Tag: G.I.F.T.

$30K grand prize: Sisters embrace vegan comfort eats potential with Mattie’s Food’s big win

By Tommy Felts / March 16, 2024

Arvelisha Woods and India Monique plan to use their grand prize winnings from Friday’s We Are Black pitch competition to invest in the community’s health, they said. Mattie’s Foods won $30,000 in the second annual G.I.F.T. event, which saw 10 Black-owned businesses vying for funding to fuel their business dreams. The winning co-founders of the…

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The whole package: KC woman’s delivery service drives to beat competition on trust, versatility

By Tommy Felts / October 7, 2023

Two years after receiving a $25,000 grant from Kansas City G.I.F.T., Damesha Cook’s small business is still on the move, picking up speed as she invests her own personal touch to build confidence and trust among clients. “When people meet me and get to know my personality, it gives them a lot of comfort,” said…

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‘I Am’ the domino effect: This changemaker wants to show youth impacted by redlining another reality

By Tommy Felts / May 26, 2023

When Elijah Dormeus moved to Kansas City in 2019, he brought with him a nonprofit that provides mentorship and leadership training to students in underserved communities, with the end goal of empowering them to achieve their dreams. “The I Am Foundation really came from leading, encouraging, and motivating students to see themselves greater than their…

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Brandon Calloway, GIFT

Co-founder of nonprofit that boosts Black businesses among two winners of $100K Pinnacle Prizes

By Tommy Felts / November 15, 2022

Brandon Calloway reflects the best of Kansas City’s young leaders, said Maurice Watson, announcing the G.I.F.T. co-founder as one of two winners of the 2022 Pinnacle Prize — an award that comes with a no-strings-attached $100,000. “Brandon grew up in the urban core and is motivated to make social and economic conditions better than those…

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Co-founders Cornell Gorman, Christopher “LOKC” Stewart, and Brandon Calloway, Generating Income For Future Generations (G.I.F.T.), cut the ribbon of the nonprofit's new business center on Prospect Avenue

A gift for KC’s East Side: Business center beats developers to Prospect, offering one-stop shop for entrepreneurs

By Tommy Felts / March 29, 2022

A new full-service business center and coworking space on Prospect Avenue will do more than just fill the former Blue Hills Community Services building — better fulfilling its goal to create a clear path to economic prosperity and wealth, said Brandon Calloway. “It’s always been the right time for a business center to open on…

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