Accelerating Early-Stage Founder Growth

Problem Identified: There is suffering among BIPOC persons, especially within the helping and healing fields. Helpers and healers—individuals devoted to supporting and restoring others—frequently endure burnout, isolation, and insufficient resources, which can impede their capacity to continue their vital work.

Business Solution: Helpers & Healers will be a sacred ecosystem that provides access to resources such as continuing education, certification, training, retreats, and mentorship, helping professionals grow and sustain their work.

Dr. Trina Armstrong serves as a public educator, AME minister, and psychotherapist at the Center for Wellness Encounters, a Chicago-based organization offering psychotherapy across ten states. She is developing Helpers & Healers, an online platform aimed at supporting, equipping, and connecting professionals within the helping and healing fields, ensuring that those in need can easily find the resources and support to grow, heal, and thrive.

Dr. Armstrong's passion for Helpers & Healers stems from her belief in the intrinsic value of every individual and her dedication to addressing overt and subtle suffering among BIPOC persons. She has witnessed many challenges locating trusted, accessible, and value-aligned care, often leaving them feeling overlooked and unsupported. Concurrently, helpers and healers—individuals devoted to supporting and restoring others—frequently endure burnout, isolation, and insufficient resources, which can impede their capacity to continue their vital work. Motivated by her faith and the strength of collaborative healing, she envisions Helpers & Healers as a sacred ecosystem for those who assist others in receiving the care, renewal, and empowerment necessary for their calling. Helpers & Healers will provide access to resources such as continuing education, certification, training, retreats, and mentorship, helping professionals grow and sustain their work. It also serves as a guide for aspiring healers and connects those seeking care with trusted professionals.

Unlike conventional job boards, Helpers & Healers will help organizations find professionals whose missions resonate with their values, fostering meaningful and sustainable relationships between healers and the communities they serve.

By unifying a fragmented and often difficult-to-navigate care system, Helpers & Healers enhances access to healing, mitigates burnout, and ensures that both emerging and seasoned healers obtain the support, visibility, and renewal needed to uplift, heal, and transform lives.

Problem Identified: The barriers returning citizens face, including lack of access to re-entry programs, inconsistent mentorship, and unreliable information.

Business Solution: A platform that extends mercy, support, and transformation, ensuring individuals have a clear path to a better future. Beyond reintegration, Welcm instills confidence and leadership, empowering New Neighbors to uplift themselves as they uplift others to create lasting change.

Alexzandria Cormier-Hill is a passionate storyteller and strategic community builder based in Houston, Texas. With over a decade of experience in digital marketing, she has helped individuals and companies craft memorable brands through innovative, thoughtful, and relatable storytelling. Her work focuses on initiatives that unite communities and drive positive social change—Welcm is no exception. 

Welcm is a digital re-entry support platform delivering daily encouragement and mentorship to previously incarcerated individuals—known as New Neighbors—through two-minute "welcming” motivational videos sent via text. These messages, featuring mentors, re-entry leaders, and successful returning citizens, provide hope, accountability, and a sense of belonging to those rebuilding their lives. 

Alexzandria founded Welcm after recognizing the barriers returning citizens face, including a lack of access to re-entry programs, which creates a gap in consistent mentorship and reliable information. Many services are in-person, making them difficult to access without reliable transportation or flexible schedules. Her passion for this work stems from her faith in redemption, second chances, and community empowerment. She sees Welcm as a platform to extend mercy, support, and transformation, ensuring individuals have a clear path to a better future. 

Beyond reintegration, Welcm instills confidence and leadership, empowering New Neighbors to uplift themselves as they uplift others to create lasting change.

Problem Identified: The need for a sustainable, community-centered grocery model that fosters economic equity, transformation, and belonging for historically disadvantaged individuals.

Business Solution: A mission-driven grocery initiative focused on affordable fresh food, meaningful employment, and community support for disadvantaged individuals.

