Venture Fund Pitch Night

Discover the next great innovative programs that promise to transform the lives of people in need across Greater Boston and beyond!  United Way’s Venture Fund is presented by Aetna.

Over the past few months, more than 75 applicants have been narrowed to just 8 finalists — all selected with the help of more than 200 volunteer evaluators. Our finalists pitched their ideas to a panel of judges and vied for up to $75,000 in venture funding. 4 winners were selected and announced the night of the event.

OUR FOUR AWARD WINNERS ARE:

• FamilyAid Boston aims to reduce homelessness by identifying students and families experiencing housing instability long before they reach a crisis point rather than working with them after the fact. Alongside Boston Public Schools, they’ll also develop a data system that will fuel collaboration and action toward removing a family’s housing instability before it progresses too far.
• Lawrence CommunityWorks. They will transform local manufacturers into bilingual environments that can hire a Spanish-speaking workforce, thereby creating opportunities for struggling workers to achieve financial stability. Their goal is to close the unemployment gap by ensuring employees are ready for their jobs, ensuring employers can offer training and support, and help companies take active steps to engage in building a workforce on their own.
  
• Our Neighbors’ Table. They will lead a community-wide effort to end food insecurity in Newburyport. Their objective is to bring the entire city together to provide food security to children and families through strategic partnerships with organizations from city government, schools, healthcare programs, and others. Their focus is to raise awareness, increase screening and intervention, and ensure everyone has access to fresh, nutritious food. This initiative was also the winner of the $5,000 “Audience’s Choice Award” as voted by the evenings attendees.
• Urban College of Boston. They will launch a ground-breaking initiative to provide financial security for people without a postsecondary degree. In partnership with Tufts Medical Center, they will create entirely new career paths by offering a brand new, one-year certificate program. Those enrolled in the program will achieve the credentials to be Clinical Research Coordinators and access entry-level opportunities in clinical research positions.

For more information about the Venture Fund, please click here or contact Ellen Dickenson at edickenson@supportunitedway.org.