Congrats to SEG’s 2020 Food Accelerator Grads!

Thanks to everyone who came to our 2020 Food Accelerator Virtual Graduation and Pitch Night on May 13! If you couldn’t make it, here’s our event video!

The SEG 2020 Food Accelerator is delivered in partnership with Brown University and is funded in part by the RI Department of Labor and Training’s Real Jobs RI initiative, United Natural Foods, Blount Fine Foods, and Newman’s Own Foundation. This 12-week program provides social entrepreneurs the tools and networks to validate their idea, understand their customer, and formalize growth strategies from fundraising to social impact measurement.

“We’ve been honored to work with our 2020 Food Accelerator cohort and watch them develop over the past 12 weeks. Thanks to our generous funders, partners, instructors, and coaches, these entrepreneurs have gained the knowledge and skills they need to grow their ventures and impact. We are confident that their businesses will create good jobs, strengthen the Rhode Island food system, and improve the health and well-being of our community.”
– Kelly Ramirez, CEO, Social Enterprise Greenhouse

Thank You to Our Guest Speakers

Our 2020 Food Accelerator Cohort

Distinguish Catering

Distinguish Catering produces a sauce line that features a burst of ethnic flavors in one taste, with the goal of increasing potential jobs for individuals and addressing social issues in Liberia.
www.distinguishcatering.com
Jessica Zeon | distinguish.catering@gmail.com

Eden’s Bowls

The mission of Eden’s Bowls is to bridge the gap between health and nutrition by developing and providing access to healthy food and healthy care for their stakeholders in the U.S and the Caribbean.
Michelle Robinson | michelle@edensbowls.com

FreshConn

The mission of FreshConn is to build healthier, more vibrant communities through access to local and nutrient-dense food.
shop.freshconn.com/welcome
Patrick Straus + Brandon Monti | hellofreshconn@gmail.com

Lila

Lila introduces exciting new superfoods from China, such as dried black goji berries, to the American market, using sustainable packaging and supporting a living wage for farmers in remote areas.
www.teabylila.com
Jasmine Yang & Karina Bao | karina_bao@brown.edu

Providence Gardenworks

The mission of Providence Gardenworks is to build urban composting and gardening into a personal, urban, radical, environmental movement in Providence and well beyond.
www.providencegardenworks.com
Stewart Martin | provgardenworks@icloud.com


Roots 2Empower

Roots 2Empower’s mission is to break the cycle of poverty by increasing career and small business pathways to increase financial security for formerly incarcerated men of color.
Tarshire Battle | tarshirebattle@gmail.com


Southside Farm-to-Market Center

The Southside Farm-to-Market Center is a food hub in Providence working with small-scale farmers of color in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to build an equitable local food system. The Farm-to-Market Center will provide FDA-compliant wash, packing, storage, and processing facilities, along with marketing, and distribution services for farmers and other food businesses.
www.southsideclt.org
Jazandra Barros | jazandra@southsideclt.org

Thank You!

To all the SEG volunteers who supported our 2020 Food Accelerator cohort:

Workshop Instructors

  • Kathleen Bellicchi
  • Josh Bloom
  • Todd Blount
  • Josh Daly
  • Allison Ingalsbe
  • Michael Isenberg
  • Diane Lynch
  • Katie Murray
  • Kelly Ramirez
  • Matt Ramirez
  • Jessica Vega
  • Carlos Ventura
  • Austin Wilson
  • Meg Wirth
  • Rob Yaffee

Coaches

  • Allison Bebee
  • Todd Blount
  • Dave Dadekian
  • Allison Ingalsbe
  • Topher Patch
  • Gary Rindner
  • Abbey Wellemeyer

And to the sponsors of our 2020 Food Accelerator:

SEG Accelerator Impacts to Date

171 Ventures Accelerated

87% Are Operational

671 Jobs Created

4.8 million+ Lives Impacted Across the Globe