Startup
Pitch
Night
Winners

On Thursday, April 28th, CFW hosted its second annual Start-Up Pitch Night, an evening designed to celebrate entrepreneurship and promote innovative gospel-centered businesses and initiatives. CFW seeks to encourage and support entrepreneurs with bold visions to start new for-profit and non-profit ventures that seek to bring gospel-centered renewal to New York City and beyond.

Judges awarded $5,000 prizes to Do For One, of the non-profit category, and United Young in the for-profit category. An audience of over 180 voted for their favorite pitches in each category awarding a $2,500 People’s Choice Award to United Young and Expect Hope.
 

FOR-PROFIT WINNER

United Young - TJ Loeffler, Kathleen Tamboer, & Jonathan Tamboer

United Young is a mobile application for on-boarding and connecting church members to the people, groups and events in their congregation. It allows members to discover the richness their church community has to offer, matching them with other members who have similar interest or backgrounds, as well as relevant events and community needs. This will make joining a church and participating in the life of the church community a much easier, guided experience.

 

NON-PROFIT WINNERS

 

Do For One - Andrew Oliver

Do For One NYC is designed to develop and support relationships for people with developmental disabilities in need of companionship and advocacy outside the human service system. Many with intellectual and other developmental disabilities lead lives of isolation with few friends and supporters outside of paid staff. Those who do not have close family or friends are often in living situations and day programs that do not serve their needs and lack meaningful companionship. Do For One selectively matches a person with disabilities with another person who enjoys the more ordinary privileges in life. Do For One promotes healthier communities and richer lives by mobilizing the church to move toward integrative ministry with our neighbors with disabilities.

 

Expect Hope - Emily Prins

Expect Hope is a privately funded, non-profit organization seeking to serve women in the Bronx, New York. It is a Christ-centered residency program for unsupported, expectant women, that provides a safe residence for mothers who desire to prepare a life for their new families. Expect Hope will provide essential social services through a holistic approach that addresses the material, emotional, and spiritual needs of each woman. This program will equip expecting mothers with Biblical counseling, training, and mentoring. The women will receive loving guidance toward reconciliation with God, themselves, and others as they understand and apply the work of Jesus Christ in their lives. As she awaits the new life of her child, each woman can anticipate a future that will be different from the past.

Judges were Nikisha Alcindor (Executive Director of Business Development, School of Professional Studies at Columbia University), Dave Evans (co-founder of the Life Design Lab, Stanford Design Program), David Friedman (Co-founder and President of Wealth-X), Esther Larson (Director of Affiliate Development, Hope for New York), Kyle Westaway (Managing Partner at Westaway) and Karen Wu (Partner at Perlman & Perlman, LLP).