Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation has announced the 15 brand new ventures that will be participating in the annual Social Venture Accelerator program, spread across four sectors. The chosen industry leaders represent Propeller’s four target sectors of healthy food access, public health, water management and education.
Program mentors include sector authorities such as John Elstrott in healthy food, Dr. Pat Quinlan in public health, and Louisiana State Senator and Chairwoman of the Louisiana Democratic Party Karen Carter Peterson in public policy.“We’re confident in the Fellows’ potential to work together to drive systemic change,” says Andrea Chen, Propeller Executive Director. “This year’s class is a dynamic blend of entrepreneurs, and we have an exciting vision for how they can mutually reinforce one another’s missions.”
Meet the 2014-2015 fellows (alphabetically, by sector) below:
Healthy Food Access:
The Cookbook Project – (Adam Aronovitz and Alissa Bilfield)
Empowering New Orleans youth as catalysts for healthy, sustainable communities through hands-on cooking and food literacy education
Community Plates – (Kevin Mullins, Jeff Schacher, Melissa Spiesman, and Lauren Rudzis)
A technology-fueled, volunteer driven solution to American food insecurity
Food and Farm Works – (Ashley Mann)
A licensed commercial kitchen, offering shared kitchen space, storage, refrigeration, labeling, bottling, vacuum-packing, and business development support to food entrepreneurs and farmers in the Greater New Orleans region
Public Health:
Clear Health Analytics – (Kathryn Wollan and Jennifer Sclar)
Building tools to empower consumers to make smart decisions about their health insurance and health care costs
Coordinated Care for the Whole Child – (Connie Bellone)
Building the systems and capacity for its partner schools to bill Medicaid for eligible health care services
RD Note – (Molly Hegarty)
A mobile technology company that empowers local healthcare providers and their patients to collaborate on chronic disease management and prevention
Treux North – (Danielle Burrell)
A premier provider of worksite, school-based, and community wellness services with a focus on fitness
Water:
Greenman Dan – (Dan Johnson)
An underground rainwater containment system that makes it simple and easy to solve water runoff problems while reducing landscape irrigation costs
Magnolia Land Company – (Mark Bernstein)
Financing important wetland restoration projects in Louisiana through the sale of mitigation credit
Public Lab: the Riffle Project – (Stevie Lewis)
Cultivating communities invested in their local water quality through the development and sale of a low-cost, open-source monitoring device called the Riffle
Education:
Center for Restorative Approaches – (Troi Bechet)
Providing schools with the training and support they need to prevent youth violence from interfering with learning
Live Oak Wilderness Camp – (Jack Carey)
A summer camp and leadership development program that connects and empowers diverse cohorts of student leaders
Million Dollar Scholar – (Ras Asan and Derrius Quarles)
Helping parents and schools make college affordable for students through scalable financial aid education
Brothers Empowered 2 Teach – (Krystina Jones and Larry Irvin)
Closing the achievement gap by inspiring and incentivizing black men to choose education as a career path
Early Education Centers in Unison – (Kanitra Charles, Kristy Givens, Pearlie Harris, and Rochelle Wilcox)
Cutting back-office costs and increasing pay to retain a quality teaching staff for child care centers