Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

We met Catherine Porth several years ago when she was an aspiring MBA student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and was launching a new initiative called “Let Her Speak.”

As noted in this teknovation.biz article from March 2018, the inaugural event was designed to focus on the life experiences of women and ways to be successful in business and life. Now, after seven sold-out events including a partner program with Girls Inc. for students, Porth is in the final stages of planning for the first-ever “Let Her Speak Virtual Event” next week.

The festivities begin at 1:30 p.m. May 20, delivered by the popular Lunchpool platform that organizations like the Knoxville Technology Council have been using. Registration information is available here.

“We understand that Zoom fatigue is a very real issue right now, and we wanted to design a program that invigorates and inspires attendees,” Porth explained in an email exchange. “We are partnering with Lunchpool so everyone can have an opportunity to meet and connect.”

She says the three-hour event “will give attendees the opportunity to listen, learn, and interact with other women in a virtual roundtable setting about what holds them back, where those barriers stem from, and how to tear them down. The resulting collective outcome of the event will be turned into a visual piece of artwork by a local female artist, and every attendee will receive a free digital download following the event.”

Drocella Mugorewera, Executive Director of Bridge Refugee Services, will be the featured “storyteller,” sharing her experience in coming to the U.S. as a refugee and the barriers she has had to breakdown to get to where she is today.

Here’s the complete agenda:

• 1:30 to 1:45 p.m. – Learn How to Use the Lunchpool Platform.
• 1:45 to 2 p.m. – Attendee Introductions and Networking.
• 2 to 2:15 p.m. – Welcome from Porth.
• 2:15 to 2:45 p.m. – Storytelling with Mugorewera along with able discussions.
• 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. – Imposter Phenomenon + Mind Map Activity.
• 3:45 to 4 p.m. – Closing Remarks from Porth.
• 4 to 4:30 p.m. – Open Networking.

Porth says that she recently launched a new Pen Pal Program initiative to bring women together while staying safely at home and has postponed the “Annual Women’s Summit” until later this year, substituting next week’s virtual event for now.

Porth is supported by the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center where she serves as Diversity Coordinator and Lead Instructor for the “CO.STARTERS” program.

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