Steph Speirs *14, Flaviana Matata, model and founder of a Tanzania-based organization dedicated to girls' education, and Gail Gershon, senior director of the Gap Foundation for Banana Republic, at the 4th annual ELLE Impact Awards. (Photo by Bryan Bedder + Getty Images)
Co-founder of Solstice, a startup focused on organizing community solar farms to provide access to clean energy to more American households, Speirs was a surprise double-winner at the 2019 ELLE Impact Awards, held on March 8, the day before International Women's Day.
ELLE magazine paired with fashion brand Banana Republic and INCO, a global accelerator for eco-minded startups, to spotlight four women entrepreneurs as part of the Impact Awards. Speirs took home both the Impact Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Banana Republic No Boundaries Award. As the American laureate, she will then pitch Solstice to a group of startup experts, investors and mentors at Impact2, INCO's international entrepreneurship competition at their annual world forum in Paris. Speirs also received a $10,000 prize towards Solstice as part of the No Boundaries Award.
“The Impact Awards celebrate women who are striving to change the world through their businesses. The fact that all of the businesses this year are related to conservation in some way highlights how important it is that we take care of our planet.” -Nina Garcia, Editor in Chief of ELLE
Read more about the ELLE Impact Awards.
