CONNECT . MOTIVATE . INSPIRE .
Services Center. I took a flier and signed up because I wanted to do something that I hadn’t done before. I hadn’t done a pitch contest and wanted to try it to get out of my skin. It was my general goal to get out there and make my professional brand better.” Four months later, Migioni and her team found themselves in first place and $5,000 richer. She had project management to add to her resume, in addition to a stellar plan to streamline the city of Rocky Mount, NC’s water department meter-reading process. “My team had only freshmen and we were competing against people that were in their senior year,” said the bioinformatics major from Harare, Zimbabwe. “I’m definitely more interested in project management now since I was the project manager for the team. I might take a course in project management and I’m planning to take a course in business. This is definitely as a result of participating in the competition.” This is the exact result the co- founders were hoping for: to get HBCU students comfortable with the idea of interacting with intergenerational teams, company leaders, and the notion of running an entrepreneurial business. “It has grown students’ confidence and their ability to express themselves in settings where they are typically the youngest person in the room,” said Simon. “It’s something we will continue to do and something we consider necessary for their growth. You have to look people in the eye, shake hands, be present, articulate your thoughts and questions in real time. You don’t get that element if you just keep it virtual.”
The program’s first cohort started in the 2022-23 school year, attracting 72 applicants. Thirty-eight completed the program and 30 were able to attend Smart City Challenge’s first pitch competition in Winston-Salem. The second cohort in 2023-24 brought 188 student applicants. Forty-nine competed and 41 participated in the grand finale. “We do not care about GPAs or what your major is. We just want you to care about these problems,” said Simon. The Pathways Community Foundation team taps into its network, makes cold calls, attends city council meetings, and develops partnerships with groups like National League of Cities. It also holds recruitment events with students at HBCUs like Saint Augustine’s University, Winston-Salem University and Elizabeth City State University to share the benefits of the Smart Cities Challenge. Once students are registered, they pick a problem to solve, attend weekly virtual workshops, and then they begin building their team. They are assigned a Smart City coach, schedule meetings with city stakeholders, refine their presentations and after about a month, they get to visit the city
they are creating a solution for. The program culminates with the grand finale pitch competition where they are “suited and booted,” said Simon. The finale event also includes a Community TechDay aimed at raising awareness of STEAM pathways for grade-school students and local residents. “I was all-in on the Smart Cities program from the beginning,” Tom Kureczka, Chief Information Officer, Information Systems for the city of Winston-Salem. “The Smart Cities Event is not an internship in the traditional sense, but there are still plenty of opportunities for dialogue and sharing with the students. I participated in meetings with the various teams for both the 2023 and 2024 events, and I always enjoyed the dialogue, and I was often pleasantly pleased at the creativity and ideas that they brought to the table.” Kureczka said while the city has not implemented any solutions provided during the challenge the ideas did generate much conversation amongst staff. “We have not had the formal structure or resources in place to migrate from pitch presentations to design, development, and implement,” he said. “I believe that the 2025 event may bring more structure that will support
these next steps.”
The 2024-25 recruiting starts soon and Simon is looking forward to another successful year, especially if more educators, HBCUs and funding partners get on board to support student retention. The secret of the initiative’s success is how hands-on it is, especially during a time where so much is becoming virtual following the COVID-19 pandemic. “To truly test the impact of your learning, you must bring your education into real-life settings and gain hands-on experience,” said Simon. “We incorporated this into our program to ensure students meet city stakeholders, witness problems firsthand, and engage with those affected. This approach builds efficacy and fosters intergenerational collaboration. Our fellows work alongside CIOs, city managers, council members, and coaches, bridging generations to solve shared challenges. This real- world interaction is crucial to their development, far beyond what virtual experiences can offer. We understand those ‘aha’ moments in our fellows have been key to their growth and success.”
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