On May 6th, the first ever Pitch for a Purpose event took place at the Nauticus in Downtown Norfolk. Over 150 Women United members came together for a special celebration of the 20th Anniversary 10 for 10 Class of 2026, but that wasn’t all the evening was about… Throughout the night, 10 for 10 women voted between three different nonprofits for the chance to win a $100,000 grant.
Working with our Community Investments team, 27 local nonprofits applied and interviewed for the chance to present during a live “Shark Tank” style presentation and voting method. Only THREE nonprofits were selected:
- CHIP of South Hampton Roads
- Safe House Project
- Next Step to Success
The selected nonprofits prepped with a designated Women United coach prior to the evening, and built their pitches around what they’d be able to do if they were the $100,000 grant recipient.
As all nonprofits presented, Women United members took notes, indicating why their chosen winner deserved this grand prize. When it came time to vote, women had 5 minutes to lock their answers in, securing the winner’s fate.
We’re proud to have awarded the $100,000 grant to… CHIP of South Hampton Roads! We’re excited to see the progress they can make with this new funding, and hope it helps their incredible work supporting families in our communities.
In an exciting surprise, we were able to award each of our runner-up finalists – Safe House Project and Next Step to Success – an additional $12,500 each to continue advancing their important missions.
We’d like to give a special thank you to Kerri Furey, who made the evening fun, inspirational, and upbeat. Another highlight of our evening was hearing from keynote speaker Jenny Holsman Tetreault, Chair of the Women United Global Leadership Council, who shared powerful insights on collective impact.
We’re deeply grateful to our presenting sponsor, Clearstead Advisory Solutions, and our additional sponsors – Nauticus, Eide Bailly, Profit by Design, 757Collab, Jane & Win Short, Lelia Graham & Randy Webb, and Karen & Matthew Fine – for making the evening possible.
Last but not least, we thank our 20th Anniversary 10 for 10 Class of 2026, and all the women who paved the way before you, for bringing this event to life.