Congratulations to the 2024 YGPC Teams!
11 Youth Teams Awarded $14,000 from the SCI Youth Pitch Event at the Microsoft NERD Center
The 3rd year of SCI Social Capital Inc.’s Youth Grant Pitch Contest (YGPC) wrapped up at the Microsoft NERD Center with a Pitch Event on Saturday, April 6, 2024. Eleven student teams from nonprofits, schools, and community programs in Greater Boston pitched community-impact project ideas to a panel of judges, who then awarded grant funds based on contest criteria. A total of $14,000 was awarded amongst the 11 teams with grant awards ranging from $1,000 to $2,000.
SCI welcomed over 150 people to the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, MA, with youth participants, program volunteers, family, supporters, and invited guests in attendance. After opening remarks, the event launched into the presentations where teams used a variety of media to make their pitches to the volunteer judges. Following the team presentations, youth and attendees engaged in networking exercises facilitated by SCI before the event wrapped up with the grant awards ceremony.
In total, 85 young people aged 11-19 years old were involved in the 2024 SCI Youth Grant Pitch Contest. Out of the 11 participating teams, 4 were awarded the full amount of their budget request along with extra funds for exemplary pitch presentations. Those teams were: Wakefield Youth Action Team from Wakefield High School ($2,000), Inclusive Eats Inc. from Woburn ($1,710), Neighborhood Service Project from Moses Youth Center in Cambridge ($1,700), and Lynn Lady Leaders from the Boys & Girls Club of Lynn ($1,590).
Below is the full list of participating teams in the 2024 SCI Youth Grant Pitch Contest with their award amounts in alphabetical order:
- Arts and Culture Committee from the Boston Mayor’s Youth Council in Boston. Awarded $1200.
- The Dreamers from the Cambridge Community Center in Cambridge. Awarded $1000.
- Greater Love Tabernacle Youth Ministry from the Greater Love Tabernacle Church in Dorchester. Awarded $1000.
- HarvestHope Foundation from La Vida Scholars in Lynn. $1,300
- Inclusive Eats from Inclusive Eats Inc. in Woburn. Awarded $1710.
- Intrepid Keystone Club from the James L. McKeown Boys & Girls Club in Woburn. Awarded $1200.
- Lynn Lady Leaders from the Boys & Girls Club of Lynn in Lynn. Awarded $1590.
- Mental Health Awareness Association from La Vida Scholars in Lynn. Awarded $1000.
- Neighborhood Service Project from the Moses Youth Center in Cambridge. Awarded $1700.
- Unity in Action from the Woburn Memorial High School in Woburn. Awarded $1300.
- Wakefield Youth Action Team from the Wakefield Memorial High School in Wakefield. Awarded $2000.
Read more about each of the teams and their coaches!
The programmatic goal of SCI’s Youth Grant Pitch Contest is to connect youth across Greater Boston communities with the guidance and support of multiple professional volunteer coaches who mentor the youth in the development of their community project and pitch to strengthen their community. This process fosters practice in valuable career skills such as public speaking, project management, and community organizing. Volunteering in this year’s YGPC were 28 coaches who are active professionals from a variety of local startups, companies, and nonprofits such as GATO, United Healthcare, Microsoft, Draft Kings, and The Network For Social Justice.
Each youth team will have until November 2024 to complete their respective projects and submit a project impact report. During the next several months, SCI aims to continue engaging local professionals as volunteers to support youth teams as they implement their funded community projects.
This 2024 SCI Youth Grant Pitch Contest is supported by: Kick It for a Cause; Winning Home, Inc.; Gail O’Rourke – Founder, Benefact4; Enterprise Bank; the AmeriCorps Agency; Massachusetts Service Alliance; a Massachusetts state budget line item, thanks to the advocacy of State Senator Cindy Friedman. Thank you to Microsoft New England for their partnership in hosting the 2024 Pitch Event. Major support for SCI Woburn is provided by Cummings Properties.
