On Wednesday, April 9, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, with the support of our Centennial Innovation sponsor, Goldman Sachs, united 1,000 change-makers from across North Texas at The Pitch delivered by Amazon, and the energy, excitement and impact were unforgettable. 

We’re still buzzing from the lively competition, as five social innovators—finalists from United Way’s Social Innovation Accelerator—pitched their bold ideas for improving access to education, income and health in our community.  

Read on to learn more about North Texas’ biggest night in innovation and meet this year’s big winners. 

And the Winners Are… 

SOCIAL INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR: Housing Connector 

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

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD: La Tiendita 

Sponsored by Sara and Gary Ahr
The finalist with the highest percentage of votes from our audience members 

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT AWARD: Housing Connector 

Sponsored by Satori Capital
The organization with the highest sustainability score as determined by our judges 

IMPACT AWARD: Learning Bridge 

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

INNOVATION AWARD: The GEMS Camp 

Sponsored by Vistra Corp.
Voted on by Social Innovation Accelerator Committee 

PRESENTATION PRIZE: La Tiendita 

Sponsored by Accenture
The organization with the highest presentation score 

ACCELERATOR PRIZE: CardiacFITT, The GEMS Camp, Housing Connector, La Tiendita and Learning Bridge 

Sponsored by March Tocqueville Fellows
Awarded to each Pitch finalist to accelerate their organization’s impact 

To learn more about this year’s competitors and the impact they’re driving in North Texas, visit our Pitch webpage.  

What is Social Innovation? 

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

Social innovation is just one technique we leverage to move closer to 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 

Social Innovation Is Part of Everything We Do 

The Pitch is the culminating event of our Social Innovation Accelerator, a program that has enabled our alumni to change the lives of more than half a million North Texans over the last 10 years.  

Through programs like our Social Innovation Accelerator, we amplify the work of local social entrepreneurs and implement creative, strategic solutions to longstanding community challenges. And every spring, we celebrate the power of social innovation at The Pitch, where finalists from the latest Accelerator class share their innovative solutions for improving access to education, income and health in our community. 

For the last 100 years, social innovation has played an important role in our mission to improve access to education, income and health—the building blocks of opportunity. We leverage innovation to continually adapt to our community’s challenges and opportunities. 

A little over 10 years ago, we saw the potential of launching formal social innovation programming. We realized that our mission 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 AT&T, we launched Groundfloor, our first official social innovation program, in 2013. In the years since, Groundfloor evolved into the Social Innovation Accelerator and we launched the Social Innovation Incubator and Alumni Program to expand our reach, all with a goal of discovering, funding and nurturing social entrepreneurs with promising initiatives.  

Social Innovation Drives Grassroots Change  

Our remarkable 10-year social innovation journey has created a significant impact:  

• Over $7.4 million invested in our innovation work 

• 155 social entrepreneurs have completed our Social Innovation Incubator and Social Innovation Accelerator programs 

• Our alumni have served more than 500,000 North Texans and raised more than $76 million to enhance their impact in education, income and health 

As we embark on our second century driving social innovation in education, income and health, we’re working toward even greater outcomes and impact. Together with change-makers like you, we will make North Texas the best place to live, work and raise a family—for all. 

Support Social Innovation in North Texas 

You can help support the grassroots impact of local social entrepreneurs by investing in United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. A donation of any amount can expand our collective impact through programs like The Pitch and the Social Innovation Accelerator, creating positive change that our community will feel for years to come. 

Invest in social innovation. 

Read Our New Social Innovation Impact Report 

Over the last 10 years, social innovation has been a transformative force for United Way and for our community as a whole. We invite you to check out our new report, “10 Years of Impact in Social Innovation,” to: 

• Learn more about the power of social innovation and collaboration 

• Find out what makes the social innovation programs at United Way of Dallas stand out at a national level 

• Discover how our social innovation programs have helped to change the lives of 500,000+ North Texans 

• Explore inspiring alumni stories of how our programs have enabled them to launch new programs, grow their ventures, impact more people and achieve new levels of innovation 

• Hear from the investors, volunteers, partners and other change-seekers who make this work possible 

Become an Accelerator Fellow 

Are you an entrepreneur with a bold idea to improve education, income or health in North Texas? Are you seeking support to get your social venture off the ground, or transform your big ideas into reality? 

The Social Innovation Accelerator provides mentorship, expert instruction, seed funding, powerful connections and more. Our fellows are empowered to refine their business plans, build capacity and scale their ventures to drive impact in education, income and health across North Texas.  

Each year, we invite up to 10 organizations to become fellows of the Accelerator—and you could be part of our next cohort! Applications are open now through May 9. 

Click here to learn more and apply.