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Children’s Discovery Museum Wins $20,000 at ‘Desert Fast Pitch’

Children's Discovery Museum

Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert’s managing director Cindy Burreson won Fall 2022’s ‘Desert Fast Pitch’ prize of $20,000 in the NPO Centric Annual Contest Awards, stating it as a significant step to meet and exceed the needs of the community, with specific plans to include children with sensory sensitivities in future programs.

Six ‘Desert Fast Pitch’ nonprofit finalists competed on October 6, where the Regional Access Project Foundation awarded more than $65,000 across three awards.

Awards Given Out:

  • $15,000 Most Innovative Pitch award to Dana Johnson Executive Director of Food Now
  • $10,000 Audience Choice Award to Shannon Shea, CEO of Elder Love USA

Burreson’s three-minute pitch unfolded plans to develop programming at the Museum with a focus on children with sensory sensitivities. This is in hopes to “welcome and include a segment of the population that is often overlooked,” according to Burreson.

NPO Centric’s goal for ‘Desert Fast Pitch’ is to help nonprofits by diving deeply into organizations to discover their "why" and develop their tool kits to deliver that messaging with the help of seasoned professionals, said Stephanie Minor, executive consultant with NPO Centric and Desert Fast Pitch manager. In addition to the winning finalists, 12 total participating nonprofits joined and experienced weeks of training, each received $1,000 for being selected in the program, and others received additional grants for individual achievements.

The awards also featured keynote speaker and Olympic three-time gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, detailing messages of perseverance and determination that many nonprofit leaders that day had connected to their lived experiences of working with local communities.

The work that the Museum will be making toward its goal is just starting, currently undergoing a “reimagination” of its experiences, including the expansion of its spaces and programs. They are to reopen by early 2023.

Plans are underway for next year’s Desert Fast Pitch, scheduled for Fall 2023. For more information about NPO Centric’s programs and resources, visit npocentric.org

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