SXSW Pitch Finalist: Praxis Labs
The Forrest Four-Cast: February 25, 2020
As the saying goes: Before you judge a person, walk a mile in their shoes. One of 50 finalists for SXSW Pitch 2020, Praxis Labs adds virtual reality to that concept and helps organizations increase inclusion and belonging in their workplaces.
Praxis advances diversity and inclusion outcomes through Virtual Reality-based unconscious bias training. They let users take on a perspective different than their own, experience incidents of bias, and then practice responding to those incidents. This experience helps to increase empathy, reduce bias, and creates sustained behavior change for individuals and organizations.
See the Praxis pitch in the category of Augmented & Virtual Reality Technology, 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm Saturday, March 14, before a live audience and a panel of expert judges.
Winners in each of the 10 categories will be announced at the Pitch Awards Ceremony, at 6:30 pm Sunday, March 15. SXSW attendees are also invited to Meet the Finalists from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Monday, March 16. All SXSW Pitch events take place at the Hilton Austin Downtown.
Praxis CEO and Co-Founder Elise Smith is passionate about leveraging innovation and disruptive technologies to increase access and opportunity in the pursuit of equity.
In addition to her work at Praxis, she’s currently pursuing a joint MBA/MA degree in Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Graduate School of Education.
She talked about what’s special about Palo Alto, why she admires Bryan Stevenson, and meeting Gabrielle Union.
Tell us your favorite thing about based in Palo Alto.
Palo Alto will always be special for the Praxis Labs team. My co-founders and I all met at Stanford so Palo Alto is really where it all began. Some of my favorite memories have been running to and from meetings all around town. We joke that we were always running somewhere — ending late from one meeting and headed to the next. But beyond the memories, Palo Alto has amazing weather and easy access to all the best that the Bay Area has in store.
Which living person do you most admire and why?
Bryan Stevenson has always been a personal hero of mine. While growing up, I read a lot about ending mass incarceration and criminal justice reform. The work Bryan leads at the Equal Justice Initiative is so important as a part of that work. I admire the way he encourages getting proximate and his belief that we can change the world by doing so. I actually had the opportunity to go to EJI’s Legacy Museum and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opening weekend and was so moved by how far we have come and how far we have yet to go.
What do you eat/drink/do when you are low on energy?
I love green smoothies and juices. My favorite smoothie is super simple: frozen banana, spinach, peanut butter, and almond milk. It tastes like a banana milkshake!
Tell us about a memorable celebrity encounter.
We had the opportunity to go to Cannes Creatives Lions Festival as part of R/GA Ventures Innovation Showcase. While at Cannes, we pitched on the Innovation Stage and met with corporate partners but one highlight was meeting Gabrielle Union. We spent a lot of time at The Cannes Can: Diversity Collective Inkwell Beach, which fostered community among people of color at the festival. Gabrielle Union also spent time on the beach and we were able to chat with her briefly about our work and desired impact, but were too starstruck to remember the whole exchange.
Look for more interviews with other finalists in this space between now and the start of SXSW Pitch on Saturday, March 14. Visit this page to see all previous interviews in this series as well as a list of all finalists.
If you are an entrepreneur, check out the SXSW 2020 Startups Track, which runs March 13–17. This track brings together founders and funders and showcases exciting new companies, products, services, and business models across different verticals and industries.
Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, the world’s most unique gathering of creative professionals. He also tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often cover tech-related trends; other times they focus on books, pop culture, sports and other current events.
