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When great ideas for social innovation compete, education, income and health thrive in North Texas.

Let’s get Social Innovation at United Way trending on social tonight! Don’t forget to use #INNOVATEUNITED and tag @unitedwaydallas.

ANNE CHOW (EMCEE)

CEO, AT&T Business;
2020-22 United Way Campaign Chair

JORGE CORRAL

Dallas Office Managing Director, Accenture

BILLIE JO JOHNSON

General Manager, Toyota Financial Services

CHRIS KLEINERT

CEO, Hunt Investment Holdings, LLC
Co-CEO, Hunt Consolidated, Inc.

AMBER VENZ BOX

Co-Founder, LTK

STEVEN WILLIAMS

CEO, PepsiCo Foods North America


THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

  • WELCOME

    from Anne Chow, CEO, AT&T Business and United Way Campaign Chair

  • PITCH #1
    Jennifer Searles, Veritas Impact Partners

    Provides free telehealth services for workforce housing residents to overcome barriers to health care access, including benefit literacy and technology challenges.

  • PITCH #2
    Joseph Vincelli, The Artist Outreach

    Partners with schools to teach academic concepts to early elementary students using creative arts-based activities, including music and dance.

  • PITCH #3
    ShaKimberly Cooper, AES Literacy Institute

    Enables North Texans who did not graduate high school to quickly earn their certificate of high school equivalency while accessing a variety o f support services.

  • PITCH #4
    Shireen Abdullah, Yumlish

    Delivers culturally relevant nutrition education to minorities with diabetes to address socioeconomic barriers to healthful eating, helping patients lose weight and lower their A1C levels. 

  • PITCH #5
    Shellie Ross, Wesley-Rankin Community Center

    Wesley-Rankin Aspiring Professionals is a pre-apprenticeship program for high school students that seeks to improve workplace readiness while addressing low living wages.

  • Q&A
    With Social Innovation Accelerator alumni
    Chad Houser, Founder of Cafe Momentum and Cheri Garcia, Founder of Cornbread Hustle
  • VOTING

    *Voting will open at the completion of the final pitch

    Click here to vote for the Audience Choice Award

Social Innovation is at the heart of the work we do 365 days a year


Social innovation: the practice of finding new and innovative solutions for long-standing community problems that are more effective, efficient, sustainable or just than current solutions.

At United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, social innovation is part of everything we do to improve access to education, income and health—the building blocks of opportunity.

Through programs like our Social Innovation Accelerator and Incubator and Southern Dallas Thrives, we amplify the work of local social entrepreneurs and implement creative, strategic solutions to longstanding community challenges.

Social innovation is one technique driving us toward our Aspire United 2030 community goals, which include:

INCREASE BY 50%

the number of local students reading on grade level by third grade

INCREASE BY 20%

the number of young adults earning a living wage, adding nearly $800M in wages per year to the North Texas economy

INCREASE TO 96%

the percentage of our neighbors with access to affordable health care insurance

Invest in Social Innovation at United Way

Your support will spark lasting change in North Texas and provide entrepreneurs like tonight’s organizations with funding, mentorship, and community connections to scale the impact of their innovative ventures.