Resources
imagine innovate inspire
sparking innovation and creation among young entrepreneurs
About The Competition
The Imagine, Innovate, & Inspire (I³) Competition is a competition for 9th to 12th graders who are passionate about learning and helping their community. Over the course of 4-months, students will help underrepresented small business owners by creating tailored digital infrastructure (apps, websites, social media campaigns) for them. Under the mentorship of top digital strategists, consultants, and university mentors, our high schoolers will learn about SEO, digital brand creation, business concepts, and technical coding skills. They also develop important life skills relating to teamwork, professionalism, communication, organization, and more.
At the end of the 4 months, students will present the outcome of their work to a panel of judges for the chance to win up to $2,000.
In 2022, more than 80% of our teams were offered formal summer internships and jobs from their business partners. Alumni of this competition have ended up at colleges such Stanford, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and many other amazing schools. Students on the I3 Team have received scholarships for their work managing the competition. There are many opportunities to win here, so take advantage of that and join the I3 Competition!
Participants are allowed to submit their projects to other programs and scholarships opportunities. Students will need the consent of their small business partner if they are including information about their I³ experience in other programs/opportunities.
The I3 Competition targets helping small business owners from underrepresented communities. These communities have historically struggled with access to capital and resources, so the I3 Competition's purpose is to be an inexpensive and tailored resource.
The I3 Competition also targets student development. This includes technical, social, and professional development:
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Technical Development: Students learn about the technicalities behind social media marketing, website creation/redesign, and app creation. For the first two, students need no experience; app development requires app coding experience. Our mentors coach on concepts related to SEO, UI importance, A/B testing, and more
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Social Development: Students need to learn how to work in teams, lead groups, work with people older than then, and more. Our students must do all of these in the competition format in order to excel -- by honing these coail skills, we send I3 alumni into the work as better communicators, effective team players, and as more mature young adults.
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Professional Development: We kickstart students' network by connecting them to founders, CEO, partners at consulting firms, finance executives, nonprofit executives, and more. Students who recognize the value of the network we hand them have received internship offers from business executives and judges, as well as the small business owner they work with.
The Competition also prioritizes longevity: Our student teams build out the basics of digital infrastructure so that it will last for business owners. Most importantly, the I3 Competition structure provides business owners to maintain their new infrastructure. Higher level web designers and consultants rely on "retainment" fees, so they don't often communicate how to take over a website or marketing campaign after they are initially hired.
Pitches Should Be...
8 minutes. Each team will be given a 2 minute warning and is expected to fill the 8 minutes. Going over may result in point loss.
Post-Q&A...
your team will be excused and you'll be done with the I3 Competition! Feedback, awards, and internship offers will be released 1-2 after.
After Your Pitch...
the judges will spend 5-8 minutes asking anything from clarifying to technical questions.
Teams Are Expected...
to dress business casual (at least on the top half) for all I3 events, including the pitches. I3 is conducted over Zoom.
