Toronto – The City of Toronto is pleased to announce the winners of the Women4ClimateTO Pitch Competition. Eleven local entrepreneurs pitched their climate-related initiatives to a panel of judges yesterday evening at an event at City Hall for a chance to claim the first prize of $20,000 and two secondary prizes of $5,000 each.
2023 Women4ClimateTO pitch competition winners included:
- Winner: Tina Safaei, PAHK Solutions: a platform for personal carbon footprint management
- Runners-up:
- Ana Cuciureanu, Splash on Earth: a community-building event and competition that engages participants in environmental action through art and games
- Niki Cesta, The Wasteland Plan Foundation: outdoor events, eco-trips and environmental campaigns that foster waste education, nature reconnection and conservation-based solutions that generate measurable, positive and equitable socio-environmental impacts
The cash awards will help further advance their climate-related projects or businesses. The pitch competition was hosted by the City and the program’s local presenting sponsor EY Canada. The event featured keynote speaker Lindura, who is a model, actor and co-founder of Plasticfree Toronto, a social media-based educational platform that encourages the reduction of single-use plastic consumption in Toronto.
Through its Women4Climate Toronto Mentorship Program, the City provides a combination of mentoring, training and networking opportunities to help local women entrepreneurs advance their climate-related projects and business ventures. Now in its third year, the 2023 program supported 11 local women and their climate initiatives.
Women4ClimateTO supports the City’s TransformTO Net Zero Climate Action Strategy, which set Toronto on the path to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2040. Toronto is one of three cities in Canada and 21 cities globally participating in C40 Cities Women4Climate Mentorship Program 
, which aims to support 400 women across the globe in accelerating their climate projects.
Toronto’s program is co-championed by Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie (Scarborough-Rouge Park), Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee, and Heather Taylor, the City’s Chief Financial Officer. More information about Women4Climate Toronto is available on the City’s Women4Climate Toronto Mentorship Program webpage.
“Thank you to all of the participants and mentors who participated in this, the City’s third cohort of the Women4Climate Toronto Mentorship Program. Your efforts are helping us build a more sustainable future for our city. I would also like to congratulate the pitch competition winners for their forward-thinking ideas and well-developed projects, which will help inspire climate action both among other entrepreneurs and the greater community.” – Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie (Scarborough-Rough Park), Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee