Running an international pitch competition with limited resources.
The /Space track, presented by the Space Frontier Foundation at the International Space Development Conference (ISDC), was billed as an entrepreneurship accelerator for an equitable future. Teams turned NASA patents into business ventures and pitched them to a panel of judges.
- Organization
- Space Frontier Foundation / International Space Development Conference
- Role
- Project Lead
- Dates
- 2021 to 2022
- Skills
- Program design, event operations, judging criteria, workshop facilitation, stakeholder coordination.
The track needed a project manager, and it needed one fast. With a small budget and few hands, the competition still had to feel professional for teams, judges, and conference attendees.
There was also a bigger goal: a space industry pitch competition where equity was part of the business model, not an afterthought.
Stepped in as project lead, designed the entire track, and ran it largely on my own.
What I Did- Design
Built the competition format from scratch. Each team received a NASA patent and designed a venture around it.
- Criteria
Wrote the presentation guidelines: a five-minute, ten-slide pitch covering the problem, the solution, the patent, marketing, financial and legal structure, an equity framework, and next steps.
- Judging
Set up scoring across marketing, finance and legal, research background, and equity framework, plus a 60-second pitch round.
- Workshop
Designed and led "Intersectionality: A Lens for Addressing Inequity in Tech" at ISDC on May 28, 2022, where participants audited a fictional tech product and redesigned it as marketing, project management, and programming teams.
- Event
Ran the pitches, presentations, and an awards ceremony at the conference.
- A complete competition track, from guidelines to awards, designed and run largely by one project lead.
- Equity built into how ventures were scored, not just discussed.
- A workshop framework (know the people, remove barriers, organize together) that later shaped my courses and consulting.
Let’s talk about your project.
Whether you’re launching an event, a program, or a new initiative, I’d love to hear what you’re working on.