There’s a concept of the Matthew Effect which uses math to illustrate what folks have lamented about for thousands of years – the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. Take tech for example – the rich and poor often have different problems, but because it’s more profitable to solve problems for the wealthy a disproportionate share of tech innovation focuses on solving problems for the affluent. However, it doesn’t have to be this way – and we have been blown away by the thousands of members of our community who have devoted their lives through their businesses, organizations and art to serve the underserved.

Ryan Whittaker

People need help now, like never before.
Have you recently looked at how much it costs to rent a 1 bedroom apartment in America?! Let alone, buy a house..
Currently, the US housing and rental market is at an all time high and is the number one barrier for people getting themselves off the street or out of their cars (that they live in!). Sober Water’s Mission: End Plastic. Help People. Read more>>

Kenneth Morris

As a collaborator with nonprofit organizations and national corporations, my mission is to empower, inform, and inspire underserved communities by providing access, resources, and information infused with some Hope! The Aviation, Aerospace, and STEM industries thrive when they reflect the rich diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that make up our society. Read more>>

Viraja Shivhare, Janani Janakiraman, Arushi Shah, Aanya Ramaswamy

Growing up, we each faced our own battles with nutrition, some of us with anemia, others watching our families struggle with generational diabetes and the long-term effects of malnutrition. We’ve seen how poor nutrition doesn’t just harm individual health; it undermines academic performance, limits opportunities, and weakens community engagement. These struggles were often tied to a cultural shift that stripped away essential nutrients like protein and iron, replacing them with food high in fats and calories. In many of our homes, heart-healthy ingredients like extra virgin olive oil were replaced with cheaper alternatives like palm oil, not by choice, but by necessity. It created a cycle of poor health that was nearly impossible to escape. Read more>>

Nato Thompson

I run an online art school featuring artist instructors and artists from around the world. We are attempting to utilize the affordances of the digital age to transform the way artists engage with each other, find community and participate in art experiences and education throughout their life. We particularly are invested in the work of working artists who, like most artists in the world, are juggling many aspects of their lives, but have resolved that art holds a particularly special place. Our artists tend to be mature, have experienced enough in their lives (whether it is family, jobs, financial struggles, health issues or the variety of things life throws at you) and appreciate the magic that a life of art offers. We charge monthly membership dues and keep the costs of our classes down. Read more>>

Tania Dominguez-Rangel

During my undergraduate time at Harvard as an aspiring filmmaker, I hit the same wall many folks do. What am I going to do after graduation? How am I going to break into the entertainment field and make a living from my creative work? On top of these usual fears, I also had worries on how my immigration status would affect my career path. I am a DACA recipient, and although this comes with the privilege of a work permit and SSN, it’s a shaky program that is always on the verge of being cancelled. I felt alone in my experience, until a professor of mine directed me to a whole collective of filmmakers, who like me, were also undocumented. Read more>>

Danielle Sheree Brown

Absolutely—we serve an underserved community of business owners who are brilliant at their craft but overwhelmed when it comes to the back-end of running a business, especially the financial side. Read more>>

Amber Thompson-Snell

My background is in the health insurance space. Over the years I have watched the struggles between high monthly costs, high deductibles, doctors denying claims, doctors not being “in-network”, hidden/uncovered costs… and especially when it comes to Mental Health. I had a really hard case that I couldn’t solve. I wanted to go to Austin, Texas and advocate or go to Washington DC to advocate. My husband and I went to work! We found a platform that we wanted to offer at a cost low enough for the average consumer to be able to afford without having to sacrifice quality of care. That’s how our business Foundation Mental Wellness was born. Read more>>

Ryan Williams

Sindalu Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu started with the goal to make Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu available hurdle-free to underserved communities in one of the most challenging neighborhoods to be a child in the United States. The International District (ID) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is known to locals as the War Zone. A neighborhood utterly ravaged by drugs, homelessness, and violence. Children living in this neighborhood are exposed to all of these things on a daily basis, and many of them have a list of adverse childhood experiences as long as your arm. Children at Whittier Elementary, Wilson Middle School, and Voz Collegiate Preparatory Academy (a charter school in the ID) tend to fill out the statistics that make New Mexico the worst state in the nation to be a child. Read more>>