Prudential Emerging Visionaries Summit
- Rachel Holmes
- Apr 30, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: May 9, 2022
Our Founder & Director Rachel Holmes was recently awarded as a Prudential Emerging Visionary. She was chosen among 25 Young Changemakers for creating a lasting impact in community and addressing societal challenges with her work. Included in the award was a trip to Prudential Headquarters in Newark, New Jersey for a week full of workshops, project development, networking, and lots of fun! Here's what it was like for Rachel & her mom:
Friday
We arrived in New Jersey on Friday night after a long day of travel. Most of the other Changemakers would be arriving the next day so there was anything planned. We got to enjoy this beautiful view of NYC from across the Hudson River!
Saturday
Saturday consisted of traveling for most of the other Changemakers, so we had a pretty relaxing morning. We got checked in for the event, where we got our goodie bags from Prudential with all sorts of Emerging Visionaries swag. We got tested for Covid (we were negative!), did a camera interview for PR, and finished the night with some fun and games in the kids hangout room.
Sunday
We started Sunday with a lot of fun workshops! These includes icebreakers & energizers, a storytelling workshop where we made this story tree, and a problem solving workshop where we brainstormed out of the box solutions for real world issues. Then we got ready for our night in NYC!
We took a private boat tour around NYC and got to see the Statue of Liberty up close! They treated us to dinner and then took us on a bus tour to Times Square where we saw our pictures on a billboard in Times Square!!
It was an amazing night and not something I thought I'd ever experience.
Monday
Early Monday morning we headed to the Prudential Tower for more workshops. The 5 Financial Solutions winners got to practice our pitches on the mainstage with mics and everything. We took a lot of group pictures. Then we headed into the awards ceremony where we got to hear from the guest speaker Eli Manning and ask him our questions! We received our awards and got to socialize with Prudential executives at the dinner.
Tuesday
Tuesday was the last day of the Summit. We once again headed to the Prudential Tower where we started the day with problem solving and Q&A with Alumni Changemakers. Then it was time to pitch our projects. We each had 4 minutes to tell the judges about our projects and 10 minutes of Q&A time. The judges included the CEO of Prudential, Ashoka, Financial Health Network, and Alumni Changemakers. After a successful pitch the awards were announced and we each got $10,000 (we had no idea all of us would be awarded!)
As this was the last day we did a few closing activities like a gratitude circle and getting to sign kind messages for our fellow Changemakers. We all bonded with each other very quickly so saying goodbye was difficult. The next day we headed back to California.
The whole experience was better than I could have ever imagine. Prudential Emerging Visionaries has changed the way I think about BGMB, my future, and life. It has opened so many doors for me and introduced me to an incredible network of talented individuals and friends. Thank you a million times Prudential & Ashoka!
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