Social Innovation Drives Lasting Change
At United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, we are excited to celebrate 10 years of groundbreaking social innovation programming!
Ten years ago, we had an idea. Not just any idea—a brilliant spark that ignited our mission. We realized that our movement to improve access to education, income, and health could be supercharged by identifying and supporting bold entrepreneurs in social innovation, then partnering with them to scale their programs and amplify their impact throughout our community.
With the generous support of our committed corporate partner, AT&T, we launched our first official social innovation program. Seeded with AT&T’s initial funding of $100,000, Ground Floor evolved into our Social Innovation Accelerator, which is now widely recognized as a pioneer within the United Way network and serves as a model that other communities emulate for their own accelerator programs.
In the decade since its 2013 launch, we’ve transformed that first $100,000 investment into a dynamic social innovation powerhouse through which we discover, fund, and nurture social entrepreneurs and their promising initiatives.
During this remarkable 10-year journey, we’ve invested over $7.4 million in our innovation work, empowering 155 social entrepreneurs through our Social Innovation Incubator and Social Innovation Accelerator programs. Together, these inspirational visionaries have served over 500,000 North Texans and raised more than $76 million to enhance their impact in education, income, and health.
From a single idea and early stage seed funding, we’ve inspired significant additional philanthropic investment. But even more extraordinary is the social transformation that has touched every corner of our flourishing North Texas region.
True to our strategy, we built this innovation engine and created these community benefits with a UNITED approach. We rallied investors, volunteers, and partners to provide support, guidance, and inspiration. We owe our deepest gratitude—from day one through today—to all our of partners in this effort.
Ten years ago, we transformed a spark into a robust, well-structured social innovation infrastructure—a first for North Texas. And that was just the beginning! We will continue to lead the charge until every member of the North Texas community has the access and opportunity to thrive.
As we embark on our second decade driving social innovation in education, income, and health, we anticipate even greater outcomes and impact. As you explore this report and discover more about our social innovation programs, we hope you’re inspired to join the change-makers supporting the LIVE UNITED movement. Together, we will transform North Texas into a thriving community where opportunity is accessible to all.
The expertise in cities like Dallas is going to be critical, instrumental in this next wave, which creates an unbelievable opportunity for this community to rise even further in terms of its startup sector over the next 10-20 years.”
Our Mission
Our Aspire United 2030 Goals
A Community-Wide Effort
A Path To A Better Future Starts With Social Innovation
At United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, social innovation is part of everything we do to improve access to education, income and health. In 2013, we launched the Social Innovation Accelerator—a first for North Texas—and in the years since, we have emerged as a leader in the social innovation space, supporting and amplifying the work of a diverse set of social entrepreneurs who are creating measurable impact in North Texas.
Our Vision for Social Innovation
A Social Innovation Hub is a robust ecosystem where intellectual capital and workforce capabilities drive impactful solutions, supported by dedicated investment and strengthened through cross-sector collaboration across businesses, philanthropy, civic, higher education and nonprofits.
As we navigate emerging challenges such as evolving funding landscapes and shifting geopolitical and economic conditions, we will leverage insights from key players, comparative analysis and data-driven recommendations to position Dallas as a leader in social innovation—where businesses, nonprofits and civic organizations work together to drive transformative change in education, income and health.
Early-ventures
Less intensive
United Way supports
INCUBATOR
- Builds a pipeline of emerging entrepreneurs
- Online Bootcamp
- Mentor Support
- Debut Night
Proven, scalable ventures
More intensive
United Way supports
ACCELERATOR
- Scales existing ventures
- Bootcamp
- Mentor Accelerator
- The Pitch
Ongoing support and collaboration
ALUMNI
PROGRAM
- Continues scaling organizations and creating collective impact
- Milestone Challenges
- Collaboration Opportunities
- Professional Development
Social Innovation Incubator
Launched in 2021, this organizational and leadership development program is specifically for local entrepreneurs who have experienced challenges. Through our 14-week program, we build up innovative startups while reducing gaps in resources and opportunity. The program culminates on Debut Night, when each entrepreneur has an opportunity to showcase their work to some of North Texas’ most passionate community leaders.
