Katherine Olives
On Tuesday we welcomed our new cohort into our Zahn family and transitioned last year's cohort into their role as alumni. To us, it was a celebration of our changemakers, whether they are just beginning their entrepreneurial journey, or they're ready to go out and share their impact with the rest of the world.
During our alumni breakfast we acknowledged our students' accomplishments and spoke about the challenges our young entrepreneurs faced (and overcame!) during their bootcamp. As a commemoration of their time with us, we presented our new alumni with a special trophy, designed by our lead Engineer, Aulio Diaz and our Office Manager/resident artist, Steven Monzon. The trophy represents their journey from a Zahn Center changemaker to an entrepreneur of the world, and reminds them that they started that journey in NYC. Check out pictures on our Instagram page.
That afternoon, we kicked off our bootcamp by gathering our new cohort together as a large group. They mingled with each other and learned more about the program, and in the spirit of co-working, each of the four competition tracks created a unique mascot that represented their track's overall mission. Every team also presented their challenge statement, and explained what key issue their idea would address.
As a surprise, we invited Bea Arthur, Founder of In Your Corner. Called innovative and inspiring by the American Counseling Association, licensed therapist and entrepreneur Bea Arthur has become a leader in the field of mental health care and telemedicine. With the goal of transforming traditional therapy into a more affordable and approachable experience, she created In Your Corner which provides instant, expert support when you need it. The Columbia University alum has worked with a variety of demographics including addicts in recovery, couples in crisis, and survivors of domestic violence. Her passion for self-care led her to start two wellness-based businesses and a thriving private practice all before the age of 30. She has been featured in Elle, MTV, Fast Company, Entrepreneur Magazine, Huffington Post, VentureBeat, NPR, and CNN; and was also named part of the New Guard of women in tech by Marie Claire magazine as well as an entrepreneur to bet on by Newsweek. Arthur is also the first black female CEO from the US to be accepted into the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator program.
Our new cohort was inspired by Bea Arthur's story. She encouraged them to be fearless, collaborative, and patient as they develop their business ideas.
But our students will be developing much more than business ideas over the next few months, they will be solving relevant problems with unprecedented passion.