Case studies, examples, role models…we often learn better from seeing what others have done, how they responded to setbacks, and how they improved their outcomes.

Join us as we kick off “Feedback Fridays” on the last day of The Houston Innovation/Impact Summit, evolving our Founders Forum to include and invite all who are working on communicating their value propositions to present their offers and get advice from local experts on how to improve their pitches.

Featured Startups

Zently Workplace www.zentlyworkplace.com

We believe that when we as humans feel better we create better. Zently workplace is changing the way feel and work to create better daily routines, to create better connection in and out of the workplace, and to create better ideas through mindfulness-based leadership tools and social impact driven engagement. We believe the practice of getting present enhances positivity, productivity, and community in the workplace empowering innovation and creating leaders driving impactful change! Presence Empowers Innovation

Our new app allows the mindful leadership tools and program to be easily accessed and integrated into daily life while creating an opportunity for corporate social impact. As the employee engages more with the content on a daily basis the more money is earned towards chosen charities. Feel good, do good, and create good!

Just Add Beats www.justaddbeats.com

At Just Add Beats, we help kids in historically underserved and overlooked communities in grades 2-12 build important 21st-Century Skills like collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking through our project-based learning after school programs and internships in beat making, podcasting, and sound design. Our goal is to build the next generation of collaborative and resilient creatives.

AmazingBond www.amazing-bond.com

Amazing Bond is changing what it means to be a senior needing care and what it means to be a caregiver to those seniors. We deliver proven results every time, providing therapeutic art, breathing techniques, tai chi and chair yoga classes for seniors, leaving them feeling better. Amazing Bond teaches self-care practices and gentle yoga that replenishes the energy and vitality of caregivers, giving them the support they need, leaving them better able to care for themselves and their seniors. Amazing Bond has partnered with the Alzheimer’s Foundation, YMCA and Silver Sneakers, Dementia Houston and Enactus UH. In 2020, when Covid-19 hit, Amazing Bond’s programs were paused so we pivoted, creating online services for seniors and caregivers. We created Senior Connect, a project that has volunteers connect weekly with seniors who are isolated. The University of Houston’s business group Enactus chose Senior Connect as their fall semester project and the program is a success, leaving both seniors and volunteers fulfilled and giving them all rich conversations to look forward to each week.

Trendy Seconds www.trendyseconds.com/

Trendy Seconds is a website that aggregates the secondhand clothing space, where you can browse curated results according to your preferences, mix & match pieces, get recommendations to complete your look and pay for everything in one transaction.

Guest Mentor

Brandry Guidry (Board Member, Impact Hub Houston)

Brandy Guidry is an entrepreneur, STEAM advocate, and consultant. As an independent consultant, she supports startups, established businesses, investment and private equity firms, and non-profits. Her consultant services assist with Product Lifecycle, pivot, and growth opportunities. Brandy is a fourth-generation female business owner who comes from a long line of entrepreneurs. Her consulting industry experience includes education, NDT, SaaS, energy, chemical, consumer products, IoT, food and restaurant, and retail. Prior to consulting, she held multiple leadership roles within Engineering and Business Operations for the Department of Defense and GE. She has led and/or assisted in the development of over 100 products and driven annual P&L savings between $18.5-45 M. In addition, Brandy has been featured in Worldwide Who’s Who Branding, Women of Distinction, Madame Noire, Rigzone, and First Colony Neighbors.

*If you would like to be a future presenter and get expert feedback on your pitch, please let us know!*

Entrepreneurs, Investors, Innovators & Changemakers: Join us for more #THIS2020 Events! See the full calendar of 35+ *virtual* talks, panels, hackathons and more at https://thehoustonimpactsummit.com/

Help promote and expand inclusivity and equity across Houston’s entrepreneurial ecosystem: Sponsor THIS today! > https://www.betterunite.com/impacthubhouston-this2020sponsorship

Entrepreneurs have to juggle multiple responsibilities successfully in order to grow their businesses. For those who are stronger at developing their products/services than doing their books, here’s your chance to learn from Danelia Argueta of Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union how to establish good financial practices and improve your personal creditworthiness in order to build a bankable business.

About 82% of businesses that fail are due to financial problems. That is why companies, no matter their size, sooner or later need loans to be able to continue developing projects effectively and scale their business. Set your business from the start with a strong financial foundation so you can be prepared for future growth.

In this workshop you will learn:

• How personal credit impacts your lending options
• Tips to help you establish and grow your creditworthiness
• Key financial reports you need to understand and have available
• Loan options offered and the requirements to obtain a loan

Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union aims to be the key partner on your financial journey. Learn more at https://www.cyfairfcu.org/

On November 28th, 1956, ten local educators founded Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union with a vision for a better way to bank. Since then, we’ve grown into a leading not-for-profit, member-owned financial institution on the strength of our mission and vision to strengthen the community. Today, membership is open to individuals who either live, work, worship or go to school in Harris County or parts of Waller County, as well as to anyone who has immediate family who are currently members of Cy-Fair FCU.

