Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Winners of LaunchPad’s 2024 Ideas Fest

Tuesday, October 1, 2024, By Cristina Hatem
Share
Blackstone LaunchPadSyracuse University Libraries

The Blackstone LaunchPad hosted Ideas Fest, the annual LaunchPad student innovator competition, in Bird Library on Sept. 13. More than 120 student teams registered for the first competition of the semester, with team winners from across campus. Student teams delivered a 90-second “elevator pitch” on their entrepreneurial idea to a panel of judges, and winners received nearly $25,000 in cash and in-kind prizes. The competition is designed to put early-stage funding into founders’ hands to help offset startup expenses.

Nearly 100 people registered to watch the competition, many of whom were attendees of Coming Back Together, the Black and Latine triennial alumni reunion on campus.

Student winners of 2024 Ideas Fest include:

  • Olutosin (Tosin) Alabi G’25 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management)
  • Nathan Thor Brekke ’26 (College of Engineering and Computer Science)
  • Nicolas Philippe Courbage ’26 (Whitman School)
  • Mario Antonio Escobar Jr. ’26 (Whitman School)
  • Aphrodite Ruby Gioulekas ’25 (College of Visual and Performing Arts)
  • Ania Kapllani ’25 (College of Visual and Performing Arts)
  • Sandy Lin ’25 (College of Engineering and Computer Science)
  • Omar Mohammed ’27 (College of Engineering and Computer Science)
  • Clara Dorothy Gienapp Olson ’25 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications)
  • Emeka Christopher Ossai G’25 (Whitman School)
  • Elizabeth E Paulin ’24 (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs)
  • Briana Alexis Salas ’27 (Newhouse School)
  • Avery Byrd Shelley G’25 (Newhouse School)
  • Olivia Venezia Simons ’26 (Newhouse School and Whitman School)

Ideas Fest judges included subject matter experts, many of whom were SU alumni:

  • Jacqueline P. Grant ’84, founder and CEO of The Management Academy, LLC and TrainTheTrades, LLC. Grant generously donated five marketing packages from The Management Academy and TrainTheTrades companies to winning student teams;
  • Shade Akande, founder and CEO at OneX League;
  • Joe Brooks ’87, retired senior banking executive with over 25 years of experience leading sales and service teams at JP Morgan Chase Bank;
  • Gina N. Brown ’89, co-founder of myBKlife, a successful “hip” streetwear and lifestyle clothing brand;
  • Simone Brown, CBT guest and registered nurse;
  • Tyrin Fernandes ’20, food entrepreneur;
  • Cristina Hatem ’92, director of strategic planning, marketing and communications at Syracuse University Libraries;
  • Natalie Hewitt ’84, an independent human resources consultant;
  • Kyra A. James ’07, professional food educator, certified cheese professional, and former Syracuse track and field captain and student-athlete president;
  • Erika L. Morant ’07, Washington, D.C. area-based project management professional;
  • Cydavia Patterson, specialist in cultural competency, content creation and community curation;
  • Shamieka Preston ’97, lead business execution consultant and vice president at Wells Fargo;
  • Monica Randolph, senior director of merchandising for Barnes & Noble;
  • Danielle Shavonne Reed ’98, bilingual event planner, entrepreneur and publicist; and
  • Kate Washington ’75, managing partner of Enterprise Solutions International (ESI), a consulting firm that focuses on small and mid-cap business growth.
  • Author

Cristina Hatem

  • Recent
  • Calling All Alumni Entrepreneurs: Apply for ’CUSE50 Awards
    Tuesday, June 24, 2025, By John Boccacino
  • Swinging Into Summer: Syracuse International Jazz Fest Returns With Star Power, Student Talent and a Soulful Campus Finale
    Tuesday, June 24, 2025, By Kathleen Haley
  • Iran Escalation: Experts Available This Week
    Tuesday, June 24, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • Retiring University Professor and Decorated Public Servant Sean O’Keefe G’78 Reflects on a Legacy of Service
    Tuesday, June 24, 2025, By John Boccacino
  • SCOTUS Win for Combat Veterans Backed by Syracuse Law Clinic
    Monday, June 23, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette

More In Campus & Community

Retiring University Professor and Decorated Public Servant Sean O’Keefe G’78 Reflects on a Legacy of Service

For most of his time as a public servant, Sean O’Keefe G’78 adhered to a few guiding principles: Step up when someone calls upon you to serve. Be open to anything. Challenge yourself. Those values helped O’Keefe navigate a career…

Jorge Morales ’26 Named a 2025 Beinecke Scholar

Jorge Morales ’26, a double major in history and anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs with a minor in English and textual studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the highly competitive…

Registration Open for Esports Campus Takeover Hosted by University and Gen.G

Syracuse University and global esports and gaming organization Gen.G have opened general registration at campustakeover.gg for its first Campus Takeover Sept. 20-21. The two-day conference will bring students and administrators to Syracuse to highlight career opportunities within the esports industry…

2 Whitman Students Earn Prestigious AWESOME Scholarship

For the first time in the 12-year history of the program, both nominees from the Whitman School of Management have been selected as recipients of the 2025 AWESOME Excellence in Education Scholarship, a prestigious honor awarded to top-performing undergraduate women…

Whitman’s Johan Wiklund Named a Top Scholar Globally for Business Research Publications

The Whitman School of Management’s Distinguished Professor Johan Wiklund was recently listed as one of the most prolific business and economic research scholars globally, according to “What We Know About the Science of Science in Business and Economics? Insights From…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.