The Mentor program is a critical component of the Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards with the finalist teams having exposure and connecting with leading entrepreneurs and innovators. Over the past month, the 13 finalist teams participated in two three-hour Mentor Workshops to help them evolve and strengthen their creative concept and business idea ready for Phase 2 judging later this month.
Each finalist team was allocated a dedicated mentor for them to work with to further develop their creative concept and business idea. “The strength of the mentor program grows each year. Our teams have the opportunity to work with some of the great minds and innovators on the Sunshine Coast as part of this competition,” Tracey Coobula, Study Sunshine Coast Program Director said.
The line-up of mentors this year includes Lachie Smart from Smartline Medical, Andrew Bradley Professor in Computer Science at UniSC, Dominic Vrolijks Founder at Sunshine Coast Maker Space, Renee Galvin, Head of Marketing at TAFE Queensland and Tim Kelly Founding Director at Manufacturing Excellence Forum.
Over the two mentor sessions the finalist teams also participated in four Masterclass sessions to help them build and strength their start-up venture skills. Masterclass topics and presenters included:
Concept and Customer – Fiona Woolliscroft, Coach, Facilitator and Start-up Venture Specialist
Marketing & Digital Growth Hacking – Emma Norma, Marketing Officer at TAFE Queensland
Prototyping – Kelly Lavery, Strucket Founder and CEO
Pitching – Fiona Woolliscroft
“Thank you to our amazing Masterclass Facilitators for their incredible presentations and to our amazing mentors for guiding our teams so expertly as they really start bringing their ideas and concepts to life.
“Thanks also to for all the wonderful and engaged school coordinators that attend to support their teams. We can’t wait to see how far the teams have come when they submit their Phase 2 entries later this month,” Coobula said.
At the conclusion of Phase 2 each team will then put forward a second submission, with all finalists invited to participate in a Live Pitch and Awards Ceremony on July 20, 2023 for their chance to win more than $10,000 in shared prizes.
Sunshine Coast Council is proud to partner with Telstra and Study Sunshine Coast to deliver the 2023 Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards exclusively to high schools within the Sunshine Coast Local Government Area.
Learn more about the Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards here.