2021 Girls' Entreprenuership Summit

The 2021 Pi515 Girls Entrepreneurship Summit inspired young women to become entrepreneurs by taking their business ideas and making them a reality. At Pi515 we believe students succeed with opportunity, and we wanted to provide support and mentorship to young women ages 11-22 years old to take their business ideas and make them a reality. The virtual summit took place over six weeks and featured many talented speakers and mentors including:

• Lynn Allendorf-Director of the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center at The University of Iowa
• Kerty Levy-Manager Director of the Techstars Iowa Accelerator
• Sarah Oyibo-CEO of Studio Delta Designs
• Tishara Slater- Central College Student
• Connie Wu- Undergraduate Finance Associate at Disneyland Resort
• David Hensley- Executive Director of the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurship Center at the University of Iowa
• Carlanda Mckinney-founder and CEO of AI Fashion Tech startup, Bodify
• Judi Eyles- Director of the Iowa State University John Pappajohn Entrepreneurship Center
• Kelley O’Rourke- School Partnership Entrepreneurial Coordinator for the North Iowa Area Community College Pappajohn Center
• Laurie Watje- Associate Director of the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center at the University of Northern Iowa

This talented group of people took our young women from the brainstorming and idea stage to completing a final business pitch to compete for funding for their ventures. Thanks to our generous sponsors  Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Royal Neighbors of America, The John Pappajohn Centers and John Pappajohn we were able to award funding directly to our young entrepreneurs. We are so excited to continue to follow them on their journeys and see where their businesses take them!

Checkout a little bit about each of our entrepreneurs below:

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