The Gwinnett County Public Library, through its foundation, awarded a total of $5,000 to three recent graduates of the New Start Entrepreneurship Incubator program. Bridgette Simpson, Dewy Ventura Joa and Mia Jacobs won for Outstanding Business Pitch.
Bridgette “Bri” Simpson, co-founder of Barred Business, won First Place, and a prize of $2,500. Bri is a formerly incarcerated survivor, advocate, entrepreneur, published author, motivational speaker, certified life coach and co-founder of Barred Business and the Formerly Incarcerated Small Business Rescue Fund.
Bri partners with other survivors, advocates, social justice reform organizations, organizers, public figures, formerly incarcerated and incarcerated people to empower, inspire change and promote hope. Her pitch, Hot Sticky Buns, is a food business that hires, trains and employs justice-impacted people.
Dewy Ventura Joa, business owner of CholoMMA, won Second Place and a prize of $1,500. Dewy was born in Puerto Rico to Dominican parents and is now a producer, actor, artist and director living in Atlanta. He has been featured in films — The Mule, Jumanji 3 and Bad Boys 3 — and music videos. Dewy currently runs and co-produces CholoMMA, a mixed martial arts virtual academy, along with two partners.
Mia Jacobs, founder and owner of DeCCRO, won Third Place and a prize of $1,000. Mia spent a short time in prison and turned that experience into the biggest lesson of her life. She met some amazing artists and creators during that time and arose from that experience with a desire to showcase artists. That vision came to life in the form of DeCCRO, a stress free way to design living space using Mia’s app.
The New Start Entrepreneurship Incubator (NSEI) provides business education for formerly incarcerated individuals through in-person classes, online coursework and a network of mentors and community partners. NSEI is specifically geared towards the reentry population, which, in Georgia, is disproportionately minority populations and people of color.
The program’s culmination occurs at The Launchpad, where the young entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to community business leaders. They are judged on several criteria, and the strongest pitches win.
