Learn about the bright young entrepreneurs who pitched at Accelerate 2025, the Cleveland Leadership Center’s annual pitch competition—and Centric’s role in the exciting event.
Centric Consulting’s Cleveland team was proud this year to continue its multi-year sponsorship of the Cleveland Leadership Center’s Accelerate: Citizens Make Change pitch competition. The annual event empowers young civic entrepreneurs to pitch transformative ideas aimed at creating lasting change in Greater Cleveland.
Held February 20, Accelerate 2025 enjoyed strong support from Centric Cleveland. Eight employees attended the event, and three of them — Matt Dierker, Joe Smucny, and Phil Swettenham — served as first-round judges. They reviewed 24 ideas, all of which were worthy of funding. Dierker also judged the finalists, helping to determine the top five proposals.
“The goal was not to determine which proposals would make the most money, but to identify those that would have the greatest impact in the community,” said Cleveland Partner Kindra Helm.
Since its inception in 2015, the Accelerate program has showcased more than 270 initiatives that drive innovation and foster community engagement. This year, Centric sponsored the Arts & Culture category.
Dierker had the honor of presenting the $2,000 Finalist prize in Arts & Culture to Brittany Demudd. Her proposal, JuxtaVandal, seeks to improve teen mental health by transforming middle-school bathrooms and other high-traffic school spaces into bright, creative environments through uplifting murals.
“The entries in our category covered a wide range, from a community art center, technology education and access programs, and a calendar platform to educate the community about local events,” Dierker said. “It was tough to pick a winner, but in the end Brittanny’s passion for supporting young people in their most vulnerable moments won the judge’s hearts.” Finalists in other categories were:
- Education: Amirali Rezaei’s AISA School would use an AI-based platform to help people with Deaf and Hearing Loss (DHL) overcome social barriers created by language differences and enhance their participation in society.
- Climate & Energy Innovation: Wallace L. Thomas’s Cleveland Compost Initiative would partner with the City of Cleveland to transform leaves, grass clippings, tree branches, and other organic waste into compost and mulch for city residents to use for free or at a low cost.
- Social Change: Morgan Lewis’s Better in Color Cleveland would support LGBTQ youth and young adults on Cleveland’s East Side by hosting events, facilitating meetings, providing mentorship, and offering peer support. The goal is to create a safe and affirming space for LGBTQ youth that fosters mental and emotional well-being while building a supportive community.
The Grand Prize winners — brothers Andre Willis and Drevian Arrington — received $5,000 for their project, Turning Trash Into Triumph. Unlike most Accelerate participants, Willis and Arrington’s work is already underway through their business, Trash Boys, which creates jobs for teens by hiring them to help seniors and others who need assistance with tasks such as hauling trash bins to the curb, salting walkways, and other exterior clean-up duties.
Accelerate’s organizers hope that attendees will be inspired by the young people’s pitches and help them with advice, funding or networking.
“The entire event was so inspiring,” Helm said. “It’s hard not to be proud of your community when you see change leaders of every age focused on doing good. It’s infectious being around that much positivity and good will.”