Sondra Lintelmann-Dellaripa, President of Harvest Development Group, was honored to take part in Camp CEO hosted by the Girl Scouts of Connecticut on June 28-30, 2018.
The camp included 17 girls aged 7-14 as well as 12 successful businesswomen. Over the span of three days, the members of Camp CEO participated in activities where they learned about social enterprises from ReSET, and then created their own social enterprise to pitch to a panel of “Sharks”. In addition to the social enterprise project, campers and CEOs enjoyed the full camping experience by participating in horseback riding at Trails End, swimming, boating, archery, and a Young Professional Career Jam.
For their social enterprise project, the camp split into groups where they created their own ideas to present. The team known as the GEMS (Grace, Emily, Margaret, and Sarah) and mentored by Harvest Development Group President, Sondra Lintelmann-Dellaripa, created the “Wrap Pack,” modeled after the women in Sub-Saharan Africa who carry their children in wraps.
The “Wrap Pack”, modeled after a traditional backpack, has a wrap feature to it so one can wear it however they want, unlike a traditional backpack which is only able to be carried on your back. After extensive research, The GEMS’s concept is a new backpack made of waterproof fabric, that would appeal to all ages and genders. The social enterprise concept is one where Wrap Packs would be made by the women in Africa who would be hired and receive a fair wage for their hard work. All profits would then go to teachers and translators who would educate women and children in Africa. The team went one step further and strategized an advertising campaign through a viral Instagram movement, which would create paid ads and a campaign where people post pictures of themselves with the “Wrap Pack” using the hashtag #howwillyouwrap, encouraging other others to buy the product. The work done by the GEMS to create the idea was very inspiring and after pitching it to the Sharks, the team won the Innovation Award!
“One of the most interesting parts of Camp CEO was the nurturing, safe environment that allowed the girls to express themselves and interact in a way that had no enforcement of sociological expectations,” said Sondra Lintelmann-Dellaripa. She shared, “The atmosphere of the camp was very genuine and open where the girls didn’t feel like they were being supervised but that they were partners with the CEOs with who they could have honest conversations. Camp CEO was a great opportunity for girls through Girl Scouts to be exposed to the powerful way their ideas can manifest into real opportunities! I was honored to participate!”
To read more about the Girl Scouts of Connecticut and Camp CEO, click here: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/316075