Hello Alice and PepsiCo are proud to introduce the Stacy’s Rise Project Class of 2020! Selected from more than 1,600 applicants, the 15 winners hail from across the United States and all incorporate social impact and philanthropy within their business plans.
Created to help bridge the funding gap for female founders, the Stacy’s Rise Project has been connecting and empowering women business owners for years. In addition to a $10,000 grant, winners receive four months of professional advertising services and executive mentorship to help them follow in the footsteps of Stacy Madison, the name behind Stacy’s Pita Chips.
“Opportunities abound for female founders, as 79% of consumers believe it is important to see more female-founded businesses in their communities. Our goal with the Stacy’s Rise Project is to share our own resources so that women can both identify and seize those opportunities,” said Ciara Dilley, Frito-Lay vice president of marketing.
Each business will receive a full menu of marketing assistance, including donated media space, professional advertising services, and a dedicated feature on the Stacy’s Amazon e-commerce hub. This need is supported by a recent Stacy’s Rise Project survey, which found that 80% of female entrepreneurs wish they had resources to increase their marketing efforts and 45% say advertising/marketing would be their first priority if they received $10,000 in funding.
Survey results also indicated mentorship is vital to female founders feeling well-equipped with the necessary resources to grow their business. That’s why the Class of 2020 will also receive extensive one-on-one executive mentorship, both from PepsiCo leaders and Christen Press and Tobin Heath, world champion soccer players and co-founders of the purpose-led lifestyle brand re—inc.
“We know firsthand the challenges that come not just from being a female entrepreneur but being a female entrepreneur who is driven by a larger purpose,” said Press. “In business and in sport, we believe in the power of teamwork — which is why we are honored to bring what we know from starting our own venture to the women of the Stacy’s Rise Project.”
If this sounds like something you’d like to be part of yourself, good news! Stacy’s has partnered with Hello Alice to offer an additional $150,000 in grants to Black female founders from our pool of COVID-19 Business for All Emergency Grant applications. Fifteen additional $10,000 grant recipients will be announced in September as part of Stacy’s and Hello Alice’s ongoing commitment to New Majority founders.
In the meantime, get to know the 15 members of the Stacy’s Rise Project Class of 2020 below!
Callee Ackland
Bestowed Essentials | Rapid City, S.D.
Bestowed Essentials is a social impact company determined to make a sustainable lifestyle more affordable and accessible to all. They are a handmade manufacturer of ecofriendly personal care and home products. Their certified vegan and cruelty-free products are made by hand in small batches with love by their all-female team.
Tiffany Griffin
Bright Black | Durham, N.C.
Bright Black uses scent as an artistic medium and candles as a platform to share positive narratives about Blackness. Their vision is a world where the complexity, beauty and brilliance of Blackness is widely known, recognized, embraced and celebrated.
Jasmine Coer
Color My Story | Atlanta, GA
Color My Story is an integrated platform dedicated to mental health online, in the workforce and in local communities. They teach art workshops as a healthy coping mechanism to fight life’s daily stressors. They offer live and virtual classes, COLOR art kits for children, K-12 art curriculum for school districts, and a lifestyle apparel brand promoting COLOR.
Keira Kotler
Everviolet | San Anselmo, CA
Everviolet creates beautiful, comfortable and adaptive lingerie and loungewear for women whose bodies have changed due to cancer and many other physical challenges. The collection of bras, panties, camisoles and kimonos was born out of the founder’s personal experience with breast cancer and her struggle to find well-fitting, attractive garments following a double mastectomy.
Joy Kathryn McBrien
Fair Anita | Saint Paul, MN
Fair Anita is a social enterprise on a mission to create equitable economic opportunity for women, especially survivors of sexual/domestic violence. They partner with more than 8,000 women in nine countries, producing fair trade jewelry and accessories made from recycled materials.
Arion Long
Femly | Baltimore, MD
The average feminine product takes over 120 years to break down. Femly’s biodegradable and eco-friendly feminine care products have a breakdown average of just six months. They’re also increasing access to healthier products for women around the country. They offer disposable feminine hygiene pads, panty liners and menstrual cups.
Jessica Gartenstein
Frönen Foods | Chicago, IL
Frönen, German for “indulge,” is a non-dairy ice cream made with only six ingredients or fewer. Coconut cream, fruit and a touch of organic honey create a rich, creamy base for a guilt-free indulgence. The founder has celiac disease and created Frönen as the only honey sweetened ice cream on the market made without allergens, gums or natural/artificial flavors.
Claudia McMullin
Hugo Coffee Roasters | Park City, UT
Hugo Coffee Roasters is a coffee roasting company whose mission is to save dogs by roasting and selling coffee made with fair-trade and organic beans. They donate 10 percent of profits quarterly to animal rescues including Best Friends, Nuzzles & Co. and Paws for Life.
Junita Flowers
Junita’s Jar | Minneapolis, MN
Founded upon recipes that have been in the founder’s family for decades, and inspired by a journey of overcoming relationship violence, Junita’s Jar is a mission-driven cookie company, creating conversation to educate and eliminate relationships violence against women. Junita’s Jar produces their signature, deliciously wholesome, satisfyingly crisp and bite-size cookies in three flavors.
Sylvia Charles
Just Date | San Francisco, CA
Just Date makes sweets from whole food plant sources that require no sacrifice in taste or nutrition. The doctor-led, women-owned team saw firsthand the power of food while treating patients from preventable chronic illness. Just Date’s mission is to educate people about the harmful effects of artificial and unhealthy sugars, and also provide them with better options.
Kemi Tignor
Little Likes Kids | Washington, D.C.
Little Like Kids™ is a boutique toy company that is “here for” a new generation of kids agedsix and under. They make puzzles, games, tabletop accessories and holiday items with decidedly diverse imagery. Most American toddlers are now minorities. Finding toys that reflect this demographic change is like finding a needle in a haystack.
Nina Tickaradze
NADI | Marietta, GA
NADI produces the first and only USDA certified organic Wild Rosehip Juices in the USA in three flavors: Wild Rosehip Original, Wild Rosehip Grape and Wild Rosehip Pomegranate. All juices are made with organic fruits, are gluten free with no added sugar, packed with natural Vitamin C and antioxidants, and have no preservatives or anything artificial.
Maria Palacio
Progeny Coffee | Palo Alto, CA
Progeny Coffee was founded by a fifth-generation coffee farmer with a set mission to take Colombian farmers out of poverty. They’ve taken on the challenge to design their own coffee chain by providing undeniable coffee transparency and unprecedented support to these growers stuck in a poverty loop. With their unique perspective on the coffee industry and heart-driven innovations, they’re looking to make a change that will rebalance the scale from coffee growers to consumers.
Chi Nguyen
Purpose Tea | Dallas, TX
Purpose Tea is a mission-driven beverage company innovating a high growth category with the newest innovation in tea – the purple tea leaf – while lifting from poverty the most exploited in the business of tea, female tea workers. They feature bottled teas brewed with this new super tea and are gaining distribution in Texas and California.
Sophia Maroon
SoFine Foods | Bethesda, MD
SoFine Foods/Dress It Up Dressings offers a dressing that is as healthy as the salad. Salad dressing has notoriously been the least healthy part of the salad, and it doesn’t have to be. Dress It Up is a line of simply crafted dressing made to elevate every meal.
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