Diversity & Inclusion

These Baltimore social entrepreneurs are entering Red Bull Amaphiko Academy

Six of the 14 founders are from Baltimore.

Founders mingle at Eubie Blake Cultural Center for Brioxy's Black Tech Mixer, 2017. (Photo by Stephen Babcock)

We already knew Baltimore is playing host to the first U.S. edition of the Red Bull Amaphiko Academy.
On Monday, the Academy announced that six Baltimoreans will be among the social entrepreneurs taking part in the program.
The 10-day academy is set to start August 10, and will be held at the Eubie Blake Cultural Center in Mt. Vernon.
“The Red Bull Amaphiko program is about people creating in order to help and serve others. The Eubie Blake Cultural Center shares a similar mission and because of this common goal it made perfect sense to have Eubie Blake as the home of the inaugural U.S. Academy,” Troy Burton, Director of Eubie Blake Cultural Center, said in a statement.
Public events are planned throughout the week, including an open house on Aug. 14 and a festival at Impact Hub Baltimore in Station North on Aug. 20. There’s also roller skating at Shake and Bake Family Fun Center on Aug. 15.
The program is followed by an 18-month program to help social entrepreneurs further develop their ideas. Previously the Academy was held twice in South Africa and once in Brazil.
Here are the founders who are heading to the Academy:

  • Brittany Young, founder of B360, the Baltimore-based organization teaching STEAM skills through dirt bikes.
  • C. Harvey, founder of Baltimore’s Gifted, a platform where young Black artists can sell and showcase their work.
  • Changa Bell, Baltimore-based founder of the Black Male Yoga Initiative, which trains yoga teachers.
  • Dominic Nell, founder of Baltimore-based microgreens business City Weeds. We learned about the effort at a social enterprise hackathon last year.
  • Muhammad Najeeullah, founder of the Pop Up Robot Gaming Grounds Project (PURGG). You may have seen him at this art/tech block party in Greenmount West.
  • Walker Marsh, founder of Tha Flower Factory, a half-acre lot in Baltimore’s Broadway East that grows flowers and herbs.
  • Amanda Brinkman, founder of Google Ghost, a New Orleans-based online platform for goods made by women.
  • Matthew Kincaid, the New Orleans-based founder of Overcoming Racism, which provides equity training.
  • Marisa Hamamato, founder of Infinite Flow, a Los Angeles-based professional wheelchair ballroom dance company.
  • Jon Dengler, of Tampa, Fla., is the founder of affordable bicycle shop Well Built Bikes.
  • Chad Cherry, chef and founder of Refresh Live, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., program addressing food disparity.
  • Eli Erlick, of Sebastopol, Calif, founded youth-led advocacy and empowerment group Trans Student Educational Resources.
  • Brittni Kellom, the Detroit-based founder of Just Speak, which provides services for sexual abuse victims.
  • Amy Kaherl, founder of Detroit SOUP, a micro-granting dinner that supports creative projects in Detroit.

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

The man charged in the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting had a ton of tech connections

EDA officials are ‘hopeful’ Tech Hubs program will live on under Trump

From rejection to innovation: How I built a tool to beat AI hiring algorithms at their own game

The US needs to train more cyber talent to keep the country secure

Technically Media