Entrepreneurs, Investors, Innovators & Changemakers: Join us for more #THIS2020 Events! See the full calendar of 35+ *virtual* talks, panels, hackathons and more at https://thehoustonimpactsummit.com/

Help promote and expand inclusivity and equity across Houston’s entrepreneurial ecosystem: Sponsor THIS today! > https://www.betterunite.com/impacthubhouston-this2020sponsorship

“Black business ownership, more so than even education, is a tangible pathway for African Americans to achieve economic parity and close the racial wealth gap.”

– Tiffany Howard, UNLV political science professor and recent Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) senior research fellow

While business ownership may be a promising path to generational wealth creation for black entrepreneurs, the Kauffman Foundation reports that black entrepreneurs are almost three times as likely as whites to have their profitability hurt by lack of access to capital, and more than twice as likely to be negatively impacted by the *cost* of capital. So how do we ensure that opportunity and support for their financial equity, is equitable itself?

Black entrepreneurs in Houston have been launching new ventures to address these challenges with a systemic approach. Join us to learn from founders Kiley Summers, Phillip Yates, and Tiffany Williams about their startups, the problems they’re working to solve, and how they plan to grow their initiatives and scale their impact for under-represented and underserved entrepreneurs. Who knows: They may inspire you to start your own solutions for equity!

Guest Speakers:

Tiffany L. Williams

Kiley Summers

Attorney Phillip J. Yates

Entrepreneurs, Investors, Innovators & Changemakers: Join us for more #THIS2020 Events! See the full calendar of 35+ *virtual* talks, panels, hackathons and more at https://thehoustonimpactsummit.com/

Help promote and expand inclusivity and equity across Houston’s entrepreneurial ecosystem: Sponsor THIS today! > https://www.betterunite.com/impacthubhouston-this2020sponsorship

“Even the most highly skilled and verbal adults struggle to find employment, and the problem will only get worse. In 2018 a Houston Chronicle article highlighted that over the next ten years 500,000 autistic teens in the United States will age out of their local funding support systems. This is why creating an autism employability project has become such a passion for me. I desperately want to figure out how to fill in the glaring gap between employers who need loyal, capable workers and these underutilized neurodiverse adults.”

– Maisie Soetantyo, Founder of Autism Career Pathways.

This Core Conversation will discuss how neurodiverse individuals can thrive in the workplace and as entrepreneurs. We’ll discuss the potential and possibilities of embracing neurodiversity and provide you with the confidence to engage talent on the spectrum.

Who should join? This talk will benefit business owners, neurodiverse people, and those who WANT to open their doors to these talented individuals!

Schedule

• Welcome & Introductions
• Dr. Heidi Ham will provide a Neurodiversity Rundown and how perspectives have to change toward acceptance and inclusion, and step away from pathologizing and fixing.
• Then, Dr. Ham and Jeffrey Miller will discuss career pathways as well as innovative strategies that have ensured autistic adults have thrived in the workplace.
• Following the discussion, there will be a Q&A session for attendees to ask their own questions about neurodiversity in entrepreneurship and the workplace.

About our Speakers

Dr. Heidi Stieglitz Ham is a social entrepreneur, autism researcher, adjunct professor at Rice University, and founder of Spectrum Fusion, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. She completed her undergraduate and graduate studies in Human Communication Disorders, and in 2010 she graduated with her PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Edinburgh specializing in autism. After completing her PhD, she taught and conducted research at the University of Queensland before moving to Western Australia. 

After listening to parents across continents share their concerns regarding the lack of opportunities and positive outcomes for their adult children, she created a vision to shape the future of neurodiversity by creating a model grounded in sense-of-belonging, community, embracing the science of hope, and empowering adults on the spectrum to reach their full potential. This conceptual vision was presented at TEDxPerth in 2014.

Dr. Stieglitz Ham founded Spectrum Fusion in 2014 in Australia, and in 2017 brought her concept of a social impact model empowering adults to realize their full potential. She launched the Reactor Room Program: ‘A Shark Tank’ for Adults on the Autism Spectrum designed to create new and innovative opportunities for individuals providing them access to important connections. The Reactor Room Program® is the only program of its kind. Each Reactor Room focuses on the individual needs of participants and brings together business leaders, community connectors, entrepreneurs, and individuals with specialized knowledge who come prepared with their ideas and networks specifically tailored for the participants.

Currently, Dr. Stieglitz Ham is the Principal Investigator on a research study at Rice University assessing the effectiveness of traditional assessment measures that employers typically administer in adults on the autism spectrum.

