SCI Youth Grant Pitch Competition: Fortune Avenue Pulls Through Again
Updated: Aug 19
We just won $2000.
Last weekend, Fortune Avenue members pitched our organization at the SCI Youth Grant Pitch competition, and earned the most money out of any other team in the Mental Health Track.
The 2026 SCI Pitch Event brought in nearly 100 youth from 10 local communities to pitch social impact projects to a live panel of judges. The SCI gave away nearly $20,000 in total to help the organizations execute their vision. Teams competed for up to $2,000 each in grant funding to support their ideas.
Over the course of the school year, Fortune Avenue members have been working to draft, develop, and perfect a pitch presentation to gain funding for our summer internship program. Apart from the funding we received from the City of Boston to pay youth interns, we needed additional money to support program logistics such as location, travel costs, and food reimbursements. The pitch team met monthly with an advisor to plan how they would allocate the grant and why our organization deserved to be funded. Led by executive member David Huang, the interns developed a comprehensive budget that outlined the travel, food, supplies, and subscription costs necessary to make our summer program successful.
The night before the event, Daniel Idemudia, David Huang, Elamin Elamin, Rebecca John, and Daniel David rehearsed the presentation and made some final changes. After going through their slideshow, they were ready to present.
On the day of the event, Fortune Avenue members had a chance to meet with other youth leaders including GrowWithGuidance, a nonprofit in Natick which focused on connecting high schools with mentors and the Lynn Lady Leaders which promoted women empowerment via the Boys & Girls Club. It was an amazing opportunity to network with like-minded young individuals. After going up to present, FA received amazing feedback from the judges, which included a vice president at Morgan Stanley. Members skillfully answered questions, including how Fortune Avenue connects with mental health (since financial stability is directly intertwined with social emotional well being) and how we plan to move this vision forward if we don’t receive full funding (we would continue our grassroots fundraising events).
“I loved the opportunity to meet so many people from such different backgrounds. Additionally, my team and I had a great opportunity to connect with one another on a level we otherwise couldn’t have.”
We were then given an opportunity to network and be featured in the media. Elamin spoke to a member of SCI to share how meaningful the opportunity was. We also recorded a promotional reel for Ted x Bellingham Square with JAKE, who was also our pitch coach.
Then, it was time for the awards ceremony. They slowly announced the winners and handed over a giant cheque with their reward. We were 1 of 3 organizations that received the maximum grant award of $2,000, along with EVkids and the MA Youth Climate Coalition.
The day ended with free food and an opportunity to interact with our esteemed judges, who provided valuable feedback on how we could improve our organization. Thank you to SCI for this amazing opportunity. The money has already been put to amazing use!
If you would like to read more about the program:
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