S&R Foundation's Halcyon Incubator Announces Inaugural Class of Fellows

WASHINGTON, May 28, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Halcyon Incubator, a unique and forward-thinking program designed to empower global social change, today introduced its inaugural group of fellows, a cohort of social entrepreneurs with bold plans to tackle 21^st century challenges. The Halcyon Incubator's first fellowship program will begin in September 2014.

The many resources offered by the Halcyon Incubator, coupled with the fact that the program does not require equity in its fellows' ventures, prompted a flood of applications from entrepreneurs with resourceful responses to social challenges. Halcyon Incubator fellows benefit from a 14-month program designed as the springboard to launch their social ventures. The program includes rent-free housing and office space, mentorship, complimentary strategic, legal and PR resources, as well as access to a network of potential funders from a variety of sectors.

"Each one of our fellows brings a unique approach to a diverse set of challenges from global healthcare to environmental innovation," said Halcyon Incubator Program Manager Ryan Ross. "We were humbled by our fellows' passion, creativity and drive; each has the capacity to make meaningful social change for countless individuals."

The fellows and their projects are as follows:

Diana Sierra -- Be Girl -- Up to 40 percent of school-age girls in developing nations fail to complete their educations because they lack sanitary feminine products that provide assurance, protection and comfort to them outside of their homes. Ms. Sierra is closing gender gaps and ensuring continued educational opportunities by providing environmentally friendly, affordable, and customizable feminine menstrual management products. Be Girl has tested its impact with pilot programs in Rwanda, Malawi, Uganda and Tanzania, where girls reported feeling safer to attend school.  

Param Jaggi -- Ecoviate -- Mr. Jaggi's venture Ecoviate encourages a more sustainable planet with innovative environmental technologies designed to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.  Ecoviate's advocacy is evidenced in its practice of planting one tree for every product sold or downloaded, with the goal of planting over one million trees to reduce the amount of carbon in our air.

Ari Raz -- PureJoy -- Mr. Raz's venture, PureJoy, is based on the concept that high quality, nutritious baby food should be a right, not a privilege for babies and young children. PureJoy plans to produce and deliver organic, premium baby food for all families, regardless of their economic status.

Olivier Kamanda -- Ideal Impact -- Mr. Kamanda's Ideal Impact is a community-oriented tech company designed to bridge the gap between those who want to serve and organizations that vitally need support. Ideal Impact utilizes a unique platform specifically designed to promote and advertise service and volunteer opportunities directly to readers of social impact news stories.

Matthew Fischer -- Control A+ -- In the United States alone, one in 10 children suffer from asthma and over $60 billion is spent on treatment. Through Control A+, Mr. Fischer is developing an early warning system for asthmatic children capable of alerting parents and doctors before an asthma attack occurs. With gathered data based on indoor and outdoor environmental monitors, asthmatic children are empowered to live more normal lives. 

Ben Reich and Dan Gallagher -- Datasembly -- Every year millions of open data sets are released by thousands of governments but unfortunately, there are no standards for releases, making it difficult it to extract value from the data. Datasembly is a platform that aggregates and indexes open data, allowing communities to fully harness the power of public information with potential groundbreaking discoveries capable of changing lives for the better.

Heather Lawver Sewell -- NewsEase -- Literacy and communications are crucial life skills in the development and maturation of children. To facilitate these skills, Ms. Sewell will launch NewsEase, an online news initiative for teachers and students. Utilizing easy-to-use templates that are based on classic book series, NewsEase will allow teachers to launch newspapers in their classrooms, empower students to publish stories and to connect with other NewsEase readers around the world.

The application process for the Halcyon Incubator's second class of fellows will open in July 2014. 

Tweet: Social incubator @HalcyonIncubate celebrates its fellows and their world changing ideas #socent http://ow.ly/xcokV

About Halcyon Incubator
The Halcyon Incubator was founded on the principle that intrepid individuals with transformative ideas can solve 21st century challenges. In an effort to empower social change, the Incubator supports fearless social entrepreneurs through a unique 14-month fellowship, comprised of a four-month residency of intensive education and networking programs, eight months of rent-free workspace, complimentary strategic, legal and PR support, mentorship, as well as access to a network of potential funders from all sectors. The Halcyon Incubator does not require equity in the fellow's venture, but only a commitment to growing ideas to achieve meaningful social outcomes. www.halcyonincubator.org @HalcyonIncubate www.facebook.com/halcyonincubator

About S&R Foundation
S&R Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created in 2000 to support talented individuals with great potential and high aspirations in the arts, sciences and social entrepreneurship, especially those who are furthering international cultural collaboration. Contributions to S&R Foundation go directly to funding our mission. Overhead and general operational costs are covered by founders' contributions and use of existing assets. For more information, visit www.SandRFoundation.org.

SOURCE S&R Foundation