Western Hemisphere: Pathways to Prosperity Innovation Challenge Finalists Compete in $2 Million Pitch Competition
The U.S. Department of State, in partnership with the World Environment Center (WEC), has invited twelve (12) finalists of the Pathways to Prosperity Innovation Challenge to compete in a pitch competition on July 25 at 12:00pm at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The Challenge was created to discover and scale up existing local, high-impact solutions that empower small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America and the Caribbean to address labor and environmental barriers to business.
The finalists will vie for one of four awards of up to (USD) $500,000 and technical support to scale up or replicate their initiatives in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Panama, or Peru. For more information about the finalists, visit challenge.wec.org/en/awards.
Roberta S. Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Terry Yosie, President and CEO of the World Environment Center (WEC), will deliver remarks. Other participants at the event will include distinguished representatives from the private sector, Pathways member countries, and NGO and civil society organizations. An event agenda is available at http://www.wec.org/pitch-competition-agenda/.
This event is open to the press. The event will take place on July 25 at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor. Press should arrive no later than 11:45 a.m.
Media representatives may attend this event upon presentation of one of the following: (1) A U.S. Government-issued identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Defense, or Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identification card, or (3) a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification card (driver's license, passport).
PRESS CONTACT
World Environment Center:
Ms. Casey Troy
+1 202-312-1211
Department of State:
Ms. Stefanie Fabrico
(202) 647-4252
Mr. Geoff Johnson
(202) 647-9911
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs’ Press Office
For more information and inquiries on Pathways to Prosperity, please see www.pathways-caminos.org. For information on the Challenge, see challenge.wec.org.