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United Way of Metropolitan Dallas

The Pitch

Details about The Pitch 2027 will be announced in late 2026.

The Pitch 2026 Winners

$60,000

The top overall pitch score as determined by our panel of judges

$30,000

The finalist with the highest percentage of votes from our audience members

$20,000

The organization with the greatest potential impact as determined by our judges

$20,000

Voted on by Social Innovation Accelerator Committee

$15,000

The organization with the highest presentation score

$25,000

Awarded to each Pitch finalist to accelerate their organization’s impact

Watch the videos from The Pitch 2026

At United Way, Innovation Drives Impact

The Pitch is a night of exhilarating competition, moving stories of impact and unforgettable community spirit. This unforgettable evening is the exciting culmination of our Social Innovation Accelerator program, which encourages the creation of new solutions to improve education, income and health right here at home.

Here’s how it works:

  • Five finalists from our Social Innovation Accelerator take the stage to pitch their bold ideas to improve education, income and health right here in North Texas.
  • The competition heats up and the tissues come out, as our finalists share their moving stories of impact and inspiration.
  • Then the audience and our panel of judges help decide who will walk away with hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize funding and the coveted title of Social Innovator of the Year.
  • All the while, guests enjoy delicious food, fun music, networking and more!

Social innovation drives grassroots change

As we launch into our second century of impact in North Texas, social innovation is a key part of our strategy for creating generational change.

Through the Social Innovation Accelerator, we have empowered 103 social entrepreneurs to refine and scale their ventures. Our alumni have gone on to change the lives of nearly 580,000 North Texans and raise $80 million to accelerate their impact

Over our next 100 years, social innovation will enable us to drive even greater outcomes and impact in education, income and health. Together with change-makers like you, we will make North Texas the best place to live, work and raise a family—for all.

Thank you to our sponsors

The Pitch is Just the Beginning

For our finalists, The Pitch marks the beginning of a whole new phase of their organizations, as they leverage everything they learned in the Social Innovation Accelerator—and the connections and funding gained in the process—to accelerate their impact and benefit more North Texans.

Here’s just a taste of how our previous Social Innovators of the Year are changing lives right here in our community.

2025 Winner – Housing Connector

Van Parker and her team at Housing Connector work with property owners and managers to negotiate a reduction in criteria for housing applications, with a goal of enabling more people to apply for and be approved for homes that they would otherwise be denied access to. Since winning The Pitch, the organization has been experiencing significant growth, expanding its partnerships across the community and serving more people in need of housing than ever before.

2024 Winner – Abide Women’s Health Services

Cessilye Smith, founder and CEO of Abide Women’s Health Services, is on a mission to provide culturally informed prenatal and postnatal care to women in Southern Dallas. Abide offers low-cost access to healthcare with the goal of reducing infant and maternal mortality. Since winning Social Innovator of the Year, Cessilye and her team have added services at both their Dallas location and through their Mobile Maternity Health Clinic to serve more women each year.

2023 Winner – Empowering the Masses

Empowering the Masses offers a variety of services to enable Southern Dallas residents to break the cycle of poverty, including a food pantry, job training and certification programs, and health screenings. After winning Social Innovator of the Year, founder Tammy Johnson was able to significantly scale their impact, in part by opening a Community Market that improves access to nutritious, quality food in Southern Dallas.
    “Winning The Pitch has been transformational for me and for Housing Connector North Texas. I am truly grateful for this experience because I’ve learned so much by being a part of United Way’s network. I feel more energized than ever to build a future where every individual and family in North Texas has access to stable housing and the chance to thrive.”
    — Van Parker, 2025 Social Innovator of the Year