For 100 years, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas has united the community to make a positive impact. In fact, it’s one of the reasons we’re able to change more than 1.7 million lives every year: We are experts at bringing together corporations, foundations, individuals, nonprofits, school districts and more to achieve measurable outcomes and create truly transformational change. 

A key element of our success involves forming partnerships with local grassroots organizations that are leveraging bold new ideas to make a positive impact in the communities they serve. Through our Social Innovation Lab, we identify, uplift and partner with entrepreneurs from across North Texas that are driving meaningful change in our focus areas of education, income and health. 

Embracing innovation and collaboration allows us to stay nimble as we lead a movement to improve education, income and health in North Texas. It’s one of our strategies for driving progress toward our Aspire United 2030 goals, which include:  

• Increasing by 50% the number of local students reading on grade level by third grade 

• Increasing by 20% the number of North Texas young adults who earn a living wage  

• Increasing to 96% the number of individuals with access to affordable health insurance 

We Maximize Our Impact Through Social Innovation 

As we mark our Centennial Anniversary and kick off our second century of impact, our social innovation initiatives leverage the power of community to drive progress toward our Aspire United 2030 goals. We collaborate with local nonprofit and for-profit social ventures that creatively tackle challenges affecting North Texans in education, income and health. 

Our flagship social innovation initiative, the United Way Social Innovation Accelerator fosters innovative solutions to social issues by offering entrepreneurs funding, mentorship and community connections to help scale their ventures and expand their impact. 

Since its creation in 2013, the Social Innovation Accelerator has enabled us to expand our impact significantly across North Texas: 

• 74 local social entrepreneurs have completed the Accelerator 

• 345,564 clients have been served by Accelerator alumni 

• More than $7 million has been invested in funding, training and professional mentoring  

• More than $61 million in additional funding has been raised by Accelerator alumni 

• 1,962 partnerships have been formed with the support of United Way’s community connections and credibility  

Meet This Year’s Accelerator Fellows 

As we continue to build on this success, we’re proud to announce the fellows selected to participate in the 2025-2026 Social Innovation Accelerator: 

Jeff Cott, Founder and CEO of Trailblazer

Trailblazer is a mission-focused EdTech platform that taps the power of AI and grassroots community to transform college advising for millions of students nationwide. Within minutes, their free AI module personalizes a college list for students/counselors based on academic profile, interests and preferences from about 3,000 colleges nationwide. Once matched, students can connect with paid first-gen college student advisors at matched schools from Trailblazer’s nationwide grassroots network.  

Shartajeye “Taji” Wright Fitzhugh, Founder & CEO of Kidmistry

Kidmistry® reimagines how to support early-career educators through SMART SPARK®, a membership-based virtual coaching and support community designed to prevent new teacher burnout and improve classroom success. Most teacher training is one-and-done, leaving new educators overwhelmed, isolated and underprepared—especially in high-need schools. SMART SPARK® changes that by offering real-time, year-round coaching, downloadable classroom resources and live educator-led trainings that meet teachers where they are. Through monthly memberships and district partnerships, they help teachers build student-centered classrooms with confidence and care. Backed by teacher feedback and real classroom experience, SMART SPARK® is Kidmistry’s innovative response to the national teacher retention crisis—one rooted in purpose, strategy and joy.  

Elizabeth Furrh, Founder and Executive Director of Cooking for the Crowd

Small- to medium-sized nonprofit organizations, particularly those serving underserved communities, often spend about 40% of their annual budgets on food service. This not only strains their finances but also drains volunteer time and energy, resulting in non-nutritious meals for those they serve. CFTC changes this dynamic by providing affordable, nutritious meals, allowing nonprofits to reallocate funds and volunteer resources, enabling them to focus more effectively on their core mission and amplifying their impact.  

Dr. Antoria Gillon, Founder and CEO of From Ordinary to Extraordinary

From Ordinary to Extraordinary teaches skilled trades to domestic violence survivors to help them become self-sufficient while establishing a solid foundation for themselves and children. The skilled trades are cosmetology, barbering, phlebotomy, medical assistant, certified nursing assistant, medical billing and coding, dental assistant, pharmacy technician, X-Ray tech, MRI tech and customer service representative. Their mission is to train and allow access into a stable career.   

