A Milestone of Increased Investment:
As the landscape continues to shift, the need for innovative, community-rooted solutions has never been greater—and we’re continuing to invest deeply in the founders creating them.
This year, we’re proud to welcome Cohort 16—a powerful group of 20 founders advancing innovative solutions across education, technology, healthcare, justice reform. Their arrival reflects a sustained commitment by Camelback Ventures to expand not only how many under-resourced founders we support, but how deeply we invest in their success.
From Boston to Los Angeles, Houston to North Carolina, Cohort 16 Fellows are building ventures that meet urgency with imagination. They are designing new school models, rethinking how technology and education serve historically underserved communities, and exploring bold intersections—like AI and farming—to create pathways toward accessibility, sustainability, and opportunity.
This cohort also marks an important evolution in Camelback’s Fellowship model. As part of our continued effort to resource founders at the level their brilliance deserves, we’ve increased our direct investment from $40,000 to $50,000 per Fellow. Because we know when under-resourced founders are fully supported, the impact ripples outward—strengthening families, communities, and entire ecosystems.
“Entrepreneurs from underinvested communities are building in an environment that demands more and offers less,” said Shawna Young, CEO of Camelback Ventures. “At Camelback, building a new entrepreneurial blueprint means aligning our capital with the real cost of building enduring ventures. Increasing our investment to $50,000 per Fellow is about meeting this moment with the resources founders actually need—so they can focus on impact, not survival.“
A Fellowship Like No Other
Cohort 16 represents what’s possible when capital, coaching, and community move together. Over the next 16 weeks, Fellows will participate in Camelback’s immersive Fellowship experience, receiving a $50,000 investment, customized coaching, and lifelong access to a growing national alumni network of over 200 fellows committed to equity-driven innovation.
Key Data: Cohort 16
Below is an analysis of the applications we received for our latest cohort.
The Geography of Innovation
Social innovation continues to flourish across the country. California (14%) and New York (11%) remain central hubs, and the Southeast continues to surge as a vibrant center for entrepreneurial activity. Georgia (8%), Florida (5%) and Louisiana (4%) are proof that bold ideas take root wherever determined founders show up. This geographic spread reflects diverse approaches to addressing local challenges with potential for national reach.
Focus Areas: Where Change is Happening
Education leads as the primary focus area, representing 40% of ventures. The full distribution reveals diverse approaches to creating community impact and providing innovative solutions for underserved communities:
- Education (40%): Reimagining how students learn, grow, and thrive
- Health & Wellness (30%): Closing gaps in physical and mental health access
- Workforce Development (23%): Building real pathways to economic opportunity
- Community Development (6%): Taking on systemic barriers to economic justice
- Policy & Advocacy (1%): Driving systemic change through policy
Together, education and health represent 70% of ventures, and workforce development accounts for nearly one in four applications.
Commons Threads: The Challenges Being Addressed
Across the applicant pool, clear patterns emerge. Founders are building solutions around:
- Educational transformation and access: Reimagining K–12 and higher education through culturally responsive curricula, STEM pipelines, literacy programs, and college access initiatives that reach first-generation and underrepresented students
- Youth development and identity-centered learning: Building programs that affirm young people’s backgrounds and identities while developing leadership, life skills, and academic competencies through mentorship and enrichment
- Healthcare access and wellness: Tackling systemic barriers to care across mental health, chronic disease management, and community health navigation, with particular attention to maternal health equity and culturally responsive approaches to trauma and healing
- Small business and nonprofit capacity building: Equipping entrepreneurs and community organizations with the tools, training, and capital access needed to launch, sustain, and scale their impact
- Housing stability and community revitalization: Addressing displacement, affordable housing access, food security, and neighborhood investment in historically disinvested communities
- Financial inclusion and wealth building: Creating pathways to banking, credit, homeownership, and generational wealth for immigrants, low-income workers, and justice-impacted individuals
What unites this applicant pool is a relentless focus on communities that have been locked out of traditional pathways to opportunity, and a commitment to building something better.
Meet the 2026 Camelback Fellows
Andrew Chang — Founder and CEO of Nunchi Health
Boston, MA — Non-profit
Nunchi Health delivers accessible mental health to young people worldwide through identity-affirming, evidence-based peer groups. They particularly focus on immigrant and minority youth.
Anwar Douglas— Founder and CEO of Imperium Care
Los Angeles, CA – For-Profit
Imperium Care is a tech-enabled home care platform that connects families with highly vetted pre-health student caregivers, providing affordable, high-quality care while creating career pathways for the next generation of healthcare professionals.
Ayesha Kazi— Founder of ASL Aspire
Chicago, IL – For-Profit
ASL Aspire is an online educational platform that teaches STEM to K-12 deaf and hard-of-hearing students and their teachers through games.
Brianna Baker— Founder and Executive Director of Justice for Black Girls
Arlington, VA– Non-Profit
Justice for Black Girls (JBG) is a national nonprofit dedicated to advancing safety, leadership, and liberation for Black girls through education, research, and policy. Our flagship program, the Black Girlhood Studies Fellowship, cultivates the next generation of Black girl scholars and thought leaders by supporting undergraduate Fellows in producing original research that shapes narratives, informs policy, and builds a sustainable leadership pipeline.
Clement Townsend— Founder of Video Pro Learning
Chicago, IL – For-Profit
Video Pro Learning-We are like Waze for math, detecting where students are off track and rerouting them towards grade-level mastery in K through 8.
