Eight mission-driven ventures have made it through another great Impact Accelerator! They’ve shown up every week for workshops and mentorship sessions, made breakthroughs and tough decisions and supported each other through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship.
And, they’ve done their homework.
They each got up in front of the crowd to give their graduation pitch and to share how the SEG community can get involved with their work and mission.
Here are some of the highlights of the 2017 Impact Accelerator cohort’s time with us at SEG.
Dinner X-Change:
Dinner X-Change, the online platform which helps to promote conversations about the schoolday between caregivers and kids, has made progress throughout the Accelerator. They’re now piloting their program in four Rhode Island Schools. They were finalists in the BPLC17 Pitchfest–that’s the 2017 Blended and Personalized Learning Conference. And they were featured in RI parent magazine. Their website has improved greatly, too! You can hear an interview with Jarrid and Sylvia Hall here.
Pets Empower:
Jordan Ross of PetsEmpower has organized a Pet Fashion Show. It will be a fundraiser for their program, which helps provide foster care and advocacy for people in crisis. It is to be held at Bow Chika Wow Town, which sounds interesting. Learn more at Petsempower.org.
COAAST:
Ana Bess Moyer Bell of COAAST, Creating Outreach About Addiction Support Together, has presented at Gina Raimondo’s Overdose Task Force this past week. You can learn more about this task force here. COAAST is working with the Chariho Youth Task Force on an performance-arts based presentation for the Westerly and Chariho High Schools about Mental Health on may 11th.
The kick-off the Spring 2017 tour of Ana Bess’ play Four Legs To Stand On on May 6th on Block Island. This is the third tour. They have a big launch performance sponsored by Brown Alumni on May 7th — at 7:00, Venue to be announced.
COAAST was recently featured in an article Providence Business News. You can hear an interview with Ana Bess here.
Finnest:
Finnest has launched a pilot project with 20 users using a prepaid debit card and a text messaging platform. First data indicates that Finnest has a positive impact on savings behavior and Finnest is saving parents and caregivers time and effort.
They were a finalist at the MIT FinTech Hackathon, that would be Financial Technology to those of us non-tech types.
They have achieved their first established partnership with a bank that will help bring Finnest to market.
And they are looking for their first round of seed funding. Richard and Clemens have created a great-looking website, too. Here is SEG’s post about Finnest.
Steelyard Public Projects:
Jenny and Tim at Steelyard Public Projects have added some interesting new projects.
“With the start of Spring, Public Projects wrapped up an exciting year-long project for the Olneyville Health Equity Zone (HEZ). The Olneyville HEZ is made up of many local organizations that are dedicated to improving the health disparities in Olneyville caused by social and environmental factors. The Steel Yard has been involved with the Olneyville HEZ since its inception in 2014.
This past year, with a shift towards [Type 2] Diabetes prevention, our scope of work shifted from workforce development to a very creative public project- artistic fitness equipment! We started the process by surveying local residents at community events, asking them what muscles they’d like to work out, what physical activity they enjoy, and what types of equipment they would have fun using at Joslin Street Park. With that information in mind, we then paired a local artist with a neighboring fitness trainer, who together brainstormed some truly unique designs. “The Captain’s Chair” and “Incline Pull-Up” are both nautically themed, to speak to the new water park that they’re next to, and allow for some great core and arm exercising.
The pieces are designed to be inviting and accessible to all people while remaining playful, fun to use and artistic. We hope you go check them out, and keep your eyes peeled for some instruction videos down the road.”
Gale Force Communications:
Susan Gale of Gale Force Communications has re-organized her company to better prepare for future growth, hired a Sales and Marketing Manager and made important new contacts to help her business grow. You can see her magazine, RI Parent, here.
Congratulations to all of you for making it through! We here at SEG look forward to watching your growth and development.
Traci Picard
Venture Development Assistant
Traci Picard is a VISTA serving as Venture Development assistant here at SEG. She comes from the world of alternative health, running a small herbal business and teaching classes like Critical Thinking for Herbalists and Asking Better Questions. Traci is also a writer pursuing a Journalism degree, a mother of 3 and a passionate fan of books and the Public Library. Born in Providence, she has lived all over but continues to return home.
Contact: tpicard@segreenhouse.org