In early October of 2023, OURONN participated in a Pitch Competition for High School Students that took place during the FutureLAND Conference in Cleveland, Ohio on October 5th and 6th. The Pitch Competition was developed by TECH CORPS with support from the Teaching & Learning Collaborative.

Over 150 high school students from eight Greater Cleveland schools participated in the event. It was the first High School Pitch Competition hosted at Cleveland State University. During the event, students were given a bag of various materials. They worked together in teams to build a product from the materials that would be useful for surviving on an island. The teams then pitched their product to a panel of judges and a winning group was chosen!

OURONN’s Co-Founders, Elisha and Stephanie Muhammad attended the High School Pitch Competition. Stephanie spoke on behalf of OURONN during a panel discussion meant to encourage and inspire the young entrepreneurs. The panel discussion included two other Startup Founders from the Cleveland area. Elisha assisted during the students’ pitches as a timekeeper to help the students stay on track during their presentations. Additionally, both Co-Founders met and conversed with the students during the students’ lunch break.

Elisha and Stephanie also attended the FutureLAND Conference. FutureLAND is an annual two-day tech conference hosted in Cleveland, Ohio. Its goal is to support diverse startup tech entrepreneurs, existing small businesses, innovators, and creatives throughout Northeast Ohio to celebrate and grow a diverse technology and small business economy and ecosystem. Elisha and Stephanie enjoyed interesting sessions from diverse speakers and made connections with technology enthusiasts from Cleveland and elsewhere.