Dario Anaya— Founder of Get Pupil
New York City, NY – For-Profit
Pupil is an identity-driven college guidance platform that combines AI and near-peer mentorship to help parents and high school students explore colleges and careers by matching them with relatable, personalized college mentors. Filling the gap left by limited personal networks, understaffed counselors, and generic advice, Pupil centers community fit, identity, and early exposure to ensure students discover their potential and find the right college match.
Ege Cakaloz— Co-Founder of Talkido
Boston, MA – For-Profit
Talkido empowers children with special needs to say their first words and connect with others by providing a screen-free, interactive device and personalized activities co-designed with families, educators, and therapists.
Ekua Hudson— President and Founder of Food For Thought
Washington, DC – Non-Profit
Food for Thought transforms schools into food hubs by installing vertical farms and integrating a STEM-based curriculum that empowers youth to grow and distribute food locally. By replacing centralized food systems with localized production, they shift power and access back to communities.
Gerald Raines— Founder of Culture Fix by Raines
Houston, TX– For-Profit
Culture Fix by Raines transforms school culture from reactive discipline to proactive belonging through AI-powered software that embeds proven restorative practices into daily school operations. They help schools create environments where students want to learn and teachers want to teach by systematically building culture rather than managing behavior.
Grant Bennett— President and Founder of Two-Six Project
Fayetteville , NC – Non-Profit
The Two-Six Project supports historically under-resourced youth and communities through intentional exposure, education, and community activation to foster leadership, creativity, and advocacy.
Jeremy Sager— Founder of Novus Smart Academy
Smyrna, TN – Non-Profit
Novus SMART Academy (K-8) provides scholars with an extraordinary learning experience, where college and career begin in Kindergarten. They produce global achievers through high-quality academic instruction and character development, with a relentless drive for success in life.
Justin Steele— Co-Founder of Kindora
Oakland, CA – Hybrid
Kindora uses AI to help underresourced nonprofits find and win grants, transforming weeks of research into hours, and making professional fundraising tools accessible for $25/month instead of $3,000+.
Kai Frazier— Founder and CEO of Kai XR
Birmingham, AL – Hyrbid
Kai XR is a metaverse learning platform that creates early pathways for students to succeed in the fastest-growing careers, no matter their zip code. Their platform offers immersive, project-based lessons that blend STEM and literacy, sparking curiosity, building confidence, and connecting classroom learning to real-world opportunities.
Kameran Tyree Giggers— Founder of R.I.S.E Legacy Arts Academy
Baltimore, MD – Non-Profit
R.I.S.E Legacy Arts Academy is a multi-year arts and wellness program supporting neurodivergent and underserved youth in Baltimore City through culturally responsive creative education, mental health support, and workforce development. By equipping young people with artistic skills, emotional resilience, and real pathways to employment or higher education in the arts, they’re creating a scalable, equity-driven model that fosters long-term community impact and economic mobility.
Kwame Terra— Founder of bEHR Health
New Orleans, LA – For-Profit
bEHR Health is building the first Black Electronic Health Record—a real-time database of health insights designed to close the life expectancy gap between Black communities and the rest of the population. Through their mobile app, wellness challenges, and community hub, they empower individuals with personalized health scores while driving collective solutions for community health.
Loren Colman— Founder of The Museum School of East Dallas
Dallas, TX – Non-Profit
The Museum School of East Dallas is a proposed K–8 public charter school with an extended-day model that blends rigorous academics with immersive, museum-based learning to serve historically underserved students in Far East Dallas. Designed through a year-long community co-design process, the school prepares students to thrive in high school and beyond through joyful, inquiry-driven, and identity-affirming experiences.
Paige Swanstein— Co-Founder and Executive Director of Student Basic Needs Coalition
Ann Arbor, MI – Non-Profit
The Student Basic Needs Coalition builds coalitions and technology to address food, housing, and healthcare insecurity among college students. Through peer leadership and an AI-powered tool, Navvy, they connect students to critical benefits while generating evidence to drive systemic change in higher education.
Robert Fernandez— Co-Founder and Executive Director of Cientifico Latino
New York City, NY – Non-Profit
It is not enough to have a passion for science to become a scientist, but you need to have access to the tools, mentorship, and preparation to break into these scientific careers. Cientifico Latino, Inc. levels the playing field by supporting underserved communities at the college level navigate graduate school admissions through mentorship, educational curriculum, and financial support, thus investing in the next generation of scientists.
Sydney Montgomery— Founder and Executive Director of Barrier Breakers
Gaithersburg, MD – Non-Profit
Barrier Breakers is a national nonprofit that expands access to and success in higher education for first-generation students and others who face barriers to entry through long-term, high-touch advising and community support. Led by current and former admissions professionals, we provide expert 1:1 guidance, peer Pods, ongoing wellness check-ins, and large-scale virtual conferences. Our Impact Hubs embed this proven curriculum into schools and nonprofits, ensuring students not only access higher education but also graduate.
Toni Fisher— Founder of Innovative Leadership Academy
Houston, TX – Non-Profit
Innovative Leadership Academy is a proposed public charter school in Houston that integrates technology, arts, and real-world learning to prepare students for high school, college, and life. Through Innovation Labs™, competency-based learning, and leadership pathways, we equip historically underserved youth with the skills, confidence, and opportunities to thrive as future leaders.
Camelback Ventures: A Legacy of Impact
Since 2015, Camelback Ventures has championed underestimated entrepreneurs, investing over $10 million in ventures designed to create lasting societal shifts. Backed by leading philanthropic partners, including Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Walton Family Foundation, the organization continues to prioritize fairness and representation in innovation.
You can learn more about the Camelback Ventures’ Fellowship and meet past fellows. Camelback Ventures’ next fellowship application window will open in February 2026. Interested in joining our next fellowship cohort? Fill out our interest form today!
