One Night One BUILD!
Tuesday, we went to One Night One BUILD at the Hyatt Regency Washington. We snapped Microsoft corporation senior business program manager Melinda Moyo, United Fray founder and CEO Robert Kinsler, Morrison & Foerster litigation partner Natalie Fleming Nolen, BUILD Metro DC regional executive director Bryce Jacobs, The Undefeated senior writer Clinton Yates and Google patent strategy analyst Aerica Banks.
BUILD Metro DC, Washington’s largest business and academic incubator for youth, highlighted the work of its student entrepreneurs at the event. BUILD 9th grade business teams from six partner schools across the District competed for the chance to win $1K toward their startups. Here, Broadwater Capital’s Ahmed Hajj, Avascent’s Tim Garnett, McLean Group’s Greg Woodford and XLA’s Gary Slack.
The students spent nine months brainstorming, launching and operating their own businesses in preparation for the event. Team Surface Swipe from Columbia Heights Education Campus won for its product, a Beeswax bar that protects shoes from damage. Here, Capital One’s Kata Zasad and Virginia Moore with BUILD Metro DC mentor Mohit Bahel.
BUILD Metro DC is a program that engages students from under-resourced communities through a four-year entrepreneurship, business development and post-secondary readiness model. In partnership with DCPS and charter schools, BUILD is serving 300 students at seven high schools in D.C. this school year. Students are provided individualized academic support and business coaching, supported by professional mentors who work with the young entrepreneurs on a weekly basis. Here, BUILD Metro DC mentor Chris Brown; event emcee Baratunde Thurston, a comedian, writer and cultural critic who helped relaunch The Daily Show with Trevor Noah; and Mazey CEO and co-founder Pawel Swiatek.
