This past weekend in Toronto, five women founders pitched to a room of 100 people for the first-ever #MoveTheDial hackathon.
The five founders included Erica Pearson, co-founder and CEO of the Vacation Fund; Sophie Perceval, co-founder of Wondereur, Emma Harris, CEO of Healthy Pets; Maayan Ziv, CEO of AccessNow; and Ann Poochareon, co-founder and COO of Little Robot Friends.
In the end, Ziv took the top prize of $10,000 for AccessNow. “Within a very short time, #Movethedial has already created meaningful impact for my journey as a female founder building my first tech company,” said Ziv. “Leading by personal example, Jodi [Kovitz] has recognized the true meaning of sponsorship and has put into action the creation of an authentic support system for women like myself. I have never felt the kind of powerful backing that #Movethedial is generating.”
Watch out world! These @Ceridian women are changing the world! #MoveTheDial #GoSponsorHer #hackathon pic.twitter.com/QNmVnHKy5p
— Lisa Bull (@LisaBull1) October 21, 2017
Jodi Kovitz, founder of #MoveTheDial, says that the organization is working to advance its goal of promoting diversity in the tech industry through amplification and working with community partners to foster women entrepreneurs. It already counts #GoSponsorHer, Ceridian, McKinsey, and Ladies Learning Code among its partners.
“Most people, when they look at how to advance diversity, talk about the real significance of career sponsorships in creating turns in people’s careers — and certainly I had always experienced all the major benefits of career sponsorship. The first #MoveTheDial event was successful because people stepped up for me,” said Kovitz.
#MoveTheDial is currently working on a new monthly series called #MoveTheDialPitch, which will allow founders to get constructive feedback on their companies through a pitch competition, while also giving them exposure to potential sponsors and mentors. Danielle Graham, OCE’s manager leading the market readiness program, will lead #MoveTheDialPitch.
At the Go North Summit in November, #MoveTheDial is planning to release its benchmark report examining the state of women in technology in Canada.
Photo via Twitter