Harris to emcee 11th annual competition
CLEVELAND – Thirty-two individuals from diverse backgrounds and a variety of life experiences will share 26 creative ideas to make Cleveland a better place at the Cleveland Leadership Center’s Accelerate: Citizens Make Change 11th annual civic pitch competition.
The event, on February 20, 2025, at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, will be emceed by Danita Harris, morning news anchor at WKYC Studios. It is made possible through a decade-long partnership between the Cleveland Leadership Center (CLC) and Citizens, along with other sponsors.
Accelerate is an innovative competition that provides a highly visible platform that enables civic entrepreneurs to develop and share their visions to improve our region, offers mentoring and support to advance the ideas, and nurtures the creation and development of initiatives that make Northeast Ohio a better place. Winners receive monetary awards and important connections to help bring their ideas to life.
Presenters this year range in age from 16 to 53. More than 70% represent BIPOC communities. Details are at www.cleveleads.org/2025presenters. Accelerate also offers two additional competitions: Teen Accelerate: Student Citizens Make Change, and a Technovation event for pitches that leverage technology to address community challenges.
Since 2015, more than 270 initiatives have been pitched in front of nearly 5,000 Accelerate attendees, resulting in dozens of sustained initiatives. One 2023 pitch finalist, Soundbender Institute, trains youth to become DJs as an avenue to improve mental health and will return to Accelerate this year to provide music for the evening.
“Accelerate spotlights one way the Cleveland Leadership Center strives to fulfill our mission to build a continuum of engaged, civic leaders who are committed to Cleveland’s excellence,” said Becky Ruppert McMahon, CLC’s President & CEO. “By providing a platform where innovative ideas can flourish, we empower local entrepreneurs and visionaries to make a tangible impact on their own lives and on Cleveland as a whole. We are proud to partner with Citizens and other generous supporters to help turn dreams into reality.”
Citizens has played a key role in the success of Accelerate for 10 years as the presenting sponsor. Its support goes well beyond the financial, McMahon said, as bank leaders also provide advice and expertise in planning and executing the event.
“Citizens is proud to support the Cleveland Leadership Center and each participant in their efforts to strengthen our local communities,” said Matt Kuchta, Ohio Commercial Market Executive at Citizens and Co-Chair of Accelerate. “These innovative solutions reflect the passion and vision of our neighbors to drive lasting change. We look forward to the event and helping foster Cleveland’s next social entrepreneurs.”
For event details and sponsor information see below, download the Accelerate 2025 Fact Sheet, or visit www.cleveleads.org/Accelerate.
Event registration is at www.cleveleads.org/Accelerate.
Media contacts
Michael Bennett, cell (216) 408-3874, michael@bennettstrategic.com
Joan M. Palumbo, cell (440) 315-1037, jpalumbo@cleveleads.org
###
Accelerate by the numbers
- 10th year partnering with Citizens
- 26 creative ideas
- 32 presenters
- 60% women / 40% men
- 73% BIPOC / 24% white (3% no response)
- 17% identify as LGBTQ+
- Age range 16-53
Accelerate partners
- Presenting Sponsor: Citizens
- Category Sponsors: Centric Consulting, Cleveland Foundation, The Lubrizol Corporation, MAGNET: The Manufacturing and Advocacy Growth Network, The MetroHealth System, Burton D. Morgan Foundation, NOPEC, The NRP Group LLC, Nordson, Oswald Companies, and Thompson Hine LLP.
- In-kind donors and other partners: Michael Barakiva of Cleveland Play House, Hathaway Brown School, ECDI, Andrea Peck of Andrea Peck Communications, and SEA Change Ohio.
- Community leaders who join the Accelerate Host Committee provide ideas, connections, and additional financial support to ensure the event’s success and impact.
Event details
- What: Accelerate: Citizens Make Change, presented by Cleveland Leadership Center and Citizens
- When: Thursday, February 20, 2025
- 4:30 p.m.: Category pitch competitions and Teen Accelerate begin
- Networking reception open throughout evening
- 7:00 p.m.: Finalist competition and audience vote
Ticket enables you to attend any or all portions of the event.
- Where: Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, 300 Lakeside Ave. E, Cleveland (enter only through Lakeside doors; no entry through Global Center for Health Innovation)
- Cost: $50 general registration, $25 students
- Information and tickets: cleveleads.org/Accelerate. Direct questions to Courtney Scullen at (216) 592-2243 or cscullen@cleveleads.org
- X: #AccelerateNEO, @CitizensBank, @cleveleads
- Facebook: @CitizensBank, @cleveleads
How Accelerate works
The competition begins with two rounds of pitches (4:30 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.) grouped by category:
- Arts & Culture
- Climate & Energy Innovation, a new category this year in partnership with NOPEC
- Education
- Health & Well-being
- Social Change
Panels of judges drawn from community leaders with subject expertise will select one finalist in each category. After a networking reception beginning at 6:00 p.m., finalists will pitch to the full event audience, which will vote to select the winner.
Category finalists each receive $2,000 and the overall winner receives $5,000. All finalists will receive a free, one-year membership in ECDI, the Economic & Community Development Institute that invests time and resources to support entrepreneurs; and an invitation to participate in the SEA Change NEO social enterprise training program and pitch competition.
Accelerate includes two additional competitions:
- Technovation, sponsored by the Cleveland Foundation, joins Accelerate for the sixth year, featuring five pitches that leverage technology to address community challenges. A panel of judges will select the Technovation winner, who receives $3,500. Several Technovation presenters will also pitch in the other categories.
- Teen Accelerate: Student Citizens Make Change returns for a third year in partnership with Young Entrepreneur Institute. High school students can apply to pitch until January 24, 2025. Ten finalists will be selected to pitch on February 20. The top winner receives $1,000, the runner-up earns $500, and the remaining eight finalist teams that present live at Teen Accelerate will win $250.
In addition, several teens will be on hand with products they have created as part of a Teen Enterprise Pop-Up shop. The shop was created from a winning pitch at Accelerate 2018 to support young entrepreneurs, and teen entrepreneurs have been featured at Accelerate every year since.
Accelerate presenters from prior years will return to Accelerate to share the results and impact of their pitches over the decade. Read about sustained impact now by downloading this pdf.