2026 NEO Signature Cohort Participants!
Northeast Ohio—Announcing the 2026 NEO Signature Cohort! Say hello to our newest Social Entrepreneurs from Northeast Ohio. Over the next 16 weeks, they'll grow, refine, and prepare to pitch their Social Enterprises at a grand finale Showcase event on June 10, 2026!
2026 Northeast Ohio Ventures
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biocycler uses living organisms to recycle and remediate.
Founder: Christopher Maurer
Instagram: @redhousestudioarchitecture -
We are building Care First Family Supports LLC, a DODD-certified direct care provider in Ohio, to deliver person-centered supports for individuals with developmental disabilities as they transition into and through adulthood. Grounded in dignity, equity, and great care, we focus on relationship-based support that promotes independence, stability, and meaningful community inclusion. With strong backgrounds in education and Human Resources, we bring a systems-informed approach to care, workforce development, and compliance. We are currently in the certification stage, intentionally building the infrastructure, staffing, and processes needed for a strong and responsible launch. Our goal is to extend the wraparound support students receive in school into adulthood, ensuring continuity of care for individuals and families.
Founder: Jontae Johnson
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Career success shouldn't be a secret kept for those who can afford a coach. Careerlog is opening it to everyone. Our programs and resources provide career success strategies and professional habits that aren't taught in the classroom. Careerlog helps work-based learners and early career professionals turn their daily work into measurable career growth.
Founder: Erika Hill
LinkedIn: Careerlog -
Destiny Impact Hub is a trauma-informed leadership and mental health social enterprise serving underserved communities. We equip emerging and nonprofit leaders with psychological resilience, leadership capacity, and practical tools to build sustainable systems. Our programs integrate evidence-based mental health education with leadership development and workforce readiness. We partner with schools, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and community institutions to deliver measurable outcomes. Our model blends earned revenue with impact investment to ensure long-term sustainability and scalable community transformation.
Being run under Destiny Connections LLC: a leadership and wellness firm that transforms individuals, couples, and organizations from the inside out. We help leaders heal deeply, lead boldly, and build legacies that last.
Founders: Mirriam Knight + Benjamin Wilson
Instagram: @drmirriamknight | @pastor.benjaminw | @destinyconnections17
LinkedIn: Destiny Connections LLC -
Happy Thought Knits is a Cleveland-based manufacturing studio bridging the gap between artisanal craftsmanship and the nonprofit sector. We transform "charity swag"—typically mass-produced, low-quality imports—into high-value, locally knitted merchandise that drives sustainable revenue and donor loyalty.
Founder: Megan Kuhar
LinkedIn: Happy Thought Knits
Instagram: @happythoughtknits
Facebook: happythoughtknits
TikTok:@happythoughtknits
Website: happythoughtknits.com -
Healing in Color is a place-based Social Enterprise building creative health infrastructure in redlined communities by training and employing Black and Brown artists as non-clinical therapeutic arts service providers. As social prescribing and arts-in-health grow, we address inequity in the field by ensuring artists from the communities most impacted are paid, certified, and positioned within prevention and care systems. Our model embeds culturally grounded therapeutic arts services directly into neighborhoods, rather than outsourcing care to external institutions. By treating artists as infrastructure, Healing in Color creates sustainable economic pathways while expanding access to trusted, community-led preventive care.
Founder: Veronica Thornton
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Our Social Enterprise teaches youth entrepreneurship through our applesauce business.
We deliver engaging classroom presentations, offer paid internships for hands-on experience, and organize experiential field trips in partnership with local organizations and corporate partners, exposing students to sporting events, businesses, and community experiences that connect classroom learning to the real world.
Founder: Ethan Holmes
Facebook: Holmesmouthwatering
Instagram: @holmesmouthwatering
X: @holmesasauce
TikTok: @holmesmouthwatering
LinkedIn: Holmes-made-foods-LLC
Website: holmesmouthwatering.com -
LanguageBridge creates audio-first translation tools specifically designed for preliterate English Language Learners, including refugees and immigrants with limited formal education. Our Chrome extension provides instant translation with audio playback in students' native languages, enabling them to access educational content independently when traditional text-based tools fail them.
