EforAll Lowell-Lawrence Social Impact Pitch Contest Recap

Lowell's PCEA Neema Church hosted EforAll Lowell-Lawrence's social impact pitch contest last Thursday evening. The kinds of  businesses looking to make a social impact on the community participating with tables in the showcase and presenting in the pitch contest ranged from power generation to social services to practice space for musicians to gardening. There was so much to take in that I knew I wouldn't be able to absorb it all, but I spoke with as many entrepreneurs as I could and enjoyed every bit of it.

Rev. Dr. Karimi Mumbui Welcoming EforAll to His Church

The church provided an excellent presentation space with multiple video screens, good sound, and plenty of seats. The pastor, who was also one of the judges, welcomed us warmly. Also, I learned that the word "neema" in the church's name means grace in Swahili. (PCEA is Presbyterian Church of East Africa.)

Seriously Good Space for the Presentations

The judges for the pitch contest were:

• Rev. Dr. Karimi Mumbui -- Founding Minister, PCEA Neema Church
• Sophy Theam -- Diversity & Inclusion and Leadership Program Specialist, Enterprise Bank
• Renay Wolterding -- Chef-Owner, Mill City BBQ and Brew
• Joe Hungler -- Executive Director, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell
• Claire Ricker -- Urban Renewal Project Manager, City of Lowell

Judges Getting Ready

Big Checks Just Waiting to be Won

The tables were buzzing. The hallway where they were set up was narrow so it was a challenge to try to check out every table. I made the rounds to talk to as many as possible and use my table favorite voting stickers to help decide who else would get to pitch. Each attendee gets three stickers and it was hard to choose the idea I most wanted to hear. I enjoyed talking to all of these social entrepreneurs and I managed to photograph many of them.

A number of participants were from the UML DifferenceMaker program, including

• ClassRoots
• Playtlist  
• ETRALock

The scheduled pitchers were:

• ETRALock
• Woven Royal
• Napping House
• Orvel
• Playtlist
• Power Scavengers

I was impressed with ETRALock, a device that attaches to any door in order to help people with disabilities such as arthritis and Parkinson's disease that make it hard to use keys and deadbolts access their homes easily and safely key-free.

ETRALock Table

ETRALock Team Doing Their Pitch

Woven Royal was probably the most surprising of the presenters.  What's surprising about a head wrap? It's made from fabric made out of recycled plastic! Imagine protecting your curls from hat head and helping clean up the beaches of the Dominican Republic at the same time.

Woven Royal

The Woven Royal pitch really captivated the judges and the audience. They're trying to make a social impact in a very unexpected way and it sure seems like they can do it.

Woven Royal Pitch

Napping House pitched a program of accommodations for students with emotional and behavioral disorders.

Napping House Table

Napping House Pitch

A plastic waste theme emerged with Orvel's vision of an ocean free of plastic waste. By organizing cleanup events, harnessing the power of media, and partnering with brands, Orvel intends to change the way we think and act toward the ocean and plastics.

Orvel Table

Orvel Pitch

Playtlist was a big hit with an app for people with dietary restrictions (whether health, cultural or religious) to find nearby restaurants that suit their needs.

Playtlist Table

Power Scavengers came all the way from Burlington, Vermont to tell us about their
wearable device that produces electricity solely from the motion of walking.  It's worn as a belt so it's easy to take along on a hike. They like to hike in the mountains and have used it already for charging their devices while hiking the Green Mountains and even Mount Kilimanjaro. Their enthusiasm and optimism was contagious.

Power Scavengers

They were so energetic that they must have generated a ton of electricity just walking back and forth in the hallway demonstrating it.

Power Scavengers Pitch

The table favorite chosen by the sticker voting was Second Chance, an outreach program for women in Lawrence who need connections to multiple types of social services. 

Second Chance Pitch

The wildcard slot, chosen by pulling a business card out of a basket, went to Elevate Lowell. Elevate Lowell is an artist's collective that brings together young urban artists to put on events that combine performing arts, music, and a marketplace that showcases entrepreneurs and creators in Lowell and the surrounding areas. Elevate aims to create opportunities for artists to promote themselves and network with other artists and businesses.