—

Jeff Miller is the CEO & Founder of Potentia Workforce, a consulting firm that delivers technology, analytics, and human capital services by leveraging the talents of and providing opportunities to skilled, yet often overlooked neurodiverse individuals.

Jeff is an executive with more than 25 years’ experience leading high-performance organizations that provide innovative solutions to the communities they serve. He has launched and led businesses in the twenty largest markets in North America and across four continents.

Prior to founding Potentia, Jeff was President of a $350M global workforce services firm – delivering record profits while closing four acquisitions in less than eighteen months. Earlier in his career, he was Division President for a healthcare consultancy, taking the firm from start-up to a successful sale in three years. Jeff began his career for a Boston-based technology consulting firm where he was promoted four times before the age of thirty.

After his son was diagnosed on the autism spectrum, Jeff began a deep exploration into neurodiversity which ultimately led to the formation of Potentia – combining multiple passions to bring innovation and corporate America and opportunity to the remarkable and often underemployed, neurodiverse community.

Jeff is a sought after thought leader and has appeared numerous times on television, at conferences, and online – sharing his experiences on leadership, neurodiversity and finding your purpose. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Gateway Academy, a Houston-area High School for students with learning differences.

A graduate of Williams College, Jeff lives in the Houston area with his wife Samantha and awesomely cool teenage son, Charlie.

Entrepreneurs, Investors, Innovators & Changemakers: Join us for more #THIS2020 Events! See the full calendar of 35+ *virtual* talks, panels, hackathons and more at https://thehoustonimpactsummit.com/

Help promote and expand inclusivity and equity across Houston’s entrepreneurial ecosystem: Sponsor THIS today! > https://www.betterunite.com/impacthubhouston-this2020sponsorship

Join us for this Post-Election #CoreConversation with diverse startup and community leaders on The State of Texas, Startups, and Our Union!

In the spirit of bridging communities and building understanding, we are excited to announce our newest #THIS2020 event: “Both Sides: Post-Election Core Conversation on The State of Texas, Startups, and Our Union.”

After the initial conversation among our panelists, we’ll invite questions for discussion on the 2020 election, outcomes and the political landscape that lies ahead.

Topics covered include:

• What have the #Election2020 results revealed about American voters and civic engagement?
• What has this election cycle revealed about democracy?
• How have diverse groups shaped this year’s election?
• What trends are impacting local, state and national election outcomes?
• What impact will the results have on Texas? Its startups? Our communities?
• What does our shared future look like?

Moderator and Panelists:

• Grace Rodriguez: CEO/Executive Director, Impact Hub Houston
• Reda Hicks: CEO/Founder, GotSpot; Presidential Leadership Scholar
• Shion Deysarkar: CEO/Founder, Blue Squad & Datafiniti

Over 100 participants have already registered to participate in Climathon Houston 2020! Maybe you already attended the info session or the kick-off event… or maybe you just found out about this opportunity!

Everyone is welcomed to continue working on your #ClimateAction solutions.

We’re coordinating one more opportunity for you to work on your solutions before the Nov 18th submission deadline. Zoom Breakout Rooms will be set up for each team so you can collaborate one last time!

Featured Challenges

Transportation

This Challenge will be led by the team at EVolve Houston. EVolve Houston has set short- and long-term targets to increase the awareness, affordability, and availability of electrified transportation in the Greater Houston area. The Electric Vehicle Roadmap, developed in collaboration with over 40 stakeholders, sets forth the goal for 30% of new car sales to be EV by the year 2030.

Energy Transition

#1 – Make Houston the leader in carbon capture technology and energy innovation.

#2 – Restore, protect, and enhance Houston’s natural ability to capture and store carbon.

Building Optimization

#1 – Reduce building energy use and maximize savings.

#2 – Expand investment in energy efficiency.

Materials Management

#1 – Reduce waste and transform the circular economy.

#2 – Optimize waste operations and create power from waste.

Realizing Houston’s Climate Action Plan

On Earth Day this year, the City of Houston published its first Climate Action Plan. The plan is the culmination of thousands of volunteer time from industry professionals, policy stakeholders, and community advocates. Together the working groups have laid out a concise plan to address the climate challenges that Houston faces along with maintaining a leadership role in the energy transition.

This year’s Climathon will look to realize some of the goals of the plan through design sprints led by local subject matter experts in the areas of Transportation, Energy Innovation, Building Optimization, and Materials Management.

Join us in addressing these issues with real-world solutions to these pressing problems we face together!

