Change-Makers

Problem Identified: Lack of Black teachers and teachings

Business Solution: Amplify, preserve, and make accessible the US Pre-K-12 Black teaching tradition

Akosua Lesesne is the vice president of programs and innovation at the Black Teacher Collaborative. A former high school social sciences teacher and experienced educational leader, she has expertise in an education for liberation approach to defend and inspire Black children, as well as the transformative characteristics of the Black teaching tradition. Akosua has sixteen years combined of teaching and district-level leadership experience in predominantly Black and Latinx urban school-driven districts.

Through Sisters in Education Circle, Akosua is working to amplify, preserve, and create repositories of the Pre-K-12 Black teaching tradition in the US, so that current and future generations of Black teachers will be able to access, innovate, and sustain this empowering and transformative pedagogical legacy. Currently, Black teachers make up less than seven percent of the US teaching population, while Black students comprise up to 90 percent of the student populations in some schools and districts in the nation. Akosua is passionate about addressing this problem because Black students, Black teachers, and their communities deserve to experience life in which the power among them to bring about a new world is fully actualized.

Problem Identified: Lack of a stable infrastructure in Liberia

Business Solution: An agricultural plan focused on cashew farming and solar energy to help employ Liberians and empower them to operate their own small scale farming initiative

Merab was born in Liberia, a small country on the west coast of Africa. Due to the volatile situations created by the Liberian civil war, he and his family fled to Detroit, Michigan, where he was raised and currently resides. Over the last three years Alex and his brothers have focused on creating a business that they hope will help the people of Liberia and spark an economic change. Through trial and error they have created an agricultural plan focused on cashew farming and solar energy. It is their vision to create a successful cashew farming business that will not just employ Liberians but also teach and empower them to run their own small-scale farming initiative. Through classes on cashew farming and the use of solar energy, they strive to inspire Liberians to see the possibilities agriculture has for creating a bright future in their beautiful country. Since the war, Liberia’s lack of infrastructure has been exploited by those in power. Alexander and his brothers hope to change that.

Problem Identified: Challenge to shop ethically and freedom businesses’ lack of access to tools to compete with traditional brands
Business Solution: Consults with freedom businesses to help them become competitive, sustainable, and impactful
Eager to expand her worldview and serve cross-culturally, Anne Louise Portwood moved to South Asia after graduating from the University of Georgia. While working with college students, she found herself curious about the lack of gainful employment opportunities for uneducated women and grieved by resulting exploitation. At the same time, she met inspiring freedom business founders who empower at-risk women to bring beautiful artisan products to market. However, she found that many of these organizations lack access to tools that would enable them to compete with traditional brands. Back home in Atlanta, she realized how difficult it is to shop ethically in a world where fast fashion, human trafficking, and exploitation prevail. Four years later, with startup and retail experience under her belt, Anne Louise has embraced a calling to bring awareness, growth, and a competitive edge to freedom businesses already transforming lives. Her venture Company Kept helps freedom businesses drive sales, diversify product lines, and discover new retail channels, so they may become increasingly sustainable, competitive, and impactful. In addition, Company Kept connects brands that are looking for private label manufacturing partners, artisan craftsmanship, and impactful social enterprise investment opportunities.

Problem Identified: Black and Brown men and women impacted by the system of mass incarceration

Business Solution: A holistic wrap-around support program to support Black and Brown bodies impacted by the cradle to prison pipeline to thrive and flourish

Anthony Sandusky is a preacher, visionary leader, and social justice advocate. He works as an adjunct professor, social entrepreneur, Courage & Renewal facilitator, and organizational consultant. Anthony founded the Village Life Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire hope, renew courage, and cultivate wholeness among populations facing moments of crises across America’s villages. The Village Life Reentry Program works with communities devastated by violence, mass incarceration, and poverty.

Problem Identified: Lack of healthy livelihoods in neighborhoods

Business Solution: Backyard farming to build healthy livelihoods and nourish the neighborhood

Armel Martin is a sustainability and renewable energy consultant and helped to develop New City Backyard Farms, which operates out of New City Church (Minneapolis, MN). Backyard Farms uses the power of backyard farming to build healthy livelihoods and nourish the neighborhood. In addition, this effort raises and connects a cooperative network of farmer neighbors in the Phillips, Powderhorn, and Central community.