Elevate Lowell Pitch

The voting for the audience choice award went smoothly (the technology can be finicky sometimes) and we had some time to hear short pitches from some of the other folks who had tables and to grab some more of the excellent food while the judges were out deliberating. The judges took a wee bit longer than usual, but I don't blame them. They had tough choices to make. This was an amazing group of pitchers. Actually, it was an amazing group of table participants too.

Delicious Spread of Food

The winners were:

Fan Favorite: Power Scavengers $500

Power Scavengers Fan Favorite

Third Place: Power Scavengers  $500 (yeah, they get 2 checks!)

Power Scavengers Wins Third Place Too

Second Place: Playtlist $750

Playtlist Wins Second Place

First Place: Woven Royal $1000

First Place Goes to Woven Royal!

Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who pitched or tabled. Your ideas are exciting and made for a great event.

Happy Belly Gardening

Chops - Practice Space for Music Students

Measuring Up App for Getting Your Clothes to Fit Right

PhiLance Platform for Freelance Workers

Adventure Code Academy

Sixpence

HipHop Dance Studio

Six Reasons to Come to Lawrence for Labor Day Weekend

Monument to the 1912 Strikers

Labor Day Weekend in Lawrence brings together labor history, immigrant history and culture, music, food, and celebration in a vibrant city still very much the Immigrant City. In this spirit, the whole city becomes a city of festivals. With the Festival of the Three Saints, the Mahrajan, and the Bread and Roses Festival you can celebrate Italian culture, Lebanese culture, and labor history from Friday evening through Monday.  Celebrating in a city that actually celebrates labor on Labor Day is reason enough to be here, but in case you need more reasons, here's a list.

1. The Feast of the Three Saints is celebrating its 95th year!
From from Friday evening through Sunday, the feast celebrates three Catholic saints — St. Alfio, St. Filadelfo and St. Cirino. The three brothers were martyred for their faith almost 1,800 years ago and have been commemorated with a feast in Trescastagni, Sicily for centuries. Italian immigrants who came to Lawrence to work in the mills, brought the tradition with them.  You'll get a real sense of Lawrence history as you enjoy food, music, and the procession , celebrating both a religious festival and Italian culture.

Members of the St. Alfio Society Getting the Saints Ready for the Procession

Some highlights this year are:

Bocce

New this year, is bocce for kids and a bocce tournament for the grownups! Never played bocce? It's not too late to learn. Learn to play or refresh your skills on Friday evening in the parking lot next to North End Deli on Common Street.

The Original Drifters

This year's music lineup features classic doo-wop music by "The Original Drifters"on Saturday evening. This should be a fun show for all ages.

Taste of Italy Cooking Demos and Tastings

Cafe Tre Santi, aka the church parking lot, will host wine tastings, food tastings, cooking demos, and a cheese making demo.  You can learn about Italian wine and food pairings, hear all about wine making from the Merrimack Valley's most popular wine makers (Franco and Johnnies Vino), watch the "Original" Crispelli King Peter Messina of the Italian Kitchen make the legendary treat (crispelli), and learn all about the art of making fresh mozzarella and ricotta cheese from Luca Mignogna of Wolf Meadow Farms (and taste the fresh cheeses of course).

 2. Bread and Roses Heritage Festival

Learn about and celebrate the history and legacy of the 1912 strike that changed labor history and also celebrate the diverse cultures of Lawrence.

The Crowd at Bread and Roses

On Labor Day from 11:30 AM - 6:00PM Campagnone Common hosts an amazing array of activities:

• enjoy live music on multiple stages in an amazing diversity of styles from traditional Garifuna dance and drumming to jazz and hip-hop and everything in between -- check out the schedule to see who's playing each stage
• learn about Lawrence's history and its present from  historians, writers, union representatives, and community activists at the live history stage
• listen to speakers on labor and social issues, poetry readings, and labor songs or take to the soapbox yourself to tell it like it is at the community corner and soapbox
• have fun with kids' activities including pony rides, face painting, and arts activities
• take a tour -- both trolley tours and historic walking tours take you to sites related to the 1912 strike and other aspects of this historic mill city
• check out a variety of tables with vendors and non-profit organizations -- everything from food to labor organizing  -- and did you know that Mill City Zine Distro will be on of those tables? If you missed them at the Lowell Anarchist Book Fair last weekend, catch them on Labor Day in Lawrence.

