Meet the 2025 North Carolina Signature Cohort Participants!
North Carolina, here they come—a brand-new group of change-making Social Entrepreneurs are here! The first-ever 2025 SEA Change North Carolina Signature Cohort has officially launched, and we couldn’t be more excited to introduce you to this inspiring lineup of businesses that exist to do good.
2025 North Carolina ventures
Over the next four months, these founders and team members will dive deep into our accelerator—honing their business models, connecting with mentors, and working hard to take their ventures’ impact to the next level.
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The vision of B Academics is to advance the state of academic study into business as a force for good. B Academics is a network of educators, researchers, students and practitioners from around the world who are committed to accelerating the sustainable business movement by studying B Lab, B Corporation certification and benefit corporations. B Academics work with each other, the global B Lab network, and the B Corp community to share best practices and identify opportunities for collaboration with regard to research, teaching, and engagement.
Founder: Rachel Haynes
Website: bacademics.org
LinkedIn: B Academics | Rachel C Haynes -
Behaviors and Beliefs is Jaylan Rhea’s one-of-a-kind clothing brand merging art, sustainability, and storytelling. Each piece is crafted from secondhand materials, transforming discarded textiles into wearable works of art. The brand embodies a slow fashion ethos, celebrating individuality and conscious consumption. It invites wearers to express identity with care and intention.
Founder: Jaylan Rhea
Instagram: @Behaviorsandbeliefs | @nonbinaryonthecouch -
We leverage incredible freeze drying technology to help the folks that are solving hunger. We stop the clock on healthy, fresh foods--turning them into individually packaged meals and snacks that are shelf-stable and easy-to-eat, anytime, anywhere. We partner directly with nonprofits, ensuring a directly line between the resources and the communities that need them.
Founder: Aleksandra Stein
LinkedIn: Aleksandra Stein | Freeze Out Hunger -
Full Circle Writing is a Social Enterprise committed to supporting writers who navigate caregiving and other intensive responsibilities. It offers flexible coaching, developmental editing, and customized workshops that provide accessible, empathetic support tailored to each writer’s circumstances. Full Circle Writing fosters inclusive, community-centered spaces where diverse voices are empowered to thrive.
Founder: Candace Epps-Robertson
LinkedIn: Dr. Candace Epps-Robertson | Full Circle Writing LLC
Instagram: @fullcirclewriting | @dr._candace_epps_robertson_
Website: full-circle-writing.com -
Eating locally reduces transportation emissions, supports biodiversity, and reduces food waste, but many rural communities still don't have a consistent hub for seasonal, locally sourced goods. Gingham Kitchen's mission is to promote our rural community food system through creating relentlessly local and seasonal baked goods, expanding access to locally sourced groceries, and offering learning opportunities for making locally sourced, vegetarian food at home. We help our community embrace and enjoy locally sourced food while aiding in the reduction of food insecurity through our Give Your Garden program. The program incentivizes local gardeners to donate additional, unneeded produce to community members who need it. Our goal is to create a social enterprise business model that can be expanded to rural locations across Appalachia, reducing reliance on stores like Dollar General and Family Dollar for food.
Founder: Miller Coffey
LinkedIn: Miller Coffey
Instagram: @ginghamkitchennc
Facebook: @ginghamkitchennc -
The Grandfamily NETWORK equips health and human service professionals with the training, tools, and culturally responsive programming needed to support grandfamilies—relatives or close family friends raising children due to parental absence. Unlike most national initiatives focused solely on child welfare–involved kinship care, the NETWORK serves all grandfamilies, especially those outside formal systems. Rooted in North Carolina and guided by a founder with expertise in public health, mental health, and substance use counseling, the NETWORK fosters evidence-informed, community-driven solutions that promote resilience, connection, and professional excellence.
Founder: Glenda Clare
LinkedIn: Dr. Glenda Clare | Grandfamily NETWORK
Facebook: @GrandfamilyNetwork
Website: grandfamilynetwork.org -
Our signature programs, including the Young Cooks Society and NourishNow initiative, serve youth ages 11-29 through after-school classes, summer camps, and community workshops that build both practical life skills and emotional resilience. Since August 2023, we've served over 3,875 students, operating on the principle that when you teach someone to cook, you give them more than a skill—you give them the power to nourish themselves and their community for a lifetime. Where food meets purpose, we're cooking up change one meal, one lesson, and one dream at a time.