Problem Identified: Lack of affordable, quality baby products for low-income parents

Business Solution: Create environmentally safe, quality and affordable baby products to close the access gap for low income parents

Baiyina Abdas-Salaam resides in Phoenix, Arizona and works to provide psychological education and concrete resources to families through the Family Preservation model of the Department of Child Safety. Founder of Bourgeois Baby and mother, Baiyina is passionate about creating affordable baby products that are beautiful, environmentally safe, and quality-made. Baiyina is also exploring the use of technology to make baby products smarter.

Problem Identified: Inaccessible elite level training for female athletes, which only focuses on physical outcomes

Business Solution: Elite level training and holistic development opportunities for female athletes

Beulah Osueke has an extensive background in strategic organizational development, community organizing, and international network-building. Beulah is creating a social enterprise to offer elite level training and holistic development to female athletes from all walks of life. Witnessing firsthand the power of individual and collective transformation through sports, Beulah wants to offer integrative sports-based development on a national scale. Inspired by her journey as one of the few Black female championship and award-winning coaches in Pennsylvania, Beulah is passionate about cultivating a community of leaders that drives female athletes to be their best selves, on and off the field. Elite level training for female athletes is often inaccessible, and when available, primarily focused on physical outcomes. Beulah aims to optimize the impact of sports by training the heart, mind, and soul of the athlete.

Problem Identified: Lack of spaces for creativity and spirituality to work together to promote the flourishing of all people

Business Solution: A collaborative community for those who just ways of knowing and being through creative and spiritual practices

Callid Keefe-Perry is a traveling minister within the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and lives in community in Arlington, MA. He is an organizational consultant, retreat leader, and teacher of discernment deeply influenced by both Quakerism and Ignatian spirituality. He currently serves as director of field education for the Masters of Theology and Ministry at Boston College’s School for Theology and Ministry. Previously, he served as the executive director of ARC. ARC is a collaborative community for those who cultivate embodied and just ways of knowing and being through creative and spiritual practices. This organization envisions a just world where creativity and spirituality work together to promote the flourishing of all creation.

Problem Identified: 80% of persons with disabilities are unemployed

Business Solution: A food truck employing persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Carrilea Potter Hall is ordained clergy in the United Methodist Church (UMC) serving part-time as associate pastor of Broad Street UMC as well as part-time at Scotts Chapel UMC in Statesville, North Carolina. Several years ago she helped to create an annual weekend retreat for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and it has since become her favorite weekend of the year. Inspired by this work and the needs of the community, Carrilea is passionate about cultivating a community that celebrates and empowers persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities to be their best selves. Given that 80 percent of persons with disabilities are unemployed, Carrilea has set out to start a food truck that will employ persons with disabilities while also feeding the community. This business will provide the opportunity to nourish the soul of the community and build a longer table where all are welcome and celebrated.

Problem Identified: The barriers marginalized people, particularly those that black women face in outdoor spaces reflects the barriers they face in health and wellness

Business Solution: An app providing opportunities for women of color to monetize their passions and to explore diverse healing, adventurous outdoor activities
A self-described Outdoor Advocate + Accessible Techie, Chasma grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and spent her free time climbing trees, camping, and shopping the farmer’s markets; these pasttimes planted a deep appreciation for the liberating feeling of outdoor activities and independent business.  In contrast, her lived experiences as a Black woman affirmed the reality of racism and its commitment to marginalize and exclude women, nonbinary individuals and people of color from fully enjoying such freedoms.

While balancing her career in tech as a Program Manager at Uber and an emerging leader in the social impact space, Chasma completed fellowships with DO GOOD X and Founder Gym where she learned from angel investors, venture capitalists, startup lawyers, and funded-founders in Silicon Valley and beyond.  
 
Chasma leverages her background in technology, enthusiasm for nature, and commitment to community to create products that honor the wellness of marginalized folks.  Her work has received recognitions from Code Tenderloin, she earned the Accel.AI Women in AI Scholarship, served on the Women of Uber Global Board and she has spoken at Tech Intersections, multiple internal stages at Uber and is active in impact-based initiatives. A proud first-gen college graduate, Chasma has a B.S. in Business Administration focused on Business and Marketing from Harris-Stowe State University and a M.A. in Media Communications with an interest in Media Law from Webster University. 

Outdoor exploration is her preferred form of resistance and when she is not busy running her businesses; she enjoys venturing out in nature and sharing ecological fun facts on social media.
 

