Emily Hawkins ’15
Our venture is The Condom Truck, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to stimulate conversation about sexual health and positive sexuality. We distribute condoms labeled with three conversation starters, encouraging individuals to chat about sex in a fun, respectful way. With The Condom Truck, we hope to give people the tools, language, and permission to make sexy talk fun and exciting. We developed the idea on a car ride to Colgate Inn Trivia Night in July 2013, and instantly thought of TIA as the opportunity to turn our conversation into a reality, and a reality we can share.
TIA has given us a structured forum in which to develop our ideas. We were nervous to bring the idea to TIA because we understand that our venture is quite different than other ventures and deals with potentially more sensitive and personal topics. The support we have received, and continue to receive, from our mentors and fellow mentees has been paramount in turning our ideas into realities.
Katie Williams ’15
Our next steps involve procuring an actual truck (only requirements: must be purple and have a side window), and determining a plan of action in terms of Condom Truck events and interactions. We also want to move beyond the conversation starter condoms, and expand our inventory of positive sexuality goodies.
The biggest challenge so far has been communicating our idea. It is easy for us to talk about positive sexuality, but explaining the foundation of our mission has had its difficulties; we are trying to change a conversation, not build a product. To that same effect, people are intrigued by our venture, and want to know more. This has helped us expand our support network and engage more individuals in the positive sexuality conversation. We’re super excited to continue building our venture!
Follow us on Instagram: @thecondomtruck
Emily Hawkins ’15 is a Peace and Conflict major and a Women’s studies minor and comes to Colgate from Honolulu, HI. She is passionate about issues of gender equality and has, while at Colgate, immersed herself in the positive sexuality movement. On campus, she is the program coordinator of Yes Means Yes, a 6-week, student-facilitated positive sexuality seminar; production manager of “This is Not a Play About Sex,” a student written and produced play; a three-year member of Link Staff, Colgate’s First-Year Orientation leaders and yearlong mentors; and president of the Konosioni Senior Honor Society.
Katie Williams ’15 is a Geography and History double major from Washington, D.C. On campus she is the co-leader of the Swinging ‘Gates, Colgate’s only all-female a capella group; the co-president of the newly founded Geographers Without Borders club; a member of Colgate’s Campus Master Planning Committee; and Senior Admission Fellow. It was her experience in Colgate’s Yes Means Yes positive sexuality seminar that inspired her ventures in TIA.