Christopher Hill, Board Member of Restorative Farms

Restorative Farms is scaling an innovative, community-rooted model to address food insecurity and unemployment through urban agriculture in Southern Dallas. They are developing a replicable farm management system that integrates vocational training, local food production and community revitalization. This “agri-system” innovation builds on their proven hub-and-spoke model, anchored by our Hatcher Station Training Farm and supported by satellite sites like the MLK Greenhouse and GroZilla. The Restorative Farms system not only delivers healthy, affordable produce to food desert communities but also creates paid career pathways—particularly for those facing barriers like incarceration or chronic underemployment.   

Kiyundra Jones, President of the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce

The Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce, through its nonprofit arm Oak Cliff Empowered, is dedicated to advancing economic development, entrepreneurship, and community transformation in Southern Dallas. Their initiative, the Taste of Oak Cliff Mobile Business Incubator, is a dynamic program designed to empower local food entrepreneurs by providing access to mobile vending opportunities, business training, and wraparound support. By lowering the barrier to entry for small business owners—especially those from underserved communities—they help create pathways to sustainability and growth. Selected by United Way’s Social Innovation Program, this venture reflects the chamber’s commitment to inclusive innovation and economic equity. Through this partnership, they aim to scale impact, build stronger neighborhoods, and support a thriving local economy.  

delmetria millener, Founding Director of #TeenWritersProject

#TeenWritersProject is a Dallas-based nonprofit that develops the creative, cultural and career path of teen writers through the 4P Power Model: platform, publishing, paycheck and pipeline. They provide writing workshops, publishing opportunities, paid internships and an annual conference that help teens write, get published and get paid. Through in-school and out-of-school programs, they help teens channel their stories into powerful tools for advocacy, self-expression and income. Their teen-led editorial board produces The #TWP Quarterly, a literary zine and a social journal, both written, designed, and published by teens. Meanwhile their High School-to-Hire initiative trains teens to enter the writing and publishing industries.  

Dejanae Parkman, Founder and CEO of Dotted

Dotted is a wellness first period care brand designing the first ever ecosystem for clean menstrual care. Their digital platform offers period tracking, educational resources and access to trusted medical professionals, all in one app. The app is supported by their line of nontoxic period products, designed to work hand-in-hand with the guidance users receive through the platform. Too many people are navigating painful symptoms, late diagnoses and unsafe products without answers or support. Dotted shifts period care from a reactive solution to a proactive tool for long-term health. Their pilot initiative will begin in North Texas, focusing on communities where education around clean period care is limited or where access to safe, nontoxic products remains out of reach.  

Caleb Roberts, Executive Director of Downwinders at Risk

Downwinders at Risk is a well-established clean air and environmental justice organization with a 30-year history in the Dallas area. The organization is working with grassroots frontline environmental justice groups and community partners to create a pathway for interested volunteers and concerned citizens to learn about and understand the factors that create unhealthy communities of color and low-income communities due to poor air quality. Downwinders at Risk seeks to rally the community to take collective action to change those factors.   

Dr. Kayla Smith, Founder and Executive Director of Helen’s Project 

Helen’s Project is a multi-state nonprofit organization committed to providing affordable, accessible and culturally responsive mental health services to underserved and marginalized communities. Based out of Dallas but operating in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia, Colorado and Washington, they offer therapy, medication management and clinical supervision through both virtual and in-person platforms. Their programs address barriers to care by partnering with community organizations, schools and healthcare providers, and by offering innovative initiatives like the “Heal It Forward” program, which provides free or discounted therapy funded through donations. They specialize in trauma-informed, culturally competent care that meets clients where they are, with a focus on long-term wellness and recovery.  

What’s Next for the Fellows 

The Social Innovation Accelerator fellows completed an intensive six-week bootcamp in September, with expert instruction designed to help them refine their business plans and set important organizational milestone goals. In October they began the Milestone Accelerator component of the program, where they are receiving mentoring from a team of Social Innovation Accelerator mentors. 

Early next year, five of the 10 fellows will be selected to participate in The Pitch, our annual social innovation competition, where they will compete for tens of thousands of dollars in additional seed funding. 

You’ll be seeing a lot more of these incredible organizations as they go through the Accelerator and compete for a spot at The Pitch. Stay tuned!