First Social Innovation Fast Pitch shares the wealth

Photo above by Karen Ducey / All other photos by Amanda Wilson

Viva Farms, a nonprofit dedicated to recruiting, training and
capitalizing the next generation of sustainable farmers, was the one of the big winners Monday as more than 600 attendees and participants helped to make Seattle’s first Social Innovation Fast Pitch a memorable event. Food N’ Me, a nutrition system that changes eating behaviors in children and families, won in the for-profit category and took home the night’s largest prize.

About 120 social innovators submitted applications, and through a months-long process involving volunteer mentors, coaches and judges, they were culled to 14 finalists. The finalists presented five-minute fast pitches to the audience and judges on Monday at Fisher Pavillion, Seattle Center.

Participants network during the poster session.

The pitches fell into four categories: high school (two pitches), for profit (three), university (two) and nonprofitt (seven). After each pitch, audience members were invited to rate it via text message as awesome, good or just fine. The real-time poll was updated immediately on a big screen, giving participants immediate feedback on how their pitch was received.

The pitches ran the gamut from organic farming to financial management for students, from encouraging volunteerism to dealing with the childhood obesity epidemic.

Two $5,000 awards one for “Best Pitch” and one for “Most Innovative” were voted on solely by the audience via text message or paper ballot. All 14 pitches competed, and the audience chose Viva Farms for both. Viva Farms, a recent winner in Seattle Business magazine’s Green Washington Awards, also won the $30,000 first prize in the nonprofit category.

Here are the winners and runners-up in each category.

Nonprofit Winners

Ethan Schaffer from award winner Viva Farms