Startup education comes to Providence

RAYMOND "TWO HAWKS" WATSON, winner of the 2016 Rhode Island Innovation Fellowship for his work on multicultural tourism, will be one of the speakers at the inaugural Startup Weekend Education program, to be held Sept. 23-Sept. 25. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
RAYMOND "TWO HAWKS" WATSON, winner of the 2016 Rhode Island Innovation Fellowship for his work on multicultural tourism, will be one of the speakers at the inaugural Startup Weekend Education program, to be held Sept. 23-Sept. 25. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

(Updated, 11:45 a.m., Sept. 21)
PROVIDENCE – Startup Weekend Education, a weekend-long crash course in entrepreneurship, is coming to Providence on Friday to take aspiring business owners from idea to startup in 54 hours.

The event, which happens in cities throughout the country, comprises educators, business professionals and hackers who help aspiring entrepreneurs build a prototype and business model in the course of a weekend. The Providence course marks Startup Weekend Education, or SWEDU’s, inaugural event in the capital city, which runs from Friday to Sunday in the Tech Collective at 166 Valley St.

“We will be focusing on ‘culturally relevant content’ as the theme for identifying and solving education’s critical problems,” according to the organization.

Attendees on Friday will pitch initial ideas – although it’s not required – before individuals will form teams to work with for the rest of the weekend. Sunday evening the teams will pitch again before an awards ceremony and closing party. The professionals leading the weekend, dubbed “coaches,” include Katrina Stevens, director of the of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education; Ash Kaluarachchi, cofounder of Started Accelerator; Brian Jepson, acquisitions editor for O’Reilly Media and co-founder of Providence Geeks; and Heather Tow-Yick, chief transformation officer at Providence Public School District. Speakers include Ray “Two Hawks” Watson, founder and CEO of Providence Cultural Equity Initiative; and Roberto Gonzalez, executive director of STEAM Box, a high school community resource center in Providence.

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For more information on the course and how to register, visit the organization’s website.

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