Accelerator Fellow Brothers Empowered to Teach Returns to PitchNOLA: Community Solutions to Win

29 January 2015

Co-founder Kristyna Jones presented Brothers Empowered to Teach, which took home first place and $5,000 to empower black men to choose education as a career.

Aaron Frumin presents unCommon Construction, which won the second place prize of $3,000 to train high school apprentices in construction to build skills and expand college and career opportunities.

A full house applauds semi-finalists in Tulane's Freeman Auditorium.

Semi-finalist Lauren Rudzis of Community Plates polls the audience on how many have witness food waste in the service industry firsthand.

Judges Leslie Jacobs (New Orleans Startup Fund, PowerMoves NOLA), Victor Alvarez (Alvarez & Marsal, Lucky Tree), and Matt Flannery (Kiva, Puddle) deliberate.

Last night, January 28, 2015, 10 semi-finalists and one guest social entrepreneur took the stage in front of a packed house in Tulane's Freeman Auditorium to pitch their ideas to take on pressing, local issues in workforce development, children and families, social justice, and the environment. Co-hosted by Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation and Tulane University's Center for Engaged Learning and Teaching and A.B. Freeman School of Business and sponsored by the Lang Family Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the competition highlighted the power of community members to launch viable, entrepreneurial solutions to the challenges they face in their backyard.

The night kicked off with a keynote address from Matt Flannery and Jean Claude Rodríguez-Ferrera Massons, who shared the story of their journey co-founding Kiva and Puddle, helping a combined three million users connect through online lending.

Winners took home a total of $10,640 in cash prizes, generously provided by the Lang Family Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and audience donations.

First place winner Brothers Empowered to Teach returned to the stage victorious after pitching at last year's competition in November 2013.

PitchNOLA 2015: Community Solutions Finalists

1st Place – $5,000

Brothers Empowered to Teach (BE2T) | Larry Irvin & Kristyna Jones

BE2T closes the achievement gap for at-risk students by inspiring and incentivizing men of color to choose education as a career.

2nd Place – $3,000

unCommon Construction | Aaron Frumin & Aron Michalski

unCommon Construction is a nonprofit that builds houses with high school apprentices, and uses the profits to provide them with expanded college and career opportunities.

3rd Place – $2,000

Gator & Crane | Emily Gaddis + Darrell Greiwe

Gator and Crane incentivizes healthy and sustainable living by exchanging food waste for nutritious groceries.

Accelerator Fellow Brothers Empowered to Teach Returns to PitchNOLA: Community Solutions to Win

10 semi-finalists pitched their ideas to a full house at PitchNOLA: Community Solutions. 3 winners took home a combined $10,640, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Lang Family Foundation, and generous audience donations.