

We were joined by a few of the mentors, and each organization went up and pretty much pitched their organization for the first time in front of the class!

• Daniel Guerrero, Former Mayor San Marcos
• Gavin Gillas, Partnership Director Thirteen23
• Holly Tachovsky, Founder & CEO BuildFax

The mentors that joined us did a great job in adding to the conversation, and the class was able to submit “suggestion” cards to the organization that focused on, something to focus on, a person they should meet, or a question that went unanswered.. It was a great exercise, and I look forward to fine tuning our pitch and messaging throughout the rest of our time together.

Finishing the first pitches, it was meet the mentors time! We were given an agenda for the speed dating rounds with each of the mentors. the focus was on..

• What you’re doing
• Three things you’re struggling with
• How the mentor can help

Here are the wonderful mentors, along with the three mentioned above.

• Ada Ryland, Founder & Coach Ada Ryland Consulting
• Barbary Brunner, CEO Austin Technology Council
• Caroline Alexander, Sr Consultant TIP Strategies
• Chris Laing, Executive Director Capital City Innovation
• Chris Schreck, Director of Planning & Economic Development Capital Area Council of Governments
• Dazzle McKelvy, CEO Workforce Matters
• Elijah May, Managing Partner The Experience Firm
• Ikechi Mwabuisi, Founder Tribl
• Kiyomi Beach, Director of Strategic Analytics Emancipet
• Marc Nathan, VP Client Strategy Egan Nelson
• Margo Johnson, Product & Operations Lead Visible Network Labs
• Matt Glazer, Community Director WeWork
• Paula Nguyen, Project Specialist Walmart
• Preston Stewart, Economic Development City of Austin
• Rachelle Oribio, Founder Samson Sagas
• Ruben Cantu, CEO SocialGood
• Tam Hawkins, CEO Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce
• Tamara Atkinson, CEO Workforce Solutions Capital Area Workforce Board
• Traci Berry, VP Community Engagement Goodwill of Central Texas
• Valerie Cason, Director Market Development BuildFax
• Victoria Musa-Lyons, VP HR Matters Global

The speed dating round was eye opening in many ways. The three main questions I came to the mentors I met with are still..

• Who in the state of Texas is an incredible Media grant writer?
• If our goal at MediaTech Ventures is to move capital through MediaTech innovation, public and private, what KPIs and metrics should we focus on to help justify grants? Has there ever been another organization that’s done something similar? this could at least provide some insight here.. IF NOT, what KPIs/metrics should we focus on initially that we can track as we develop?
• We have many different countries that want us to expand to their region. Do you know anyone with experience in scaling education and incubator platforms internationally?

To my surprise, the mentors were as perplexed as I was! What was reassuring, was their commitment to help find these answers, and enthusiasm about what we’re doing at MediaTech Ventures.

This week was challenging with other large work commitments, so I unfortunately did not have the chance to follow up with the mentors I met with. I am confident the mentors will be invaluable to our growth, and help us build an incredible nonprofit that will benefit the creative class.

We’re looking forward to week #3, more to come..