Problem Identified: Lack of social justice brand agencies that positively impact BIPOC and queer communities
Business Solution: A brand agency that provides brand identity and capacity building services to social justice-oriented organizations, communities, and individuals, which contributes a portion of its profits to BIPOC and queer communities

Rev. Demi McCoy is a cultural impact designer, artist, and minister. As a DO GOOD X Fellow, Demi is excited to refine and launch a social-justice oriented brand agency that sows a portion of its profits into BIPOC and queer communities. She is passionate about this endeavor because she believes that social impact organizations, communities, and individuals can better affect change through quality brand identity and meaningful design. Within the past 12 years, Demi has worked as a professional designer, engaged in the performing arts, and served in community engagement. She has established herself as a voice for marginalized individuals and, in particular, Black LGBTQ women and gender non-conforming persons. As an artist, she has recorded and published numerous musical works under the moniker “Demi Day” and has shared stages with notable acts, including T.I., Raheem DeVaughn, and NoName. Demi has also worked at the intersections of theological education, community engagement, and design, at Wake Forest University since 2014. She currently serves as the creative program manager for the Faith Coordinating Center where she leads communications and marketing  to destigmatize HIV in faith communities.

Problem Identified: Lack of safe spaces to help women heal from domestic violence and abuse

Business Solution: A nurturing community to support female survivors of domestic abuse or sexual violence along their journey to achieving social and economic vitality
Rev. Dwight Ford is a church planter and the pastor of Grace City Church in Rock Island, IL. He partnered with his wife, Dr. Kit Evans-Ford, to establish Argrow’s House of Healing and Hope, which is a safe space where free services are offered daily for women healing from violence and abuse in the greater Quad Cities area. In addition, Argrow’s House is also a social enterprise where women healing from violence and abuse create beautiful bath products that provide a living wage for themselves in a safe space that celebrates who they are.

Problem Identified: Lack of support and resources for innovative young adults at the Texas/Mexico border

Business Solution: A week-long experience for leaders and investors to learn about the complexities of life at the border and explore ways they can invest in entrepreneurial ventures rising there
Elizabeth Le’anani Coffee grew up in San Antonio, Texas. She is Hawaiian and was raised to value, appreciate, and live out the culture of both her family and her city. San Antonio’s primarily Hispanic population, Mexican food, spirit of fiesta, and cultural emphasis on “familia” all resonate with her. She has a passion for community, the local church, and exploring creative ways to sustain work in ministry. Elizabeth is a Rio Grande Valley networker who experiments with ways to raise awareness among investors who are otherwise unaware of under-resourced people and entrepreneurs working on immigration, food insecurity, and other social injustices.

Problem Identified: Increasing need to transform wellness in the African diaspora

Business Solution: Through ritual, creates a spiritual roadmap for those in the African diaspora to identify what they need and curate the spiritual practices to obtain it

Rev. Iyalosa Estee Nena Dillard is a spiRitualist scholar, ancestral storyteller, and queer sexologist. Her work harnesses the ways that theological formation, embodiment, sexuality, ancestral spiritual care, and ritual transform wellness. A proud alumna of Spelman College and Emory University, Estee is minister of ritual at Rize Community Church, a priest in the West African Orisa Tradition, a reiki practitioner, and a member of the Nation of Ndugu and Nzingha. She is also the founder of ENDless Spiritual Consulting, LLC a business that curates sacred space through Christian and African traditional practices to connect individuals, families, and businesses to the sinew of the generations within them and the endless capacity of their spirit. As a womanist practitioner, her passion to align people with the efficacy of both their grandparents’ prayers and ways is the roadmap to the liberative justice of wholeness. Estee resides in Atlanta, Georgia with her partner Brandisha and dog Reese.

Problem Identified: Lack of tools for spiritual and emotional health

Business Solution: A crowdsourcing app for people of color that provides culturally relevant meditations and mind-body medicine techniques

Faith Bynoe is an integrative chaplain who believes wellness is the balance of our physical, mental and spiritual health. She’s the owner of Syncretic Wellness (SyncWell), a company that incorporates traditional healing techniques to support holistic wellness, address trauma, and improve community care. Faith has worked with diverse individuals, companies, and communities providing spiritual support and racial equity consulting as well as facilitating self-care workshops and healing circles throughout the US and internationally.

Offering a larger platform, Faith designed the SyncWell Meditation as a curated crowdsourcing app to provide culturally relevant meditations and mind-body medicine techniques from the Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian diasporas. Users will be able to improve their wellness and spiritual practice as they safely explore their feelings and increase their self-awareness.

