There’s a relatively new business event to add to the list of those that have already made Northern Nevada a great startup destination: The second annual Reno Startup Week is happening Sept. 16-20, with a bunch of free events.
My longtime friend and colleague, Doug Erwin—the senior vice president of entrepreneurial development for the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN)—and his team have assembled what are arguably some of the most extensive and diverse startup and founder events in Nevada history. Doug and his team at EDAWN have been great partners to my Entrepreneurs Assembly (now BizAssembly.org) over the last 15 years and instrumental in helping build and create the thriving startup economy we have now.
“Reno Startup Week is about more than just launching businesses—it’s about fostering a community where innovation thrives,” Doug said. “We believe in the power of collaboration, and by bringing together entrepreneurs, investors and thought leaders, we’re creating an environment where ideas can flourish, and new ventures can take root. This week is a celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit that drives Reno forward.”
I’m registered. If you are at all interested in meeting likeminded entrepreneurs, taking your business to the next level, or quitting that nasty jobby-job to take command of your own future, then register for free at www.renostartupweek.com. As a warmup, come to the free BizAssemly.org founders workshop at 9 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 14, at The Innevation Center, where founders will share challenges and define strategies in confidence.
Let’s explore a startup with a lot more challenges than you could ever imagine or have to deal with.
For starters: This one operates amid a war.
In May, I was asked by the U.S. Department of Commerce to mentor one of 10 Ukrainian female founders who are building companies. Some are located in Ukraine. Other are refugees who’ve fled the war-torn country to save their families while their husbands, brothers, fathers and grandfathers (yes, grandfathers!) have stayed to fight for their homeland. These women’s companies are filling voids in the economy, voids in wartime needs, voids in everyday necessities, and voids in the supply chains—all eviscerated since Russia invaded Ukraine 2 1/2 years ago.
Among the most crucial things disrupted in Ukraine are education and child welfare. Should Putin win, Ukrainian education, language, legacy and heritage will face major threats. This does not account for the loss of loved ones, assets, businesses, land and the human identity of every Ukrainian fighting this fight. Now, while these women are contending with all of those factors, they’re building companies.
I am working with Tsvit, an international, online school of Ukrainian language and culture for children abroad. The school was founded six months after the war started in 2022, when 2 million children were forced to leave Ukraine. The founder is Lesia Duda, a linguist and preserver of the Ukrainian language, and a lecturer at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.
Tsvit currently has students in 16 countries including Japan, the United States, Canada and some European countries. This means that all the school’s teachers, who are now in Ukraine, work during early morning and late-night hours to ensure children’s access to Ukrainian education. The school operates under wartime conditions, facing constant threats of missile strikes, frequent air raid alerts, and six to eight hours of power outages daily.
However, the need to fulfill the school’s vital mission—to help children maintain their connection to Ukraine for a better future—gives the team the strength to continue working.
The students range in age from 4 to 16. The school offers three educational programs: Ukrainian as a foreign language, for children who are learning Ukrainian from the basics; Ukrainian as a heritage language, for those with an intermediate level of Ukrainian; and Ukrainian as a native language, mainly for children who were forced to leave Ukraine and already have experience in the Ukrainian educational system. The school also offers free, online classes every Saturday to learn about Ukrainian traditions, meet with Ukrainian children’s authors, and celebrate Ukrainian national holidays. Last academic year, 300 children from all over the world attended 50 Saturday classes.
The school provides scholarships for 30% of its students, including those living abroad, children of soldiers and others. The school psychologist helps the children with certain challenges, including finding new friends of the same age with whom they can speak their native language.
The mother of one 4-year-old student, Eleonora, whose family fled from Ukraine to Germany, reported that her daughter finds the material interesting, the teacher attentive and kind, and the teacher’s assistant—a cat named “Baton”—most appealing, adding, “The child spoke Ukrainian in her native language!”
Now you see why I have become personally involved with helping Dr. Duda and her team continue the incredible work that they are doing to keep Ukrainian culture alive. The school is currently looking for benefactors. If you’d like to make a donation or sponsor a child, please reach out to me at mwestfield@unr.edu.