THANK YOU for making THIS 2020 a success!

THANK YOU for making THIS 2020 a success!

We are grateful for YOU! After a year riddled with challenges and crisis, we truly appreciate all of you who stepped up to host an event, made time to speak and share your insights, and showed up to connect with and learn from your peers for The Houston Innovation Summit this year. You helped ensure Houston and Texas were at the top of people’s minds for Innovation + Impact during Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW).

Thanks to you, Houston became the #3 city in the country for GEW this year!

A few quick stats on #THIS2020:

  • Number of Houston-based events and conferences: 55
  • Approximate number of speakers and participants: 1513 people
  • Estimated Social Media Reach: 185,725 people
  • Reach Outside of Social Media: 654,128 people

What did you think of the summit? Please let us know by answering this 3-5 minute survey: http://bit.ly/THIS-Survey

Couldn’t make all of the events and want to see what you missed?

We started uploading some of them to our YouTube channel — please subscribe to learn when new sessions are posted! A few highlights that are currently available:

 

Congratulations to the Climathon Houston 2020 Winners! (View a video recap of this year’s idea pitches, hackathon sessions, and awards ceremony here.)

 

Want to stay connected with the #HOUImpact community? Here’s how:

Lastly, if you took any fun screenshots, photos, or video during the summit, please share them with us on online by tagging us and adding #THIS2020 + #HOUImpact.

We hope you’re having a wonderful holiday weekend; and we look forward to seeing you on the interwebs again soon!

Cheers to impact,
Grace, Michelle, and the Impact Hub Houston community

P.S. Established in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey, THIS celebrates Houston’s impact + innovation ecosystem by bringing together startups, entrepreneurs, funders, talent and support organizations through a week of programs and events. If you’d like to participate in THIS next year as a sponsor or event host, please contact Grace!

Special Thanks to Houston Downtown Redevelopment Authority, Syzygy Plasmonics, Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union, Houston Exponential, HCC, Z Labs, SoGal Foundation, Greentown Houston, and Impact Hub Houston Members for your continued support!

We hope you’re staying safe and taking care of yourself. If you think you’ve been exposed, you can find local testing locations at https://covidcheck.hctx.net/.

Join Us for THIS: The Houston Innovation+Impact Summit November 16-22!

Join Us for THIS: The Houston Innovation+Impact Summit November 16-22!

Announcing the Fourth Annual “THIS: THE HOUSTON INNOVATION SUMMIT” – Celebrating Houston During Global Entrepreneurship Week!

October 28, 2020 – Houston, TX – Impact Hub Houston, a 501c3 nonprofit startup incubator dedicated to helping diverse changemakers and social entrepreneurs launch impact-driven ventures, is excited to announce the fourth annual “THIS: The Houston Innovation Summit.” A week-long celebration of Houston’s entrepreneurial ecosystem during Global Entrepreneurship Week, November 16-22, THIS 2020 focuses on the intersections of Innovation and Impact, bringing together economic stakeholders, startups, startup development organizations, entrepreneurs, investors, funders through a series of events around the Global Entrepreneur Network’s themes of “Education, Ecosystems, Inclusion, Policy.”

“Each year, Global Entrepreneurship Week amplifies the great work being done to support entrepreneurs across the country while connecting them to more opportunities to start and scale in their own communities,” said Ellen Bateman, director for U.S. ecosystems at the Global Entrepreneurship Network. 

“From the COVID-19 pandemic to racial injustice to the increasingly dire effects of climate change to one of the most polarized political environments this generation has seen, 2020 has presented a number of crises for changemakers to respond to” said Grace Rodriguez, CEO/Executive Director of Impact Hub Houston and Founder of THIS. “But Houston is resilient. Houstonians are resilient. We’ve made great strides in rising to this year’s challenges by launching new resources to help diverse communities survive and thrive; by strengthening collaboration among our startup and small businesses ecosystems to support diverse entrepreneurs; and by developing more inclusive practices and sustainable policies for our city to move forward. We are excited to bring together Houston’s startup community and Impact Hub’s global network to showcase this progress, share lessons learned, and raise awareness for our innovation ecosystem internationally. With many in-person events postponed and people continuing to work from home, THIS is a great way to help everyone connect, get inspired, learn from and celebrate each other as we grow the next generation of big ideas.”

THIS 2020 highlights include:

To register for any of these programs and learn more about the full schedule of events, please visit http://thehoustoninnovationsummit.com > Full Calendar

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About Impact Hub Houston (https://houston.impacthub.net)

Impact Hub Houston is a locally rooted, globally connected, 501c3 nonprofit startup and small business development organization that works to make Houston a role model for how the world solves its most pressing issues. A member of the Impact Hub global networkthe world’s largest community recognized by the United Nations for accelerating entrepreneurial solutions towards measurable and scalable impact for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)Impact Hub Houston intentionally designs places, platforms and programs to empower diverse changemakers, social entrepreneurs, and impact supporters and build an inclusive innovation ecosystem that looks like Houston and works for all.

About Global Entrepreneurship Week (https://www.genglobal.org/gew)

Global Entrepreneurship Week is the world’s largest celebration of the innovators and job creators who launch startups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare. During one week each November, GEW inspires people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them take the next step in their entrepreneurial journey. These activities, from large-scale competitions and events to intimate networking gatherings, connect participants to potential collaborators, mentors and even investors — introducing them to new possibilities and exciting opportunities.