You should have been there! On April 16, 2025, 9 of our 36 GROW/PROGRESANDO Winter/Spring cohort graduates gave rocket pitches about their businesses to a panel of judges. This was just the second Pitch Competition we’ve ever done, even though GROW/PROGRESANDO has been graduating students since 2014! We’ve decided this new event is here to stay.

Economic Empowerment Director Alexia Guzman and Sustainability Director Sheree Moratto, who facilitate the PROGRESANDO and GROW programs respectively, were so proud of our Pitch-ers!  Each and every one brought their own unique style and business idea to an enthusiastic audience at our Training Center, 7056 N. Clark Street.

Presenters and the program they successful completed in March 2025 were:

• Eddy Garcia – PROGESANDO

• Armando Tovar – GROW

• Mario Corraro – PROGRESANDO

• Jesus Sanchez – GROW

• Mayra Trejo – PROGRESANDO

• Jess Wu – GROW

• Rosa Gonzalez PROGRESANDO

• Brittany William – GROW

• Madeline Wampler – GROW

Business concepts ran the gamut from wellness and  property management to crafts and candy.

First prize winners Mayra Trejo and Brittany William will each receive $500 in prize money! Second place winners Armando Tovar and Rosa Gonzalez will each receive 1 year free website hosting courtesy of Nebula Cloud.

The evening wouldn’t be complete without the best judging panels in the world. We are so grateful to our amazing Judges who take an incredible interest in our GROW/PROGRESANDO program and graduates. Thank you all!

• Domini Brewton-Gamble, The Cook County Small Business Source (english) 

• Antonio Diaz, South of the Border Restaurant (español) 

• Julie Evans, S&C Electric Company (english)

• Elyssa Greenberg, Northwestern University Board Fellow (english)

• Steve Jang, CIBC (english)

• Mark Keppy, Mark Keppy Group (english)

• Anna Popolka, Wintrust Bank Rogers Park (espanol)

• Caroline Rendon, LISC Chicago (english)

• Imelda Rodriguez, Coaching Vida LLC (español) 

• Bismarck Rivas, Huntington Bank (español) 

• Vanessa Vegas, Rotary International (español) 

• Mauricio Valle, Nebula Cloud IT (español) 

We look forward to hosting our next Pitch Competition in November, 2025. Hope to see you there!

Questions? Contact Sheree Moratto at smoratto@rpba.org.