CTIA Wireless Foundation Awards Catalyst 2024 Winners

UPchieve, a start-up using wireless for education equality, receives top grant of $100,000

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CTIA Wireless Foundation announced the 2024 winners of Catalyst, a competitive grants program for social entrepreneurs using 5G and leading-edge wireless to address pressing challenges in American communities.

"We are excited to announce our Catalyst 2024 Winners: UPchieve, Healthy Hip Hop and Maro," said Dori Kreiger, Executive Director of CTIA Wireless Foundation. "These social entrepreneurs are creating mobile-first solutions that take advantage of the speed and efficiency of wireless to address issues across education equality, child literacy, and youth mental health."

The top grant prize of $100,000 was awarded to UPchieve, a mobile app that provides free tutoring and college counseling to low-income students, available 24/7. The UPchieve app connects students with a live, volunteer tutor in under 5 minutes through an in-app chat room. Headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, UPchieve has impacted over 60,000 students nationwide and has facilitated more than 180,000 tutoring sessions.

Catalyst also awarded finalists Healthy Hip Hop and Maro with $50,000 and $25,000 grants, respectively. Healthy Hip Hop is an app that harnesses hip hop to create interactive educational content for elementary school children, improving literacy and writing skills. Maro is a mobile app for parents that works across school, home and clinic to support the early intervention and risk detection of mental health issues in students age 7 to 18.

Two additional finalists – Palmplug and Patientory – were each awarded Honorable Mention grants of $10,000.

Catalyst 2024 marks the fifth year as the Foundation's signature initiative. Catalyst is committed to supporting social entrepreneurs that may face barriers to accessing capital. This year, four in five applicant organizations are led by a member/members of the Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, and more than 60% of the organizations are led by a person whose gender identity is female.

Thank you to our Catalyst 2024 sponsors: Qualcomm, iconectiv, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP, American Tower, Assurant, DLA Piper, Ellipsis Productions and Wiley Rein.

30 Years of Wireless Social Innovation

For more than 30 years, CTIA Wireless Foundation has been at the forefront of wireless-driven social innovation, leading initiatives to address societal challenges such as public safety, domestic violence, children's health, mental health and distracted driving. Our mission is to fuel positive social impact by using innovative wireless technology in American communities.

About CTIA Wireless Foundation

CTIA Wireless Foundation (www.wirelessfoundation.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to advancing positive social impact fueled by innovative wireless technology in American communities. CTIA Wireless Foundation was formed by CTIA® member companies in 1991. Follow CITA Wireless Foundation on LinkedIn and Twitter.

SOURCE CTIA-The Wireless Foundation