Created specifically for early-stage entrepreneurs, the Incubator provides participants with mentorship and guidance that empowers them to create a validated business plan and begin building their ventures. The initiative also establishes a strong pipeline of ventures that are ready for the Accelerator program.
Tapping Into the Entrepreneurial Community
Investing in First-Time Entrepreneurs
Our list of dedicated Incubator investors includes the United Way Women of Tocqueville Fund for Women and Children, which delivers targeted financial and skill-based investments in education, income and health for local women and children. In 2022 and 2023, the fund’s Advisory Council voted to invest in the Incubator, providing entrepreneurs with the funding and resources necessary to build their ventures and grow their impact
Social Innovation Accelerator
The Accelerator is a rigorous, nine-month-long program designed to test the assumptions of our fellows, shape their goals and empower them to complete key milestones.
This program provides social entrepreneurs with critical resources to scale their ventures and grow their impact. Fellows receive funding, partner with professional mentors and benefit from powerful community connections.
Accelerator Bootcamp
This intensive, six-week component of the program empowers fellows to develop new skills and strategic vision, set important milestone goals and refine their business plans with guidance from a team of mentors
Innovation Continues After the Accelerator
One ongoing benefit of the Social Innovation Accelerator is the opportunity for alumni to partner in innovative ways. An example comes from Trusted World and Connected Mind, both part of the 2021 Accelerator cohort. After connecting in the program, the two organizations partnered to launch Trusted Cares, a web-based mental health screening tool.
Leveraging Connected Mind’s proprietary, clinically proven process, the app enables law enforcement officers to assess a person’s mental health quickly and easily. Then, one of Trusted World’s mental health partners follows up with that person within 24 hours. Several local law enforcement agencies are using the app, and Trusted World and Connected Mind are developing a version to be used in schools.
Past Judges
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Harrison Barnes
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David Brown
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Anne Chow
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Kenny Cooper Jr.
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Jorge Corral
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Tellis Bethel
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LaTisha Brandon
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Dennis Cail
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Jack Furst
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Steve Hall
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Ken Hersh
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Lyda Hill
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BillieJo Johnson
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Danyel Surrency Jones
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Chris Kleinert
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Manoj Kumbhat
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Vipin Nambiar
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Drew Pearson
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Sandra Phillips
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Nicole Small
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Mary Templeton
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Henry Timms
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Marty Turco
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Amber Venz Box
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Todd Wagner
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Steven Williams
Social Innovators of the Year
“I needed access to the tools, mentorship and influence that would help me to take our program to the next level. United Way has the affluence needed to address the problems in our community. Empowering the Masses has an influence in our communities, because we are boots on the ground serving. Together we can have effluence and create lasting, impactful change.”
Our Alumni
Catch up with SuperVive and see where they are today after their time in the Accelerator.
Social Innovation Alumni Program
This new initiative, sponsored by Comerica, continues the investment of human, social and financial capital in Social Innovation Lab participants so our Accelerator and Incubator alumni can continue to build capacity, scale their organizations and expand their impact in education, income and health. The Social Innovation Alumni Program provides professional development, networking, and cross-collaboration opportunities for all Accelerator and Incubator alumni, with more added each year.
The Alumni Program has three components: ·
- Networking opportunities: Events to encourage networking, collaboration and joint program ventures among Social Innovation alumni and the Social Innovation Lab Committee.
- Learning series: Professional development opportunities, including trainings, panels and lunches.
- Milestone challenges: Challenges and funding opportunities awarding additional financial capital exclusive to Social Innovation alumni. This includes financial incentives for alumni collaboration and innovation within our pillars of education, income and health.
