Rally TWO: Our Summer 2025 Fellows in Orlando
Orlando is full of big challenges: housing, health, sustainability, and education. But it is also full of people determined to solve them. Last month, our Summer 2025 Fellows gathered here to show what’s possible when bold ideas and committed partners come together.
With our local Fellows Kelly Shea, Daisy Parks, and Anna Ashie, we welcomed Courtney Newell from Phoenix, AZ, Anushka Jain from Delhi, India, Sierra Boone from Detroit, MI, Tracie Ponder from Studio City, CA, Richard Gilliam from Chapel Hill, NC, and Dietrich Ruehlmann from Germantown, MD. Together, they represent a wide range of issues and solutions, and a shared belief that communities can be transformed when ventures are built with purpose.
The week began at the Central Florida Foundation, where Fellows explored how philanthropy sees ventures as partners in systemic change, not just businesses to fund. Guided by Mark Brewer and Laurie Crocker, the session showed how the right language and vision can unlock lasting impact. These are the same lessons we share in our Intro to Social Entrepreneurship Workshop, a starting point for anyone ready to turn an idea into action.
From there, Fellows stepped into the heart of Orlando’s impact ecosystem. At Clean the World, they saw how a simple idea, recycling hotel soap, has grown into a global model for health equity. At 4Roots Farm Campus, they walked the fields and classrooms where food, education, and local partnerships are being woven together to tackle food insecurity. These visits were more than tours; they were proof that ventures can scale when they stay rooted in place and connected to partners who believe in their mission.
The centerpiece of the week came at City Hall with our Co-Creation Lab. Fellows sat shoulder to shoulder with civic leaders, funders, business partners, and community advocates to map ecosystems, identify leverage points, and design practical next steps. Each table became a problem-solving team, and every Fellow walked away with a Playbook in hand: clear actions, new commitments, and a stronger sense of how to accelerate their work in the months ahead. Read more about the Lab here.
Evenings were spent building community in other ways, over meals, laughter, and even a little bowling competition at Primrose Lanes. And by the time we closed the week with coaching sessions and conversations at The Conduit, our Fellows left with more than strategies. They carried home a sense of belonging to a network of changemakers, each proving in their own way that problems can be solved when people work together with courage and clarity.
What’s Ahead
This was Rally TWO, the midpoint of our accelerator journey. Rally ONE was an orientation. Rally TWO brought Fellows into Orlando’s living systems. Next comes Rally THREE, our Living Lab Showcase on November 4, 2025, where Fellows will share 16 weeks of progress and partnerships with the community.
And if you or someone you know has an idea to solve local challenges, applications for our Winter 2026 Cohort are open, learn more here.
