Bonita

Inspiration

At some point in my life, I felt stuck. Like the opportunities I needed just weren't there — and I had to figure things out on my own. That feeling never really left me.

BONITA was born from that place. I didn't want other women especially those with fewer resources — to feel that same loneliness when trying to build something of their own. I wanted to create a space where women lift each other up, where one small seed of support can grow into something much bigger. A community, not just a platform.

And beyond entrepreneurship, I wanted to reach girls earlier
inspiring them to explore STEM before the world tells them they can't.

What it does

BONITA is an ecosystem built on two pillars:

A rotating fund women entrepreneurs with limited resources apply for seed capital. When they grow, they contribute a little back so the next woman can start too.
A STEM community a volunteer network that visits schools and communities to inspire girls through mini hackathons and workshops, both online and in person.

One feeds the other. The girl you inspire today becomes the entrepreneur you fund tomorrow.

How we built it

BONITA was designed and built using Claude AI as my main creative partner, combining UX thinking with a Y2K pixel art, pastel purples, pinks and yellows that feel warm, human and a little nostalgic. Just like the feeling I want every woman to have when she finds BONITA.

Challenges we ran into

Honestly? My biggest challenge was having too many ideas and not knowing where to start. My mind was going in a hundred directions at once the fund, the community, the design, the story. Learning to focus was hard.

I also stepped into completely new territory: UX design, finance, community building. Things I had never done before. There were moments of doubt, moments where I thought "maybe this is too much."

But that's exactly why BONITA exists — because growth happens when you dare to try something new, even when you're figuring it out as you go.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Finishing this hackathon.

That might sound simple, but it means everything to me. I came in with an idea, a lot of questions and zero certainty — and I'm leaving with a real project, a real design and a real vision. Completing BONITA during SheShips is proof that you don't need to have it all figured out to create something meaningful.

What we learned

How to craft better prompts and collaborate with AI as a creative tool
That design tells a story every color, font and pixel carries meaning
That stepping into unfamiliar areas (finance, UX, community design) is uncomfortable but worth it
That you don't need to know everything to start. You just need to begin.

What's next for Bonita

This is just the beginning!

I'll keep building BONITA as part of my faculty fair project because I genuinely want this to work. Not just as a prototype, but as something real that creates real impact for real women.

Next steps include developing the rotating fund model further, building the volunteer network, and creating a platform that any woman no matter her resources
can access and trust.

I want BONITA to matter. And I'm willing to put in the work to make that happen. 💜