If you’re ready to submit your idea or prototype, please do so on DevPost: https://climathon2020.devpost.com/

Thank you to our sponsors:

Sponsor this year’s Climathon: https://www.betterunite.com/impacthubhouston-climathonhouston2020sponsorship

Entrepreneurs, Investors, Innovators & Changemakers: Join us for more #THIS2020 Events! See the full calendar of 35+ *virtual* talks, panels, hackathons and more at https://thehoustonimpactsummit.com/

Help promote and expand inclusivity and equity across Houston’s entrepreneurial ecosystem: Sponsor THIS today! > https://www.betterunite.com/impacthubhouston-this2020sponsorship

Learn about Houston’s climate and environmental impact ecosystem and how you can get involved, from Rachel Powers, Executive Director of the Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC).

CEC’s MISSION: To foster dialogue, education, and collaboration on environmental issues in the Houston / Gulf Coast region.

Our vision is an environmental community recognized as a vital part of the fabric of our society. We connect concerned citizens and community leaders with well over 100 diverse environmental organizations. We share, support, and enhance their efforts and environmental advocacy. We do this through our programs, which include events that enhance understanding, and publications that give a balanced perspective on environmental issues.

Entrepreneurs, Investors, Innovators & Changemakers: Join us for more #THIS2020 Events! See the full calendar of 35+ *virtual* talks, panels, hackathons and more at https://thehoustonimpactsummit.com/

Help promote and expand inclusivity and equity across Houston’s entrepreneurial ecosystem: Sponsor THIS today! > https://www.betterunite.com/impacthubhouston-this2020sponsorship

Did you know that although Hispanic business owners represent the fastest growing share of entrepreneurs in the United States, they represent only 3% of those who have scaled?

Hispanics make up nearly 44% of the population in Harris County, making them the largest ethnic group, and make up about 38% of small business owners are in the Greater Houston area, a figure that doubled within the last five years. These enterprises cover a wide range of industries including professional services and hotel and restaurant ownership, but when it comes to resources and funding to Latino entrepreneurs, relative to other demographic groups, the Small Business Administration shows this ethnic group have the lowest loan funding for their enterprises.

Researchers agree there is a great need for resources and access to support for Hispanic entrepreneurs. Join us for this diverse and international panel to learn from several organizations who are working to do just that, with a variety of entrepreneurial, training and upskilling programs that bridge cultural and opportunity gaps.

Guest Speakers and Supporting Organizations

• Grace Rodriguez, CEO and Executive Director at Impact Hub Houston
• Brenda Rios Brombacher, Director, Entrepreneurial Initiatives & Community Relations at HCC Entrepreneurship
• Nini Gutierrez, Small Business Coach at BakerRipley
• Alfredo Villalonga, Co-Founder of Impact Hub Monterey
• Madeleine Lu, Chief of Staff at Business Angel Minority Association

Entrepreneurs, Investors, Innovators & Changemakers: Join us for more #THIS2020 Events! See the full calendar of 35+ *virtual* talks, panels, hackathons and more at https://thehoustonimpactsummit.com/

Help promote and expand inclusivity and equity across Houston’s entrepreneurial ecosystem: Sponsor THIS today! > https://www.betterunite.com/impacthubhouston-this2020sponsorship

Join InnovationMap Editor Natalie Harms and Impact Hub Houston CEO/Executive Director Grace Rodriguez for a conversation that will set the scene for The Houston Innovation+Impact Summit 2020.

THIS AMA will explore what’s hot and happening in Houston — as well as touch on the shifts and trends that have emerged over the years since InnovationMap first launched. We invite you to ask Natalie anything about Houston’s innovation ecosystem during … and learn about the can’t-miss events of the week!

Entrepreneurs, Investors, Innovators & Changemakers: Join us for more #THIS2020 Events! See the full calendar of 35+ *virtual* talks, panels, hackathons and more at https://thehoustonimpactsummit.com/

Help promote and expand inclusivity and equity across Houston’s entrepreneurial ecosystem: Sponsor THIS today! > https://www.betterunite.com/impacthubhouston-this2020sponsorship

*** Please NOTE: This AMA will be recorded by Impact Hub Houston and YAWP Records for future use by InnovationMap, potentially as content for their website and/or podcast. Attendees who choose to participate in the AMA consent to such recording and use and release all parties from future claims.

Countdown is a global initiative to champion and accelerate solutions to the climate crisis, turning ideas into action. The goal: To build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 in the race to a zero-carbon world – a world that is safer, cleaner and fairer for everyone.

The TEDxHouston community invites you to a series of watch parties, TED Circles, and project nights to learn from the world’s leading thinkers and doers about what a healthy, abundant, zero-emission future can look like, connect with changemakers and concerned global citizens like you, and start ideating and collaborating on new solutions to help us activate our communities and accelerate Houston’s energy transition for a regenerative future.

The ongoing health and economic crises are reminding us of an important fact: We’re all part of the same fragile system, dependent on nature and one another. As we look to the future, we must work to be better ancestors to the next generations of Houstonians and start building a more sustainable, regenerative, and resilient future for them!