3. Oompa

This year's Bread and Roses Festival is a great chance for you to hear the amazing Boston-born poet and rapper, Oompa! Trust me, she is reason enough to come to Lawrence on Labor Day in and of herself.  2016 WOWPS (Women of the World Poetry Slam) Winner and a finalist at the 2016 National Poetry Slam, Oompa is a rising star on the Boston music scene. Check out her bio on the festival schedule and get yourself to the Teoli Stage at 2:00PM on Monday for a real treat.

4. Lebanese Mahrajan Festival

Get a taste of Lebanese culture at the 44th Mahrajan at St. Anthony's Maronite Church. Three days of music, dancing and plenty of  Lebanese (and American) food starts Friday evening. That's plenty of time to enjoy the food, music, dancing, hookah, games, and even cooking classes. Stop by  Friday 6PM-Midnight,  Saturday 5PM- Midnight, and Sunday Noon-Midnight.


The food is all homemade and delicious, the pastry tent is three tables long, the music is great, and the parishioners are friendly. You'll feel right at home partaking in this great Merrimack Valley tradition.

Just a Few of the Delicious Pastries at the Mahrajan

5. Leonard Bernstein Was Born Here

Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence on August 25, 1918. Lawrence celebrated his centennial year with a wonderful 10-day festival and orchestras all over the USA are still doing centennial tributes to one of the best known sons of the Immigrant City. The Lawrence History Center has folders chock-full of mementos of Bernstein's many visits back to his home town after he became famous.   In many ways, his family history is similar to that of lots of people in Lawrence. Why not celebrate the centennial by exploring Lawrence and getting a feel for the mills and the immigrant history? Look around for possible sources of his inspiration and evidence of his impact.


6. Murals

Island Street Murals

Lawrence is home to loads of beautiful murals. Go on a mural quest. Take a walk, turn a corner, and be surprised by colorful art where you least expect it.  Many of these murals are the work of Lawrence-based Elevated Thought, which works with several other local communities as well. Three murals painted by Elevated Thought feature in the set for the Bread and Roses Festival's grand finale "Lawrence Hustle & Soul", a multi-media production based on the play “Morir Soñando” by Nilson Mata.

six (or so) reasons to come to Lowell this weekend

The Lowell Folk Festival is almost here. That's right, the longest running and second largest free folk festival in the USA starts this Friday! Only a couple more sleeps until downtown Lowell celebrates the very best in traditional folk music, artisan crafts, and ethnic foods for the 32nd year.

The Opening Parade Arriving at Boardinghouse Park (2017)

Do you need some reasons to come to the festival? C'mon, how long has this been on your bucket list? Go for it! Here a few reasons you should get here this year:

1. Free Music: Beatboxing, Georgian Polyphonic Singing, Traditional Penobscot Drumming, Cape Verdean Morna and All That
This year's festival lineup features Rahzel, one of the biggest names in beatboxing. This is your chance to hear a legend in hip hop culture for free. This is the guy who can sing a chorus and beatbox the backup simultaneously. You seriously do not want to miss this.

Iberi Choir is bringing the complexity and sheer beauty of Georgian polyphonic singing. The Georgian song tradition goes back to ancient pagan roots and weaves in early Orthodox Christian liturgical music and a rich mix of at least 15 different regional singing styles for an almost hypnotic experience.

Interested in the indigenous cultures of New England? The Burnurwurbskek Singers, a traditional drum group, are making their very first appearance at the Lowell Folk Festival.  They're from the Penobscot Nation on Indian Island near Old Town, Maine and have been performing traditional Wabanaki songs for audiences across Maine for years. We are lucky to finally have them in Lowell.

Love Cape Verdean music? Neuza will be here singing not only the traditional mornas that Cesaria Evora was most famous for, but also songs in the local traditions of the island of Fogo. I'm especially looking forward to hearing her.

Those are only a few of the highlights among the amazing lineup of musicians on the Folk Festival stages. Still need more music? There will be music all over the place. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops and the streets all add to the musical landscape. Popular local Lowell acts such as Lowell's own Americana/Folk/Rock guys Whiskey Duo and singer songwriter Eddy Dyer will be doing their own mini-tours, playing several venues such  unchARTed, Vinyl Destination, The Hearing Room , Dudley's, and the Olympia throughout the festival weekend.

