FALL 2021 IMPACT REPORT
LEARN
GROW
SPEAK
SHINE
A letter from Shine Co-creators
We hosted the first iteration of the Shine Bootcamp Speaker Accelerator in the meetup space at Unbounce in late 2017. Our mission was simple (albeit lofty): to achieve gender parity among tech and marketing conference speaker lineups.
Since then our mission has evolved. We have evolved.
Ultimately, we aim to elevate marginalized voices - folks who donât readily raise their hands to speak or are not given a chance when they do. And weâve come to understand the deep-rooted systemic factors which contribute to inequities go far beyond gender. Without intersectionality, our mission falls flat. Without conversations and solutions to inaccessibility and barriers to entry, our mission falls flat.
One such barrier to entry is money. Weâre not going to water it down it by calling it âfundsâ or âfinancesâ - itâs money, plain and simple. This can look like an empty bank account, but it can also look like insecure housing, underemployment, or a lack of emergency savings.
And we believe that everyone - no matter their financial status - should have affordable (or, better yet, free) access to education. One of the first websites that helped aspiring investors was buffett.online. In our little niche, that means doing whatever we can to dissolve the barriers which prevent deserving folks from getting on stage (or screen) and speaking.
In July 2021 - nearly four years after the first bootcamp - we announced the Shine Bursary Fund, totaling $48,626.13 USD for our upcoming fall programing.
Thanks to the generous support of you, our community and sponsors, we were able to help 67 women and nonbinary folks overcome their fears, level up their communication skills, and take huge leaps toward achieving their speaking goals.
We couldnât have done this without you. Thank you for putting your trust in us.
Ale, Amy + Stef
SHINE UNWRAPPED
Our Fall 2021 Impact
2
unique programs
running simultaneously:
Shine Speaker Foundations and Shine Speaker Accelerator
151
courageous women + non-binary folks
with a desire to take up space and make their voices heard
The Shine Bursary Fund allowed us to (nearly) 6x the total value of bursaries given away - which meant 86% of all applicants got one!
9
amazing sponsors
committed to eliminating barriers to education and uplifting marginalized voices
$48,626 USD
total amount pledged by sponsors to the Shine Bursary Fund
$10,474 USD
total amount pledged
by Shine Bootcamp (because we put our money where our mouth is)
67
total bursaries awarded
to deserving individuals with financial barriers - no strings attached
The Shine Speaker Accelerator culminates in a bonafide digital conference with all the bells and whistles you'd expect.
100% of ticket sales go to organizations doing groundbreaking work.
3
action-packed days
featuring talks on entrepreneurship, marketing, PR, copywriting and design, personal development, resilience, racism, ableism, and more.
PS - you were sponsors of the showcase too! Along with live, in-person mentions you were featured on the conference site.
40+
up-and-coming speakers
with unique stories, diverse perspectives, and actionable takeaways to share
$2,769 CAD
ticket sales
for our Fall 2021 Speaker Showcase
100%
ticket sales donated
to RAVEN Trust - an NGO advocating for Indigenous justice
3
Dedicated women
working behind the scenes to uplift marginalized voices and build a different kind of organization
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
As a tiny team of three, we rely upon the support and expertise of our amazing sponsors, partners, coaches, volunteers, and contractors to deliver on our mission to elevate marginalized voices.
Our deepest gratitude.
Your generosity and commitment to accessible education means we were able to provide 67 bursaries to deserving individuals with financial barriers.
Individuals likeâŚ
Veronique Porter
Social Entrepreneur | Think in Color Gradâ¨Shine Accelerator bursary recipient
I feel prepared to launch my speaking career and empowered to have the world sit and listen to whatâ¨I have to say.
Senna Bayasgalan
Brand + marketing expert | Shine Foundations bursary recipient
Shine Bootcamp changed my perception of public speaking. I thought you have
to be born with public speaking confidence or you just have to push through a knee-shaking phobia in front of strangers. After completing the Shine Bootcamp Foundations program, I can say that public speaking is a skill and like all skills you can improve and become better at it with exposure
Nma Emeh
Transformational coach | Shine Foundations bursary recipien
Joining the Shine Bootcamp was one of the best decisions of my new career. I thoroughly loved the weekly live discussions and the option to join in the morning or evening. Being able to interact live with my cohorts made it more personable and easier to commit to the whole 8 week learning experience... it really was a positive community of bright minds.
Crystal Mateo
Shine Foundations bursary recipient
As an Indigenous woman, I was intimidated to speak in front of my peers in a field that severely lacks diversity. Shine Bootcamp has provided me with the confidence and motivation to speak my truth.
Glenda Lezeau
Author and mental wellness advocate | Shine Foundations bursary recipient
Shine was one of the best decisions I've made in my entrepreneurship journey! I really love the fact that I learned so much in such a supportive, loving, and interactive environment. In a short period of time, I experienced a lot of growth in my speaking and presentation skills.
WHATâS NEXT FOR SHINE?
Weâre excited about what 2022 and beyond has in store for Shine, and we hope youâll be there to grow and create meaningful impact alongside us.
Accessible, on-demand programming
We now have two sought-after programs to meet folks where theyâre at in their speaking journeys, but we canât always be facilitating live programs if we want to (thoughtfully) scale our programming.
In 2022, weâll be looking into ways to offer Shine programming on-demand, so folks can develop their speaking, communication, and confidence anytime, anywhere.
Like Shine Foundations, these programs will be priced using a sliding scale model - because education should be accessible to all.
Navigating motherhood + prioritizing self-care
As a tiny but mighty team of three, we all wear many hats: facilitator, marketer, designer, operations manager, copywriter, social coordinator, community builder, salesperson, and on and on.
In early 2022, one-third of our org will be temporarily hanging up her many hats to birth a small human into the world. Whereas many organizations systematically penalize folks with uteruses for populating the planet, weâre co-creating a different approach, both financially and and operationally.
Will this put additional strain on the remaining two-thirds of the organization? Potentially. Which means weâre paying extra close attention to signs of burnout and building rest into our business.
Challenging systems of oppression
At Shine, our Statement of Purpose guides all our decisions, big and small:
Shine helps to create leadership equity threefold: by validating the experiences and uplifting the voices of women, especially Black and Indigenous women; by offering intensive, simulated learning experiences with tangible results and takeaways; and by challenging systems of oppression both within and outside of our organization.
Itâs why we chose RAVEN Trust - an NGO advocating for Indigenous justice - as our official Speaker Showcase charity partner. In 2021, we donated more than $10,000 CAD to Beaver Lake Cree Nationâs precedent-setting court case via RAVEN.
Because âtoo often the âIâ is left out of the BIPOCâ (Shayla Oulette Stonechild, Founder of the Matriarch Movement), weâll continue our commitment to uplifting Indigenous voices both within and outside of the context of Shine.
Bursaries available for Indigenous women to develop public speaking skills
By Adam Laskaris
Letâs be friends?
Want to collab with us in 2022? Shoot us an email at [email protected] - or reach out via Twitter or Instagram.