Problem Identified: People are often too busy to pursue the creativity that makes them come alive

Business Solution: A space that builds community, provides practices that unlock people’s untapped creativity, and showcases artistic creations
For over 12 years, Greg Kauper has been working in the field of landscape architecture and designing outdoor environments in cities across the globe. His passion projects are Creative Weekends and the Let Us Make publication. Creative Weekends create space in a busy world that typically stifles people and their ability to pursue the creativity that makes them come alive. These weekends build community, provide practices that unlock people’s untapped creativity, showcase artistic creations, and celebrate what is being created in the community.

Problem Identified: Lack of writing, producing, and directing opportunities for women and girls of color

Business Solution: A media production company sharing stories of women and girls of color—for them and by them
Hazel Cherry is a free-spirited creative writer, theatre actress, minister, and advocate. She desires to create opportunities for women and girls of color to produce, write, and direct their own films and media productions. Her interest lies at the intersection of womanist theology, film and media, and popular culture. She is committed to manifesting a world where women, particularly Black Women are free. It is her hope to use Sisters’ Speak, a non-profit media production to tell the stories of women and girls of color—for them and by them.

Problem Identified: Lack of support services for teachers’ wellbeing
Business Solution: Coaching, workshops, courses, and products to support teachers’ emotional, physical, and spiritual health

JaTorra is a proud wife, mom, and veteran elementary school teacher turned life coach. She focuses on being an advocate for teacher well-being and ways to sustain their quality of life. Being an educator for 20 years, she understands the challenges educators face today. Her mission, after dealing with her own struggles in making herself a priority (which led to teacher burnout), has been to help teachers manage and take care of their mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. Through her business, which offers coaching, workshops, courses, and products, she aims to support teachers in being the best version of themselves inside and outside of the classroom. Her vision for helping women and bringing joy into their lives is being brought to life through her work as a Certified Transformational Life Coach, Mindfulness and Meditation Instructor and her Priority You Passion Project for educators. She is creating a movement to help teachers all over the globe take back control of their lives so they can live a more fulfilling life beyond the school walls. Join her on this journey to living the life you desire and deserve!

Problem Identified: Lack of economical, accessible, and individualized education support for students struggling in school

Business Solution: A comprehensive and affordable education support and enrichment program

Jeni Williams is a lifelong educator who currently works as an education specialist for students with mild and moderate learning disabilities in Hayward, California. In her two decades working with schools and after-school programs, Jeni noticed there was intense demand for individualized education support for students who were struggling in school. When she surveyed available out-of-school (OOS) programs in the region, she noticed that all available services were either at capacity or too expensive. To help meet these students’ needs, Jeni founded POI 4Ward, a comprehensive education support and enrichment program that is affordable and available for all families. Jeni believes POI 4Ward will be a game-changer in the fight for equity in education by targeting students who are currently left behind at school and left out of existing out-of-school programs.

Problem Identified: Lack of social equity for people of color

Business Solution: Provide career and educational opportunities that will enhance social equity
Jennifer Borrero is a proud Latinx advocate whose work in career growth and development is rooted in social equity for people of color. In creating career coaching workshops at Georgia State University and leading workshops for the Atlanta Public School district, Jennifer has personally seen the disparities in tools and resources provided to marginalized communities. For Jennifer, technology and the developing workforce is an opportunity to provide career and educational opportunities that will enhance social equity and lead to the progression and well-being of society as a whole.

Problem Identified: Issues of trauma are often not addressed in the church

Business Solution: Workshops, trainings, and education to equip faith communities with tools to become a trauma informed church

Jocelyn J. Jones, MSW, is a storyteller, motivational speaker, and minister. She believes the world could be a better place if people healed from the painful events in their past and fully embraced God’s love in their life. Through Faith on the Journey Jocelyn helps people to experience both. Faith on the Journey provides practical resources, creates safe environments, and provides people with the support system they need to begin to heal. In addition, Faith on the Journey partners with churches to train them on how to conduct healing groups that address various issues of trauma that are often not talked about in church. Jocelyn is the author of Breaking the Power of the Mask and a facilitator with the Trauma Healing Institute. She earned her master’s degree from The University of Chicago in social work, and her master’s degree in theological studies from McCormick Theological Seminary.

Problem Identified: Increasing number of struggling youth in Fresno

Business Solution: A community and weeklong training on social innovation and community development for youth
Joseph Kitchen was a native Californian living in the Washington, DC area. As a kid growing up in Fresno, California, Joseph was passionate about community organizing but lacked connections and knowledge needed to make many of his ideas thrive. Having served in a number of senior leadership roles throughout the country, Joseph wanted to connect the kids from his childhood neighborhood with the tools they need to transform their own communities. He was the founder of The Joseph Kitchen Project, which identifies young people in areas of Fresno struggling the most, provides them with a week-long training on social innovation and community development, and trains them to launch local initiatives addressing neighborhood challenges.