2.  Discover Some Traditional Foodways
Learn how to make 5 different kinds of flatbread! Yes, 5 different kinds of flatbread.  This year's theme in the folklife/foodways area in Lucy Larcom Park is Flatbreads: Plain & Fancy. Try your hand at flipping some traditional Franco crepes, learn to make Penobscot frybread, Lithuanian pancakes, Greek hortopita, or Asian Indian flatbread, and hear family stories about these flatbread traditions.  And you get to taste samples! You might just come home with a recipe or two.

Pickle Making Demo from the 2015 Lowell Folk Festival Foodways

3. Baklava Sundaes
Need another food-related reason to come? Two words: Baklava Sundaes. The baklava sundaes from the Hellenic American Academy PTA are the most anticipated sweet treat of the entire folk festival. There are people who come to the festival just for the baklava sundaes. Have you really experienced the Lowell Folk Festival if you have not had a baklava sundae? You decide.

Baklava Sundae

4. Food, Food, Food!
Take a culinary tour of the world without leaving downtown. You can experience Greek, Polish, Brazilian, Lao, Burmese, Liberian, and so many other wonderful ethnic food traditions all presented by local churches and nonprofits to raise money for their community programs as well as showing off their food culture.  The longest lines are always for the lumpia, turon, and other Pilipino offerings from Iskwelahang Pilipino, who have been participating for over 25 years now. New this year is New Life Kingdom International Ministry, many of whose members hail from Sierra Leone. They'll be serving African BBQ as well as cassava leaves and Jollof rice. The pierogi from the Lowell Polish Cultural Committee are legendary, as are the gyros from Hellenic American Academy PTA. My personal favorite is the loobie & rooz from St. George Antiochian Church. You'll be sure to find old favorites and new tastes. Oh, and be sure to check out the Calla (Liberian donuts).


5. Art All Over the Place

 Art in the Courtyard

Art in the Courtyard is another great part of the Lowell Folk Festival. The pleasantly shady brick courtyard between the National Historical Park Visitor Center and the Brush Art Gallery will be full of tents showcasing the work of a wide range of artists for sale. You'll find everything from flutes to felt, paintings to jewelry, and even handmade bath and body products. Local artists will also be displaying and selling their artwork at the neighboring Brush Art Gallery and Studios. What will you take home?

Folk Craft Area 

The theme for this year’s folk craft area centers around four basic techniques underlying the work of traditional master artists: painting, plaiting, pounding, and pulling.  Watch masters of traditional crafts turn birch bark into baskets, create icons to enhance spiritual practice, pound metal into drums, or turn yarn and burlap into a rug.

Galleries

Lowell is full of artists all year round, not just during folk festival. Several of the local galleries have shows up right now running through Sunday.  Check out botanical paintings at the Arts League of Lowell gallery at Gates Block. Celebrate July at the Ayer Lofts Gallery.  See what's up at Gallery Z. See what's up on the walls at the coffee shops. Just go around and absorb Lowell's art scene.

6. There's a lot to like about Lowell!
Folk Festival is the perfect time to enjoy all the things there are to like about Lowell. Besides strolling among the red brick mills and along the canals,  you can check out several impressive works of public art, enhance your record collection with a shopping spree at three (count them three!) vinyl record stores, and savor delicious coffee at one of Lowell's amazing array of coffee shops.

7. Box Hockey
Did you know that the game of box hockey may well have been invented in Lowell? This playground (or street or driveway) game is usually played between two people with sticks, a puck and a compartmented box.  Try your hand at box hockey in the Shattuck Street games area and get all nostalgic for your, or someone else's, childhood.

Innovation Thriving in Roxbury -- Recapping #MIN111

On Wednesday June 13 Mass Innovation Nights returned to Roxbury following on the success of last year's first ever event in Roxbury. Once again Greater Grove Hall Main Streets hosted us at the Thelma D Burns building for an African-American and African tech themed event. An enthusiastic and diverse crowd checked out tables showcasing 12 startups, consulted with experts in the Experts Corner, and networked with each other. There was a wonderfully lively vibe circulating through the space.

