EDITOR’S NOTE: This story of #CreativityInCaptivity was originally shared by Charlottean Demi Clark, founder of She Built This City. Demi was part of the SEED20 Class of 2020. We are sharing it here, unedited, with her permission.

It’s a “new normal,” as everyone calls it these days.

So what do you do as a new nonprofit that just gained a TON of momentum in January & February – ready to sign your first lease on a workshop in April; camps for 9-12 year old Explorer Girls for Spring Break; and multiply your Builder Girls Clubs from one club to twenty in the middle school system?

You get creative.

We did what we do best – get scrappy, get ideas, get creative, and start BUILDING. We built fundraising crates and giveaways and gifts; went online with our workshops and Popup Labs, along with Facebook LIVES on DIY topics with Generation T. It wasn’t enough for us – we missed the interaction (although super fun and opened a whole new world to us!)

We bought a 1975 Airstream Argosy.

She’s a beaut! Our plans? To fix her up in May as a Mobile Tool Lab – outfitted with all the tools of the construction trade; PLUS 2028 skills – including drones, 3D printer & “training zone” with laptops where we can onsite train online certifications for OSHA 10, Forklift, General Contracting, Plumbing and more so women can walk into an employer and get the job!

We’re stoked. It’s a 180-degree adaptation. While we miss a workshop right now, we won’t miss the smell of freshly cut wood. This opens us up to a world of collaborative potential with communities – helping our neighbors with projects — training women for job skills and family wages “in the community” at a socially distanced level (using parking lots and community areas over the summer) and getting power tools in girls’ hands. We’re opening a world of solutions that THEIR generation will solve. Plus, solving the gender equity gap.

Let’s do this…see you on 485, give us a honk for girls!

Demi Clark is the founder of She Built This City, a Charlotte-based nonprofit that says:

“We’re here to spark interest in the tribe of women looking for change.
The tribe of girls who may or may not know all of the “boots on the ground” skills that lead to owning an entrepreneurial experience or trade position. Today’s lineworker, plumber, electrician, HVAC technician, carpenter, welder and more are tomorrow’s CEO.”

Learn more about Demi and her work: WEB | INSTAGRAM

The Biscuit Blitz: 5 Minutes with Demi Clark

Charlotte Is Creative co-founder, Tim Miner, spent five minutes catching up with Demi on April 23, 2020.