Problem Identified: Of over 1,100 ingredients in the products marketed to Black and Brown women, 1 in 12 of those products were ranked highly hazardous

Business Solution: Personal care products that have low hazard ratings and therapeutic benefits
Joy M. Smith is a licensed pharmacist and certified aromatherapist in Chicago, Illinois, who believes in the healing power of essential oils. She is launching an essential oil education company that creates handmade body care products free of toxic ingredients for black and brown families seeking healthier personal care products. Her passion for developing these products was ignited when she discovered an alarming statistic while researching the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database which uses a hazard rating system to analyze personal care products.

An analysis of over 1,100 ingredients in the products marketed to black and brown women revealed that about 1 in 12 of those products were ranked highly hazardous. Many of the hazardous chemicals are carcinogens and hormone disruptors masked by the word “fragrance.” A vast majority of people purchase personal care products based on scent or popularity without paying attention to the hazard ratings of the actual ingredients. Her company wants to change that by offering personal care products that have low hazard ratings and therapeutic benefits.

Problem Identified: Negative impact that toxic institutional power has on marginalized communities

Business Solution: A virtual reality simulation (VRS) that addresses racial violence and trauma
Julius Jessup Peterson is a Afro-futurist, abolitionist, psychotherapist, innovator, and ordained clergy in the United Church of Christ. Julius has over 10 years of experience as a mental health provider and is the owner of Roots, Seeds, and Branches (RSB). Located in Decatur, GA, RSB is a mental health and social justice practice that offers evidence-based and culturally sensitive psychotherapy for survivors of trauma without re-packaging outdated theories that reinforce the violence in their lives. The impact toxic institutional power has on marginalized communities motivates Julius to develop a virtual reality simulation (VRS) that addresses racial violence and trauma. This VRS has a unique focus on potential perpetrators whose perception of threat could create actions that inflict harm on people of color.

Problem Identified: Lack of skincare products from locally sourced, organic, eco-friendly and cruelty free ingredients rooted in African beauty and health formulas
Business Solution: Nigerian sourced skincare and grooming products that are handmade, locally sourced, and 100% organic

Shea Tribe is a skincare and grooming company with a social mission to empower local producers and encourage people to take better care of their mind and body. Inspired by African history and the beauty in its many cultures, Kanyinsola aims to show the world that true beauty comes from within and is all around us through her business. Shea Tribe is proudly made in Nigeria where its ingredients are handmade, locally sourced, and 100% organic. Their mission is to promote healthy living, introduce African beauty and health formulas to the world, and capture the global market. Shea Tribe’s current line includes beard oils, beard balms, herbal body and hair oils, and whipped body butters. This business believes in fair trade, women empowerment, and sustainability.

Problem Identified: Lack of safe spaces to help women heal from domestic violence and abuse

Business Solution: A nurturing community to support female survivors of domestic abuse or sexual violence along their journey to achieving social and economic vitality
Dr. Kit Evans-Ford is passionate about nonviolence, God, and serving others. She is a professor, spiritual director, and founder of Argrow’s House of Healing and Hope. Argrow’s House is a safe space where free services are offered daily for women healing from violence and abuse in the greater Quad Cities area. In addition, Argrow’s House is also a social enterprise where women healing from violence and abuse create bath products that provide a living wage for themselves in a safe space that celebrates who they are.

Problem Identified: Lack of transformative spaces that prioritize holistic health specifically for people within the Black diaspora
Business Solution: A resort that promotes rest and holistic thriving for the mind, body, and spirit through diverse and creative offerings

Kyndra Frazier is the CEO of Selah R&R, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to changing the way people engage rest and holistic wellness through innovative approaches to the boutique hotel, resort, and conference center experience. Selah is committed to providing a safe place that facilitates rest and holistic thriving for the mind, body, and spirit through diverse and creative offerings. African-Americans and people of color continue to be at higher risk for mental health vulnerabilities due to compounded adverse child experiences as a result of chronic systemic injustice. Kyndra is passionate about addressing this particular problem due to her work as a healer for more than 15 years in the areas of clinical therapy and pastoral care and counseling, as she has worked with countless individuals, couples, and families in aligning with their wholeness. In 2020, Kyndra was recognized as one of the Root 100s Most Influential African-Americans.