MIN111 Crowd Beginning to Build

Products ranged from health care analytics to a mobile barber shop, so there was a lot to take in. The format for the presentations was different this time. Instead of four presenters chosen ahead of time by voting on the website everybody got to do a 1-minute pitch. I managed to talk with most of the presenters at their tables beforehand.
The audience choice winners were

• Eden GeoPower
• Amooti
• AfyaKit
• Vinylmint -- Grand Prize

AfyaKit aims to bring cutting edge analytics capabilities to health facilities throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.  Afya's comprehensive health facility supervisory tool, deployed on both web and mobile, provides in-facility analytics to assist decision making by public health managers. This is an impressive project. Naturally they were one of the audience choice vote winners.

Vinylmint is a marketplace that connects video producers to musicians and voice actors around the world to create custom sounds on demand. Its huge community of creators ensures that producers will find the right match for their projects. It was generating so much enthusiasm that I wasn't surprised when Vinylmint won the grand prize in the audience choice vote.

Vinylmint

Amooti is an e-commerce platform that enables African artisans, artists, and fashion designers to sell their wares to people living in North America -- basically, expanding the global market for African design. It was great to see Amooti again -- I remembered them from MIN93 (yikes, that was a long time ago). Once again, they had a table full of beautiful goods. The necklaces were particularly gorgeous and very popular. The table was constantly busy. Amooti won second place in the audience choice vote.

Diane from Amooti Posing with Cool Guys

Eden GeoPower is on a mission to generate megawatts of renewable energy by converting oil and gas wells that are no longer used into sources of geothermal power. Their unique technology transforms low-grade heat from depleted oil and gas reservoirs into geothermal power using the existing infrastructure.  Their method greatly reduces cost. Do take a look at their website. The technology is fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with them. Their table was very popular and I was not surprised that they won an audience choice prize.

Note that they've chosen California as the first place to deploy this but they have also had interest from Texas. Note to self: tell my Texas oil and gas brother about this.

They had cool T-shirts too, so I got a couple of them to pose wearing the shirts so I could award them Best Costume of MIN111.

Eden GeoPower

Best Costume of MIN111

Ganderflock is a marketing and technology company that covers all the bases: content strategy, website design, and omnichannel marketing. They offer an integrated customer experience solution that brings together usability, diversity, and strategy to help your company establish and nurture deeper and more meaningful relationships with your customers.

Ganderflock

CyberHabits is a cybersecurity awareness system that helps your company manage the shift to a cybersecurity conscious culture. More than half of cyber threats result from a company's own employees either through lack of awareness or a company culture that undermines security. Training,  personalized learning, and analytics combine with cybersecurity advice and insight to engage all your employees in the solution.

Vibechain is a peer-to-peer platform for making playlists and sharing music for party organizers and their guests. Connecting friends around music and dance brings good vibes to the party. Who knew you could use the power of the internet to bring people together and to make a good time even better? Vibechain CEO Donaldy Salvant gave the most enthusiastic 1-minute pitch of the night.

FRWD (pronounced forward) is an automated savings app that helps consumers build an emergency fund and reports positively to credit bureaus. More than half of the people in the US don't have enough savings to handle a $400-$500 emergency. That can mean more debt for even a fairly small financial emergency. That realization inspired FRWD founder Savant Moore to teach himself coding so he could develop an app to make the process of saving automatic and setting and meeting savings goals easier.

Savant Moore FRWD Founder

Through their mobile application, ExpressCuts allows barbers to connect with the clients right where they are. The app makes getting a quality haircut simple. Just select your barber, choose your hairstyle, time, date and location. A professionally licensed barber will come to the specified location and deliver an exceptional haircut experience.

ExpressCuts

Mobile Cuts offers a men's haircutting service for professionals during the work week (Monday-Friday) out of a custom-designed state-of-the-art recreational vehicle built specifically for this purpose. It's a barber shop that comes to your office. They travel to corporate locations, working with the property managers and companies to secure permission to serve the tenants and employees.

Mobile Cuts

It was great to see so many exciting entrepreneurs and such an enthusiastic audience. Just seeing everybody lined up on stage after the presentations while they awaited the awarding of prizes was inspiring. So much energy! So many great ideas!

What a group of entrepreneurs!

The Experts Corner wasn't really a corner, more like tables in the center of the room and roving experts circulating around the showcase. Our host Ed Gaskin, Executive Director of Greater Grove Hall Main Streets, introduced the experts, who told us about their agencies or services.

Expertise Flowing in the Experts Corner

As always, I'll end with an Expert Looking Expert. This month's Expert Looking Expert is Damon Cox, Assistant Secretary of Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Expert Looking Expert