UMES Women’s Of Color Incubator Pitch Competition

UMES, Md. – Ten UMES students are competing in the Women of Color Business Incubator Pitch Competition fighting for a chance to win it all by earning a spot and attending a national competition later this year. 

Pamela Allison with Entrepreneurship and Program Innovation at UMES is in charge of the competition, and says these students will get a cash prize for winning the competition or attending it.

“Every participant will win a hundred dollars for competing and the winner will get a one thousand dollar prize and the opportunity to go to Colorado in march for the national competition for a chance to win 25,000 dollars.”

She says the university is one of four HBCUs in the country that allows their students to attend the women’s business enterprise national council in Colorado.

“Some of them just started with ideas and now they have built through to businesses that are ready to launch at this point.”

Audrey Awasome previously attended the conference and placed as a finalist. She now is the senior program manager at WBENC and is offering her learned entrepreneurship skills to students at UMES. 

I was provided with a counsel of mentors from fortune 500 corporations, and I’m telling you, when I attended their National Conference, I was like a kid in the candy shop. I was so engaged and motivated to continue to grow my business.

“Now, I have the opportunity to pitch and support other aspiring entrepreneurs on how they too can effectively pitch their business.”

Awasome has been helping the students refine their pitches for the competition, like Doria Wheeler, who created a piece of jewelry that can be used as a stress reliever.

“People’s minds can always be so jumbled with what they need to do today, tomorrow, so it is a reminder that I put an intention into this jar, I put an affirmation, so it just makes others and I remind us of our goals.”

 Wheeler’s idea is a decorative jar used as a piece of jewelry or a car ornament filled with relaxing dry herbs or spiritual crystals.

Another student participating in the pitch competition is Doctoral Student Ebony Jenkins, who centered her pitch around finding a new food source with the growing population.

Cayla Jackson, founder of Knew U, came in first and won the competition. Ebony Jenkins came in second.