Problem: Lack of spaces for creativity and spirituality to work together to promote the flourishing of all people

Solution: A collaborative community for those who just ways of knowing and being through creative and spiritual practices
Lakisha Lockhart is a playful womanist educator and practical theologian who lives in Richmond, VA. She is the assistant professor of practical theology & director of STREAM Youth Theology Institute at The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University and currently serves as president of ARC. ARC is a collaborative community for those who cultivate embodied and just ways of knowing and being through creative and spiritual practices. The organization envisions a just world where creativity and spirituality work together to promote the flourishing of all creation.

Problem Identified: High level of global greenhouse gas emissions via the clothing and footwear industry

Business Solution: Created a consultancy that works with faith-oriented clothing businesses to implement sustainability and ethics into their supply chains, business practices and communication strategies.
The clothing and footwear industry is responsible for eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, nearly the same as the entire European Union. However, concerns about clothing are often seen as less important than “real” environmental matters and too superficial for theological attention.

Lizzy Case believes otherwise. For her, being clothed in righteousness is a physical act as well as a spiritual mindset. She believes, through textiles, clothing production, and disposal, our clothing deeply connects us to one another and God. In 2021, her passion for using fashion as a force for good and her faith led her to start Arrayed. Arrayed is a liberative people-first, planet-focused Christian apparel brand that aims to align the call for justice and wholistic flourishing we find in Jesus’ life with the messages on and production of Christian t-shirts.

Lizzy lives in Vista, California with her husband and many houseplants.

Problem Identified: Lack of spaces for creativity and spirituality to work together to promote the flourishing of all people

Business Solution: A collaborative community for those who just ways of knowing and being through creative and spiritual practices
Minister Lyvonne “Proverbs” Briggs, a New York City native, is a preacher, speaker, poet, educator, and social entrepreneur. She is the founder of beautiful scars, a boutique storytelling agency focused on trauma, healing, and resiliency. The online platform, beautiful scars, is for Black Christian women who are also survivors of childhood sexual abuse and/or male sexual violence. The platform is a tool for spiritual Black women to integrate their sexual violation into their healing journeys through the lens of their faith. By harnessing the power of narrative, Lyvonne is aiding survivors and communities to shift from silence to storytelling in order to eradicate gender-based violence.

Problem Identified: Increased need for emotional wellness

Business Solution: An empowerment group providing faith communities with better access to spiritual and clinically trained professionals in times of distress
Margaret Conley is the founder of MLC Consulting and Mending Life Concepts Empowerment Group. With a focus on emotional wellness, Margaret seeks to provide faith communities with better access to spiritual and clinically trained professionals in times of distress.

Problem Identified: Lack of resources for people experiencing grief 
Business Solution: Alternative tools and resources that provide care and support for people facing grief and loss

Rev. Mashaun D. Simon centers his preaching, writing, and scholarship on cultural competency, care, and equity. The metro Atlanta native and former pastor is a doctoral candidate at Columbia Theological Seminary. His research engages the theoretical and practical implications of grief in church and society. Project Joshua, formerly known as the Joshua Project, seeks to provide those journeying through grief and loss with alternative tools and resources for working through grief. The initiative is born out of Mashaun’s curiosities and personal/ministerial experiences.

After losing an aunt to COVID and a dear friend and pastor from colorectal cancer in 2020, Mashaun began dissecting societal practices of grief. He began putting his observations into practice as he counseled, pastored, and journeyed with friends, colleagues, and family members. When he lost his own father to dementia in 2021, Mashaun began rethinking his research and began questioning more practical implications, and options, for the bereaved.

Mashaun is an award-winning journalist, preacher, leader, and facilitator. He holds a professional writing degree from Georgia Perimeter College, a Bachelor of Science in Communications from Kennesaw State University, and a Master of Divinity from Emory University's Candler School of Theology.

Problem Identified: Racism, patriarchy, and ageism in the Black church

Business Solution: A virtual community that aspires to uplift African American millennial women in ministry through theological reflection, fellowship, and liturgical curation
Rev. Dr. Neichelle Guidry is the creator and lead curator of shepreaches, a virtual community and professional development organization that aspires to uplift African-American millennial women in ministry through theological reflection, fellowship, and liturgical curation. Shepreaches exists to demolish racism, patriarchy, and ageism in the (Black) church and is guided by theological reflection, liturgical curation, and fellowship/mentorship.