Founder: Sicily Johnson
Instagram: @kindkitchengroup
LinkedIn: Kind Kitchen Group | Sicily Sierra
Website: kindkitchen.group -
The TEAhouse is a community hub where Transformation, Education, and Acceleration converge. Part café, part classroom, it hosts sliding-scale workshops led by local experts while selling wellness tea blends and mission-aligned books and zines to fund universal access. Created by a Black-led team that knows exclusion firsthand, the TEAhouse puts those most impacted by inequity at the center of designing solutions. It turns kitchen-table dreaming into concrete action, giving neighbors a place to learn, heal, and build new, life-giving systems together.
Founder: Courtney McLaughlin
LinkedIn: Courtney McLaughlin | Organizing Our People
Website: organizingourpeople.org -
Project Trace makes sustainable living easier by helping climate-concerned consumers make better choices in a simple, seamless way that fits their lifestyle. Our browser extension surfaces more-sustainable product alternatives and assigns an actionable score - powered by trusted data and enhanced by AI - to provide helpful, non-judgmental context at the point of purchase. By gathering real-time data on shifting consumer preferences, we will simultaneously be influencing retailers and manufacturers, making it clear that more sustainable options aren’t just good for the planet, they’re good for business. We’re starting with small nudges that build lasting habits, with a long-term vision to support sustainable decision-making across all aspects of daily life.
Founder: Kevin Berman
LinkedIn: Kevin Berman | Project Trace
Instagram: @project_trace
Facebook: @ProjectTrace
Website: projecttrace.eco -
Prudence Edge is a cutting-edge digital innovation lab that empowers social enterprises, governments, and nonprofits to rapidly prototype, pilot, and scale technology solutions for real-world challenges. From AI-powered platforms to low-code apps, we help organizations co-create impactful solutions tailored to underserved communities and emerging markets. With a focus on agility, inclusion, and local relevance, Prudence Edge turns bold ideas into transformative digital experiences that drive measurable change. Whether it's education, healthcare, agriculture, or governance—we deliver the edge organizations need to lead in the digital era.
Founder: Mouli Somayajula
LinkedIn: Mouli Somayajula | Prudence B2B
Instagram: @prudenceb2b
X: @PrudenceB2B
Facebook: @PrudenceB2B
Website: prudenceb2b.com -
Soil and Sea Oyster Shell Powder is the embodiment of circular economic values. We work with local, oyster-serving restaurants to collect their oyster waste and transform the waste into a product for soil health in the farm and garden and natural textile production. Our shell powder is processed locally and packaged using eco-friendly packaging materials.
Founder: Adé Oni
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STEM Plug is a social enterprise dedicated to helping underserved youth discover the power of STEM through culturally responsive storytelling and hands-on robotics. Our flagship character, Richie, reflects the real-life experiences of kids from underrepresented communities and helps bridge the gap between imagination and innovation. We create immersive learning experiences by combining our children's book series, like Robotic Adventures, with tools like the HydraBot and our STEM Solvers platform. Our goal is to develop 8 million young innovators by 2030, empowering students with both technical skills and social-emotional growth.
Founder: Rich Gilliam
LinkedIn: Rich Gilliam | STEM Plug
Facebook: STEM Plug
YouTube: @stemplug
Instagram:@thestemplug
Website: stemplug.com -
The List bridges the gap between talented students and North Carolina’s startup ecosystem. We connect students, particularly those from underserved backgrounds, with paid, hands-on experiences at innovative startups, giving them the skills, confidence, and networks to thrive in an AI-driven economy. By keeping this talent local, we help build a stronger, more resilient RTP region where students can launch their careers and startups can grow with the workforce they need.
Founder: Amanda Stockwell
Website: jointhelists.com
LinkedIn: The List | Amanda Stockwell -
Utume creates non-academic online courses that promote personal development and human flourishing for teens and adults. Topics include DEI, Emotional Self-Regulation & Executive Function skill-building. We deliver often overlooked critical life skills in a lively and engaging format.
Founder: Denise Stroud
Linkedin: Denise Stroud
Website: https://new.express.adobe.com/webpage/0nmibXJCj8Hst -
Do you have interesting stories to tell that you want to share? What do you want the world to know about you? Are you interested in documenting and preserving your own history?
Founder: Dr. Rhonda Jones
LinkedIn: Dr. Rhonda Jones
Website: rhondadjones.org | yourheritagematters.com
Showcase: Save the date!
Stay tuned as they grow, refine, and prepare to pitch their businesses at the grand finale Showcase event on Wednesday, November 5, 2025! At this celebration, YOU will have the opportunity to network with these social entrepreneurs, support their work and be part of the impact!