In its first year, the Alumni Program hosted an inaugural networking session and launched the Level Up Professional Development series, bringing in experts to discuss topics chosen by our alumni, including fundraising, finances and marketing. In April 2025, in partnership with Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, we hosted our first Social Innovation Summit for alumni of our social innovation programs to celebrate our successes and look to the future.
Innovation Challenges
In response to the COVID-19 community health crisis, we launched our first innovation challenge, the Health Innovation Technology Challenge, in 2021. The idea was sparked by Anne Chow, former CEO of AT&T Business, during her time as United Way Campaign Chair. The competition, presented by AT&T, was an opportunity to identify, elevate and activate emerging healthcare innovations, and through it we invested $1 million in 10 creative, technology-forward solutions for increasing healthcare access. Notably, we involved every major North Texas hospital system in the event, and together we drove innovation through collaboration.
Health Innovation Technology Challenge Winners
Entrepreneurial Venture Award
GreenLight VitalSign6, a suite of depression screening and clinical decision support software tools for minority and economically disadvantaged children.
Insight Optics, which created a smart, mobile-enabled eye exam platform to better serve patients who live in rural, impoverished and underserved areas.
OneSeventeen Media, which created reThinkIt! for School, a digital mental health platform.
Institutional Venture Awards
Children’s Health, which developed mobile apps for asthma and diabetes, behavioral health and weight management, and youth mental health.
Parkland Health and Hospital System, whose gamified teen resiliency platform provides a new pathway to wellness for at-risk adolescents.
Finalists
The UT Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders • MyPHI • River Health • Texas Health Resources • UT Arlington’s Center for Addiction and Recovery Studies
“Sustained good health enables individuals to thrive, which in turn, enables families as well as entire communities and businesses to succeed and grow. Now more than ever, we must leverage innovative, forward-thinking technology to improve access in healthcare.”
Impact Investing
Since 2020, United Way has tapped into the power of impact investing: supporting for-profit ventures that create a meaningful social impact and then re-investing any return on our investments into new initiatives.
Most recently, we partnered with DRK Foundation to launch the North Texas United Impact Fund, which delivers targeted investments in historically underinvested communities. The fund identifies, funds and supports promising early-stage nonprofit and for-profit social enterprises working to drive positive outcomes in education, income and health. Since inception, the fund has identified our first three investments: Child Poverty Action Lab, Texas Water Trade, and Lone Star Justice Alliance. Each organization will receive $300,000 across three years of investment.
DRK and United Way Team Up to Support Social Entrepreneurs
DRK Foundation has become an important partner for our Social Innovation Lab. After going through the Accelerator, alumni such as Trey Athletes have been accepted as DRK fellows, gaining additional investment and exposure that significantly benefits their organizations. Recently this talent pipeline has grown, when EntryWay, a current DRK fellow, joined our 2024 Accelerator cohort.
“The support of DRK Foundation at a national level and the United Way of Dallas at a local level is opening doors and setting a foundation for Entryway and Entryway North Texas to achieve ambitious goals for scaling and growing our work. Fueled by financial capital, board development, strategic partnerships, networking and the wisdom of best practices, these two organizations guide, challenge and empower Entryway to step into greater and more meaningful impact for the stakeholders of our mission.”
Volunteer Mentors Drive Impact
For the entrepreneurs who go through the Accelerator and Incubator, mentoring is one of the most important and beneficial components of the program. Each fellow is paired with two to three volunteer mentors—leading members of our community who are corporate executives, entrepreneurs, social change-makers, philanthropists, public policy advocates and investors. Mentors provide one-on-one mentoring and coaching and offer connections and resources through the United Way network of partners, investors and contacts.
Women of Tocqueville Step Up as Incubator Mentors
For the entrepreneurs who go through the Accelerator and Incubator, mentoring is one of the most important and beneficial components of the program. Each fellow is paired with two to three volunteer mentors—leading members of our community who are corporate executives, entrepreneurs, social change-makers, philanthropists, public policy advocates and investors. Mentors provide one-on-one mentoring and coaching and offer connections and resources through the United Way network of partners, investors and contacts.
