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Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub has launched its latest ElevateEquity class, and the cohort, for the first time, is focused specifically on innovation in the area of health and wellness equity.
Flywheel is calling the grouping its “Health and Wellness Equity Edition.” The free eight-week-long accelerator program – now underway – includes training, coaching, connections to social capital, financial support and other growth resources.
Five entrepreneurs were selected due to their novel approaches to issues that impact health equity and disparities. While all businesses are based in Cincinnati, they have the potential to scale regionally, nationally and beyond, Flywheel said.
“This cohort brings such rich lived experience to the issue of health equity,” Laura Randall-Tepe, Flywheel’s executive director, said in a news release. “Each has a novel approach to either preventing or treating trauma unique to racial bias or disabilities. Their success will be important to addressing health disparities in our community and beyond.”
Flywheel will invest $6,000 in each company, providing a total of $30,000 in direct funding, and will deliver a program valued at $10,000 per founder. In addition, Flywheel provides each venture with a team of volunteer coaches who provide approximately 180 hours of support, valued conservatively at another $36,000.
Those participating include:
- SoulCare, led by Dr. Calisha Brooks, Dr. Iyanuoluwa Odebode and Lesa Moloi. SoulCare is a wellness app providing accessible, representative and inclusive mental health and wellness self-care options in a virtual community for people of color addressing race-based trauma.
- In Fly We Trust, led by Brandon “Jide” Hill. A destigmatizing mental health resource that uses storytelling in the form of graphic novel coloring books infused with affirmations, reflective games, philosophy and more to provide hope and inspiration to individuals recovering from trauma and loss.
- A.A.R.O.N., led by Valda Freeman-Karmo. A wearable device for people with diagnosed mental illness that activates when stopped by police. The goal is to reduce hostile police/citizen encounters by providing information the officers need to approach with the appropriate sensitivity. A.A.R.O.N. is a 2023 graduate of Northern Kentucky-based SoCap Accelerate.
- Edith Institute, led by Alicia Suguitan. A continuing education platform for health care professionals designed to improve health outcomes for pregnant women of color by addressing implicit bias in maternal health care.
- Chase Team, led by Cyrina Thomas, Candace Gasper, Shakeita Moore-Lilly and Milton Woody. Mitigating the mental trauma caused by eviction and homelessness by preventing eviction with a platform that connects landlords and renters with resources to keep renters housed. This solution grew out of a 2024 housing stabilization hackathon produced by Flywheel in partnership with Strategies to End Homelessness, which leads a coordinated community effort to end homelessness in Greater Cincinnati.
Flywheel, founded in 2011 and headquartered at Union Hall in Over-the-Rhine, works to build and scale businesses that address social issues through the products or services they sell and/or the people they hire.
The nonprofit also operates Elevator and SustainableCincy accelerators geared for early and mid-stage ventures.
Randall-Tepe said the idea to focus on health and wellness equity came from the 2023 ElevateEquity applicant process. A number of the entrepreneurs were in the early stages of developing business in the health and wellness space.
While they were not selected for the 2023 cohort, Flywheel provided resources and referrals to further develop their business models. Three of the five members of this ElevateEquity cohort were previous applicants who returned with ideas that were significantly more developed and ready for accelerator training, the group said.
Samuel Baker, program manager, will lead the cohort. Flywheel said the program has two presenting sponsors: Necco, which provides a variety of youth and family services including foster care, adoption, detention alternatives, independent living opportunities, and behavioral health services; and the Johnson Foundation, which provides grantmaking opportunities to nonprofits located in Cincinnati’s urban core.
Additional sponsors include Mercy Health and First Financial. Flywheel’s 2024 program partners include the city of Cincinnati, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, the P&G Alumni Foundation of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr. Foundation.
The eight-week program continues through May 2 with a demo day. A time and location for that event will be announced soon, Flywheel said.
