Canadian News, Main

City of Toronto announces winners of the 2023 Women4ClimateTO Pitch Competition

By FWH Online

2023 June 13

The City of Toronto is pleased to announce the winners of the Women4ClimateTO Pitch Competition.

Eleven local entrepreneurs pitched their climate-related initiatives to a panel of judges yesterday evening at an event at City Hall for a chance to claim the first prize of $20,000 and two secondary prizes of $5,000 each.

2023 Women4ClimateTO pitch competition winners included:

  • Winner: Tina Safaei, PAHK Solutions: a platform for personal carbon footprint management
  • Runners-up:
    • Ana Cuciureanu, Splash on Earth: a community-building event and competition that engages participants in environmental action through art and games
    • Niki Cesta, The Wasteland Plan Foundation: outdoor events, eco-trips and environmental campaigns that foster waste education, nature reconnection and conservation-based solutions that generate measurable, positive and equitable socio-environmental impacts

The cash awards will help further advance their climate-related projects or businesses. The pitch competition was hosted by the City and the program’s local presenting sponsor EY Canada.

The event featured keynote speaker Lindura, who is a model, actor and co-founder of Plasticfree Toronto, a social media-based educational platform that encourages the reduction of single-use plastic consumption in Toronto.

Through its Women4Climate Toronto Mentorship Program, the City provides a combination of mentoring, training and networking opportunities to help local women entrepreneurs advance their climate-related projects and business ventures. Now in its third year, the 2023 program supported 11 local women and their climate initiatives.

Women4ClimateTO supports the City’s TransformTO Net Zero Climate Action Strategy, which set Toronto on the path to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2040. Toronto is one of three cities in Canada and 21 cities globally participating in C40 Cities Women4Climate Mentorship Program , which aims to support 400 women across the globe in accelerating their climate projects.

Toronto’s program is co-championed by Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie (Scarborough-Rouge Park), Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee, and Heather Taylor, the City’s Chief Financial Officer.