Problem Identified: Large number of lower socioeconomic African American families subjected to unjust housing practices

Business Solution: Environmentally conscious and affordable tiny homes that help African American families who have historically been subjected to unjust housing practices
Nikki Hoskins is a PhD student in Christian Social Ethics at Drew University. She is founder of Thres(hold), a project focused on providing environmentally conscious and affordable tiny homes that help African American build equity. She believes her purpose is to help communities be responsible for God’s vision on earth. Her work focuses on African American families who historically have been (and continue to be) subjected to unjust housing practices such as residential segregation, blockbusting, redlining, and restrictive covenants.

Problem Identified: Disconnect between middle school students, teens, and their families
Business Solution: A podcast that uplifts, affirms, and supports intergenerational relationships among families

Porsha Williams Gates is a multidimensional spiritual practitioner and digital content creator. She is the founder and CEO of Porshanality Media LLC, a podcast production house amplifying humanity's collective sound. Before launching Porshanality Media, Porsha served as a youth pastor in Newark, NJ, and a teacher in Brooklyn, NY. During that time, Porsha saw the disconnect between middle-grade children and teens with their families regarding conversation and activities. As a result, Porsha served as a mediator between youth and their parents regularly. A question sparked: how can digital content be used to help children and parents communicate more effectively for intergenerational liberation? With a new production branch of original content called 19th and Junior, Porshanality Media is on a mission to use original podcast entertainment to uplift, support, and affirm intergenerational relationships among families. The key to amplifying humanity is to inspire children and their families with interactive content that encourages liberation and representation.

Problem Identified: Increased student debt for recent theological graduates

Business Solution: A financial formation platform to provide holistic financial literacy education
Rayce Lamb serves as the director of ministry and vocational exploration at Wake Forest University School of Divinity, where he works with students who are beginning to discern and follow their purpose and call. In this role, Rayce has come to understand how important financial formation is to the success of future faith leaders in their ministerial endeavors.

According to the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), 50 percent of recent graduates report having little to no savings. This, compounded with increased levels of student debt, an average of $44,500 at graduation, has required new faith leaders to take on an extra job, seek a higher paying job, and even postpone health care just to balance their monthly budget.

This has inspired Rayce to launch a financial formation platform called Faithonomics. The platform works alongside churches, divinity schools, and seminaries to provide holistic financial literacy education within a cultivated community of aspiring faith leaders who are committed to exploring the importance of financial wellness and the issues of economic injustice plaguing our society.

Problem Identified: Nearly 1 in 3 children in the US are overweight or obese

Business Solution: An app and augmented reality playing cards to improve youth engagement around health and fitness
Dr. Ryan Powell, M.D., a native of Detroit, is known for his driven personality, love for people, and authentic passion for health and wellness reform and revitalization. He has over 14 years of experience in disease prevention, health/wellness, fitness, weight loss/management, and digital health innovation. Nearly 1 in 3 children in the U.S. are overweight or obese. This heartbreaking statistic fuels Ryan’s passion to improve youth engagement around health and fitness through his mobile app and augmented reality playing cards—GoHealth Kidz Fitness Deck.

Problem Identified: Generational divide between young people and earlier generations

Business Solution: Build intergenerational conversation between youth and seniors through wellness, professional development, and storytelling within the healthcare system and communities
Founded by Shanice Turner, Mind-Refreshers is a non-profit organization that is part of the national movement of safe space conversations and building intergenerational relationships. Right now, the generational divide is greater than ever, and young people and the generations in between don’t have space or a dedicated place for mentorship, open conversations, or connection. Mind-Refreshers seeks to fill those gaps by focusing on wellness, professional development, and inspirational storytelling with people in the healthcare system and community. Our goal is to unite the two most important populations and “be the minds that change the world.”

Problem Identified: Faith leaders with business aspirations who serve poor communities “fleecing their church flock” for survival

Business Solution: A course for leaders to discover how to turn their soul’s purpose into a sustainable business
Shelley D. Best is the founder and chief curator of Soulpreneur, a place where change-makers work, create and lead. It is a social enterprise located in Hartford, Connecticut, launched by The Conference of Churches.

Soulpreneur hosts social entrepreneurs involved in health and wellness, performing arts and social profit. Her business idea is to develop, Air, a multi-sensory training and human development company that produces high-quality experiences designed to elevate the lives of individuals and businesses. According to recent Census data, Hartford is the fourth poorest city in the country. Air will help individuals who’ve been down-sized and need to pivot or re-tool as well as those who need to elevate their lives.

