Back in July, two New Orleans companies sent their principals to the White House as part of the “Champions for Change” program. Global Green’s New Orleans Director Beth Galante and Will Bradshaw of Green Coast Enterprises were honored at the event for their work in the city.
Today, two more entrepreneurs made the trip to share details of their startup experience and brainstorm on how to change policy to help other entrepreneurs do the same.
Drop the Chalk founder Jennifer Medbery and Cordina Frozen Drinks founder Craig Cordes join nine other entrepreneurs from around the nation to participate in the White House “Champions of Change” program.
The weekly program invites citizens from around the country who are leading forward-thinking projects and initiatives to talk about issues such as healthcare, immigration and renewable energy. This week the program is focusing on how national policy can encourage young people to start their own companies.
Cordes founded Cordina Frozen Drinks in 2007 with two partners and makes the popular and portable Mar-GO-Rita drink pouches. Medbery founded Drop the Chalk after coming to New Orleans as part of Teach For America. Drop the Chalk offers software solutions for charter schools to increase efficiency. Medbury recently was honored as INC. 30 under 30, raised $750,000 in new funding, and won part of the Tulane Business Plan Competition.
Both companies are products of an The Idea Village, the New Orleans nonprofit startup accelerator that fosters entrepreneurship in the city.
Here’s a list of the other companies making the trip:
- Torya Blanchard, Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes (Detroit)
- Jennifer Donogh, Young Female Entrepreneurs (Carnation, Wash.)
- Kwanza Fisher, Neighborhood Mathematica (Atlanta)
- Zach Hamilton, DevilWash (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
- Susan Koger, ModCloth (Pittsburgh)
- Josh Linkner, Detroit Venture (Detroit)
- Alex Rincon, four0six (Helena, Mont.)
- Andrew Yang, Venture for America (New York)
- Erica Zidel, Sittingaround (Somerville, Mass.)