FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FLAGSTAFF, AZ—The Native American Business Incubator Network (NABIN) and Catapult Design are excited to announce the six finalists of this year’s Innovation Challenge, a competition open to Native American entrepreneurs. Up to three winners will each receive a $5,000 cash prize and one year of business counseling and support services (valued at $15,000). An additional runner-up will also receive one year of business incubation services. The six Innovation Challenge finalists will pitch their ideas Shark Tank-style at Change Labs 2017, an annual innovation and entrepreneurship event for Native American entrepreneurs, on June 2-3 at Tuba City High School in Tuba City, Arizona.
The Innovation Challenge finalists are:
“The applications we received for the Innovation Challenge were incredible,” said Heather Fleming of Catapult Design. “Each of them is taking on a challenge that he or she has experienced firsthand, and has demonstrated the passion and commitment to address it in a way that brings jobs to tribal lands.”
Change Labs 2017 will also feature 12 hands-on workshops, popup shops, a sign-making studio, and one-on-one networking opportunities with peers and with business and creative mentors. At the end of the day, we'll announce three Innovation Challenge winners over a family-style meal featuring a performance by Navajo musical artist, Sage Bond.
“Change Labs is an exciting event; you can learn new skills while being inspired by the work of Native entrepreneurs and artists” said NABIN Manager Jessica Stago. “It’s a fun environment where people have the opportunity to exercise their creative minds.”
BACKGROUND
NABIN and Catapult Design launched the Innovation Challenge in January 2017 to support small business ideas working toward positive social and economic change in tribal communities.
The 2017 Change Labs and Innovation Challenge are sponsored by the Native American Business Incubator Network, an organization supporting entrepreneurship in Native communities, and Catapult Design, a design company who supports socially driven companies around the world.
