The Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2018 PCSE Seed Grants.
These $5,000 awards are intended to fund the launch or early stage growth of a Wesleyan-connected social enterprise, project, program, or venture. Past grantees used this seed funding to help students chase their dreams, innovate tourism in Thailand, provide college access to students in Appalachia, reduce bottled-water consumption on college campuses, bridge the digital divide in the Philippines, reimagine women’s reproductive healthcare, normalize consent, and more. All have reported on their progress here.
The 2018 PCSE Seed Grant finalists are:
A Bridging Community Dinner Project
Serene Murad ’18, Willa Schwarz ’19, Isobel McPhee ’19, and Shellae Versey (Faculty Fellow, College of the Environment; Assistant Professor, African American Studies)
AB-CD Project seeks to bridge communities through a simple concept – connecting with others through sharing meals. We provide the opportunity for refugees to build community relationships through communal dinners and evaluate their efficacy in helping refugee groups feel welcomed, build relationships, and gather resources through community partnerships.
Caput Productions
Kelly Acevedo ’20 and Alex Vazquez (Academic Tech Training Specialist at Wesleyan) with support from Asa Palmer ’18, Langston Lynch ’20, and Rachel Ellis Neyra (Assistant Professor of English)
Caput Productions aims to produce films about South Central LA to convince individuals in other communities that we have potential despite the “hood mentality” that prevents us from receiving needed resources to better ourselves and our community. Our first film is “Sweet and Sour South Central Child.”
Cardinal Kids
George Perez ’20, Jessica Russell ’20, Jenny Chemlow ’19, Vera Benkoli ’18, and Katie Murray ’19
Cardinal Kids is a financially self-sustaining program that will bring affordable arts, tech, and literacy programming to Middletown youth.
Eat at the Table Theatre Company
Kai Williams ’20 and Emma Morgan Bennett
E.A.T.T. is a non-profit theatre arts organization that is both founded and operated by and offers membership to actors of color under 22 years old. We are dedicated to creating theater opportunities for young actors of color in New York, as a means of combating discriminatory and racist practices within the theater industry, and to focusing on developing and centering the work of marginalized artists.
The Black Lady Theatre Summer Camp
Arline Pierre-Louis ’19
The Black Lady Theatre Camp will expand arts education for students that are trapped in New York City’s school-to-prison pipeline.
Young Achievers Foundation Ghana
Ferdinand Quayson ’20, Derrick Dwamena (Yale University), Felix Agbavor (Drexel University), Derrick Dwamena (Michigan State)
Young Achievers Foundation (YAF) Ghana is a student-run initiative which promotes access to higher education for students in Northern Ghana through scholarship workshops and innovative in-school mentorship programs.
Finalists will pitch for a panel of judges on Friday, March 2, 12-1 p.m., in Wesleyan’s Beckham Hall. Pitches are open to the public, and a video recording will be available on the Patricelli Center website later.
Thanks go out to our judges, Propel Capital, and all the other partners and supporters who make this program possible.