Founders: Justin Bernard + Prentice Howard
LinkedIn: LanguageBridge LLC
Instagram: @_languagebridge
X: _Languagebridge
Website: languagebridge.app -
Community-powered mini-farms that transform underused spaces in the Central neighborhood to grow local food while creating hands-on learning and leadership opportunities for students, workforce development, and residents of all abilities.
Founder: Danie White
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Next Steps Eldercare Consulting helps families proactively navigate the aging journey. Our integrated model includes individual and family consulting, corporate caregiver support, community education, professional referral partnerships, and affiliate integration. Guided by our mission of Compassion, Clarity, and Care, we believe aging is a life stage that impacts every family, workplace, and community and preparation is empowerment.
Founders: Dina Rock + Lori Lynn
LinkedIn: Next Steps Elder Care Consulting
Facebook: Next Steps Elder Care Consulting
TikTok: @nextstepseldercare
Instagram: @nextstepseldercare
Website: nextstepseldercareconsulting.com -
Reasons To Care Healthcare Services, LLC is a community-based provider supporting adults with developmental disabilities across Northeast Ohio. We deliver personalized homemaker personal care, respite, and non-medical transportation services that help individuals live independently while giving families and caregivers reliable support. Our model centers dignity, consistency of care, and individualized service plans that improve daily living skills, social engagement, and community participation. By combining compassionate care with structured programming, we create both measurable quality-of-life outcomes for participants and local job opportunities in underserved neighborhoods. Our goal is to become a trusted hub of support that empowers individuals to reach their highest level of independence.
Founder: Katrina Cooke
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We believe that the most radical thing we can do is set a table where everyone truly belongs. Santé is a mission-driven supper club hosting bi-weekly family-style meals with spirit-free pairings. It is our way of leveling the playing field through the art of the gathering. We curate more than just a meal; we set one long communal table, where guests from every corner of the city sit side-by-side. Each event provides a stage for budding culinary creators to find their voice and local artists to showcase their vision, while simultaneously acting as a funding engine for the nonprofits doing vital work in our neighborhoods.
Founders: Emily Tanski + Molly Cheraso
Instagram: @sante.supperclub
LinkedIn: Santé Supper Club
Website: santesupperclub.com -
An affordable, customizable mobile app that empowers nonverbal and speech-delayed children to communicate independently by tapping images to produce spoken words.
Founder: Cambron Jones
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A self-contained bioreactor that uses solar power and atmospheric water to cultivate cyanobacteria and automatically process it into dried bricks, capturing carbon emissions while offering a faster, lower-cost alternative to conventional systems.
Founder: Isaiah Jackson
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Founded in 2025, The Benevolent Bloom is a social enterprise on a mission of providing quality, organic produce and beautiful cut flowers from our local, small, and sustainable, family garden to our patrons with a percentage of every sale going toward launching and operating a farm animal sanctuary. The Benevolent Bloom will work to accomplish our mission by selling subscription/CSA bouquet and produce shares, work with local florists to provide brilliant arrangements, hold weekly, seasonal events at the farm stand located within the farm, and provide select, seasonal produce and flowers at local farmer’s markets for folks to enjoy.
Founders: Jeremy Langham + Bilyana Simonoski
Instagram: @thebenevolentbloom
Facebook: thebenevolentbloom -
We Thrive Together is a nonprofit committed to reducing social isolation and building meaningful connections for at-risk community members, including individuals with disabilities, older adults, and students. We create safe, welcoming, and inclusive spaces through engaging virtual events where people can have fun, build friendships, learn new skills, and experience a true sense of belonging. By removing barriers to participation and access, we help individuals expand their social networks and feel confident connecting with others. A stronger, more connected network reduces loneliness, improves mental and emotional well-being, and opens the door to greater support, learning, and community engagement.
Founder: Steve Pelton
Facebook: wethrivetogetherohio
Instagram: @wethrivetogetherohio
TikTok: @wethrivetogether
Website: wethrivetogether.org
Save the date!
Wednesday, June 10, 2026!
Cheer on the future of Social Enterprise in Northeast Ohio! Watch live pitches, connect with these entrepreneurs, and vote for your Crowd Favorite!
Tickets are always FREE.