Shelley is an ordained minister, pastor, visual artist and yoga instructor. Her passion is to help people and distressed communities find their purpose. Air will be the vehicle her organization uses to make that happen.

Problem Identified: Organizational cultures with impediments to human flourishing

Business Solution: Coaching and consulting that cultivates spaces where human flourishing is central and individuals are invited to attend to the healing and well-being of their souls
Shonda Nicole Gladden, founder of Good to the SOUL, is committed to living life doing good in the “spirit of universal living” (SOUL). A Washington, DC native, Shonda and her post-millennial daughter, currently reside in the Midwest. As a mother, philosophical theologian and scholar-practitioner, addressing impediments to human flourishing is her passion. Through the primary work of cultivating spaces where human flourishing is central and individuals are invited to attend to the healing and well-being of their souls, Good to the SOUL seeks to become an interdisciplinary, consulting, and emerging media enterprise, producing theologically informed and creative resources, influencing change.

Problem Identified: 50% of rescued human trafficking survivors return back into the cycle due to lack of resources

Business Solution: Sustainable luxury clothing wear, ethically made by survivors of human trafficking in Cambodia to restore their hope and dignity, which provides employment and revitalizes the traditional art form of weaving

Stephanie Mayer is developing a business concept to sell sustainable women’s luxury resort wear, ethically made by survivors of human trafficking in Cambodia. Research has shown that as much as 50 percent of rescued victims return back into the cycle of human trafficking due to a lack of resources. Long term employment provides the means for them to stay out of the cycle and restore their hope and dignity. It is Stephanie’s faith and her compassion for the vulnerable that has led her to create a business with a social mission. She believes that she is called to, “do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.” (Book of Isaiah 1:17a). Her brand is an ode to her mother who survived the massacre of the Cambodian people in the late 1970s. The business is inspired by her mother and others who have survived or are currently undergoing unspeakable horrors.

Problem Identified: Lack of financial independence of many women of the African diaspora

Business Solution: A web platform that brings together women in the African Diaspora to create communities of social entrepreneurs through the mutual exchange of capital and ideas
The Reverend Tabitha Ssonko is pastor of the Monumental AME Church located in Steelton, PA. Inspired by her experiences in Uganda and Rwanda, Tabitha is passionate about creating experiences for women of the African diaspora to educate, engage, and support one another in developing financial independence. She is the founder of Cross-Continental Connections, a curated web platform that brings together women in the African Diaspora to create communities of social entrepreneurs through the mutual exchange of capital and ideas.

Problem Identified: Lack of healthy livelihoods in neighborhoods

Business Solution: Backyard farming to build healthy livelihoods and nourish the neighborhood

Rev. Tyler Sit is the church planter of New City Church, which focuses on environmental justice. He is the co-founder of New City Backyard Farms, which operates out of the church and uses the power of backyard farming to build healthy livelihoods and nourish the neighborhood. Backyard Farms raises and connects a cooperative network of farmer neighbors in the Phillips, Powderhorn, and Central community. By growing in backyards, he believes that we can not only feed each other, but also create economic prosperity to build a healthy, diverse, and welcoming neighborhood for all.

Problem Identified: Social division and disconnection in our communities

Business Solution:  Custom story medicine programs that help people recognize their current story, provide inspiration, guidance, and wisdom that offers a new way of seeing and being

Dr. Velma Love is a story practitioner who consults on the art of cultural development and community engagement. She uses stories to inspire and guide social change. Velma has over 30 years of experience in community cultural work, participatory action research, and non-profit management. A narrative coach, she is the owner of Story Catalysts Coaching & Consulting, LLC and Story Swap Supper Club. She currently resides in York, SC, where she produces the Kaleidoscope Community Storytelling Series, a monthly gathering at a local restaurant, designed to build radical empathy and address the problem of social division and disconnect.

Problem Identified: Lack of emotional justice for African Americans

Business Solution: Trauma informed training for African American church laypeople for their leadership and personal development

Yvonne D. Hawkins is a pastoral counselor and theologian, ordained clergywoman, professional life coach, and former newspaper journalist who is passionate about facilitating acts of emotional justice for Black folks. In 2018, she turned her journalistic love for telling the stories about Black people’s lives into helping Black people embody their own stories of racial healing. That same year, she launched Healing for Black Folx to equip Black church laypeople with simple, trauma-informed training for their leadership and personal development. Through her training and coaching system, laypeople become better equipped to know their own journeys and help others embody their faith and boost resilience, especially in the face of race-based stress and racial trauma.