Darryl Dayson is a Charlotte, NC-based United Methodist pastor, community leader, and social entrepreneur committed to addressing economic and food insecurity through Rooted, a mission-driven grocery initiative. Rooted aims to provide affordable fresh food, meaningful employment, and community support, particularly for returning citizens and historically disadvantaged individuals. Recognizing the barriers that many face—including lack of access to fresh groceries, limited job opportunities, and the effects of systemic inequities— Rooted seeks to create a sustainable, community-centered grocery model that bridges economic divides while fostering transformation and belonging.

Darryl's passion for this work is deeply tied to his faith and pastoral calling. As the focus of the local church shifts in these times, he sees this as an opportunity for theology and praxis to converge, where faith-driven initiatives can directly participate in the liberation and transformation of individuals and communities. Inspired by the incarnational model of Christ and the principles of justice and equity found in scripture, Darryl believes Rooted can serve as a place of healing, opportunity, and lasting impact for generations to come. Through entrepreneurship, he seeks to create a tangible expression of mutual flourishing —where all people have access to the resources and relationships they need to thrive.

Problem Identified: The need for a sustainable, community-centered grocery model that fosters economic equity, transformation, and belonging for historically disadvantaged individuals.

Business Solution: A mission-driven grocery initiative focused on affordable fresh food, meaningful employment, and community support for disadvantaged individuals.

Jessica Dayson is a United Methodist pastor in Charlotte, North Carolina. Through years of ministry, she has recognized the need for creative approaches to ministry and developed a passion for social entrepreneurship as a way to meet real community needs. Alongside her partner, Darryl Dayson, Jessica is working to launch Rooted, a mission-driven grocery initiative focused on affordable fresh food, meaningful employment, and community support. Rooted prioritizes returning citizens and historically disadvantaged individuals, aiming to build a sustainable, community-centered grocery model that fosters economic equity, transformation, and belonging. Rooted is a place where all can buy good, eat good, and do good.

Jessica’s deep belief in God’s abundance compels her to address stark disparities in wealth and access. She is committed to challenging and reimagining broken systems so that communities can reshape structures for justice and flourishing. Rooted embodies her conviction that everyone deserves access to the bounty of creation and the goodness that God desires for the world.

Problem Identified: Black voices, faith communities, and social changemakers being seen, heard, and remembered.

Business Solution: Reshaping the landscape of Black storytelling by crafting compelling visual narratives that honor the depth, resilience, and sacredness of Black life.
Ty’Reanna Harris is a visionary photographer, Womanist preacher, and digital media consultant dedicated to reshaping the landscape of Black storytelling. As the founder of Ty’Nichole Photography, she crafts compelling visual narratives that honor the depth, resilience, and sacredness of Black life. With an unwavering commitment to faith, justice, and artistry, she ensures that Black voices, faith communities, and social changemakers are seen, heard, and remembered. Armed with a B.S. in Psychology from Bethune-Cookman University, an M.Div. from Candler School of Theology, and finishing a D.Min. in Womanist Preaching in progress at Memphis Theological Seminary, Ty’Reanna merges theology and digital media to capture moments that speak to the soul. As the Director of Digital Discipleship at Shaw Temple AME Zion Church and a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Ty’Reana is committed to using her lens and her voice to amplify truth, inspire action, and ensure that Black narratives are preserved with depth, dignity, and authenticity.

Problem Identified: A critical gap in modern Christian engagement and the disconnect between traditional faith education methods and how young people engage with content.

Business Solution: An innovative platform that transforms Bible stories into interactive experiences across web, mobile, AR, and VR platforms. The platform reimagines biblical narratives as immersive games and activities, making scripture relevant and engaging for today's youth.

Based in Texas, Petula Miller is a VR developer, former youth leader and educator who identified a critical gap in modern Christian engagement. Through her extensive work with youth, she recognized the disconnect between traditional faith education methods and how young people engage with content today. Having witnessed firsthand the transformative power of making scripture accessible to young people, she's passionate about using technology to bridge this generational gap in faith engagement. This insight led her to found MindCrafters, an innovative platform that transforms Bible stories into interactive experiences across web, mobile, AR, and VR platforms. The platform reimagines biblical narratives as immersive games and activities, making scripture relevant and engaging for today's youth.