PC Impact Incubator

In the 10 years since the Global Leadership Program began, the program has continued to grow and evolve. With an eye toward the future, the school has launched an exciting new program to accelerate innovation for students with an entrepreneurial spirit who thrive on design thinking.

“We often have parents and alumni who talk about the great experiences they’ve had in things like accelerators and incubators, and who have recommended that we start something like this with our students,” explains Julia Hunt, Assistant Head of School, Strategic Initiatives. “We have students with amazing Capstone Projects that are really coming to life in their last couple of months of Grade 12, just as they’re about to go off to university. So, we wanted to support students who have a really viable idea to accelerate it earlier in the year, while they’re still at Pickering College, so we can help them to launch their project for real, out into the world.”

Enter the newly launched Pickering College Impact Incubator. The Strategic Partnerships Committee, a subcommittee of the Board of Directors chaired by current parent Dr. Olga Morawczynski, wanted to do something to support our students to drive new partnerships that will help to push the school’s innovation programming forward.

“This seemed like a great fit for that committee, so they have worked together through the application process, the name of the impact incubator—it’s called the Pickering College Impact Incubator—they vetted the applicants and will help us through this first year as we develop the pilot program,” says Hunt. “We are so fortunate to have their support and expertise to help deliver something with a lot of impact for our students.”

In Grade 11, the Global Leadership Program requires all students to complete a design sprint to help shape their “how might we” question and their interdisciplinary research paper. Last spring, students were offered the opportunity to apply for the new impact incubator, which would take the Capstone Project a step further much earlier in the year.

Students accepted into the incubator program participate in eight workshop days throughout the year, to help them launch innovative products to solve local and global issues.

The first cohort of five Grade 12 students began participating in September. Among them is Morgan Podd, whose project focuses on period poverty and accessibility to menstrual products. The idea she is developing over the course of this year is the creation of an app that connects people with locations offering free sanitary products.

“In this program I hope to bring a spotlight to the effects of period poverty and reduce the stigma associated with it,” says Podd. “I want our community to come together and offer a sense of inclusion to all people who are part of the menstruating community, with the resources PC is offering.”

Brooke Overington, Senior School faculty member who specializes in business and entrepreneurship, is excited to mentor students as they work through their projects.

“My hope for the PC Impact Incubator is that it will encourage students’ hunger for knowledge and curiosity to fuel their Capstone Project,” says Overington, who serves as faculty advisor to the Impact Incubator participants. “I want them to feel inspired to think outside the box and question the status quo through the exploration of positive, innovative solutions to real-world problems.” types of spaces.

Pickering College is continuing to source grants to support the impact incubator. One of the key areas where community support is needed is in identifying grants that Canadian students are eligible to apply for, to help students launch their projects beyond Pickering College.

“If we support these students, and all five of them get to the point where they have the choice to continue on after they graduate, for us, that will feel like success,” says Hunt.

The Pickering College Impact Incubator accelerates and launches students who have an innovative, viable idea to develop a product to address a significant local or global issue.

Help us take the Pickering College Incubator to the next level!

We are looking for: Mentorship and Expertise

Our students will benefit from specific industry expertise in: UX; empathy mapping; ESG and social innovation; networking and community; market research; lean business modeling; unique value proposition; competitor analysis; minimum viable products; financing, grant writing and not-for-profits; prototyping; IP and governance; customer validation and iteration; pitching and investment opportunities; marketing; and product launching. If you have expertise in any of these areas, or are willing to be an overall project mentor, please let us know.

Innovative Spaces

Our students would love to work in inspirational places: businesses, labs, studios, and makerspaces. We would be very interested in hearing from community members with access to these types of spaces.