2022 Young Entrepreneur Pitch Challenge

The Missouri AfterSchool Network (MASN) invites all youth serving organizations and clubs to encourage students to participate in the 2022 Missouri Youth Entrepreneurship Pitch Challenge by submitting videos pitching a business idea. The video pitch challenge is designed to support young people in K-12 afterschool programs to connect with peers and caring adults, practice pro-active thinking like an entrepreneur, and pitch an original idea for a business, product, technology, or social venture that would make their community and world better. 

 To enter, individual students will create a video pitch of 2 minute or less in length, register for the pitch challenge and upload their video by grade level (K-5, 6-8, 9-12) by midnight, July 15, 2021. Student video entries will be judged for awards and prizes by a panel of Missouri educators, entrepreneurs, and business professionals. An online celebration and recognition program will be held for students, their families and afterschool supporters on Monday, August 1, 2022. The top 10 scores in grades 5-8 and 9-12 will be entered in the National Pitch Challenge event.

 Afterschool programs can conduct short educational programs and host a local pitch event, leading to student entries in the statewide contest. They can also support individual K-12 students in preparing video pitches and entering the contest. A recorded Pitch Challenge toolkit training presentation is available at this link and the Pitch Toolkit can be downloaded here. Please follow this link for full Pitch Challenge Rules and submission details. The Pitch Challenge Flyer can be found here.

 Ongoing support is provided by MASN and training and technical assistance partners, Young Entrepreneur Institute and Venture Lab. By participating in the Pitch Challenge, students and programs can also join in a broader effort coordinated by Missouri AfterSchool Network and statewide partners to help K-12 afterschool students with growing viable microenterprises and connecting students to support systems and opportunities for entrepreneurs in their communities. MASN is grateful to present this opportunity through the generous support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Questions can be sent via email to Aaron Banks, abanks@missouri.edu