Twenty Students Pitch Ideas at the Tulane Innovation Institute Annual YEA! Competition
Twenty students from 11 New Orleans-area high schools took the stage on Monday, April 20, 2026, at the Tulane University Innovation Institute’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) Pitch Competition, presenting business ideas to a panel of judges and competing for more than $4,500 in prize funding.
The Tulane Innovation Institute is in its second year partnering with the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, a national 501(c)(3) that teaches high school students how to start and run businesses—from developing ideas to writing business plans and launching companies. Of the 28 students who completed the program, 20 participated in the final pitch competition.
The event marked the culmination of a 30-week course covering marketing, accounting, legal considerations, website and logo design, public speaking, and pitching. Students also stepped outside the classroom for a field experience to visit First Tee, an organization that provides golf instruction to youth in the community.
Norman Barnum, chief financial officer of LSU New Orleans, and Michelle Jackson, founder of PR Solutions and Tulane Adjunct Professor, led the program, with support from Tulane Innovation Institute team members Jalin Carter and Sharon Goldsmith.
“These students are building businesses rooted in their interests, their communities, and the experiences they want to create for others,” said Kimberly Gramm, PhD, David & Marion Mussafer Chief Innovation & Entrepreneurship Officer at Tulane’s Innovation Institute. “Their creativity, discipline, and willingness to take risks reflect exactly why entrepreneurship resonates so strongly with this generation.”
A 2025 nationally representative survey of Generation Z by Culture Co-op, founded by Tulane alum Melissa Lavigne-Delville (MBA ’25), found “Entrepreneur” ranks third out of 37 aspirational careers, while “CEO or Corporate Executive” ranks 16th—pointing to a growing preference for building something independently as an alternative to traditional corporate paths.
Charlie Kehlenbach and Emy Foster, juniors at Benjamin Franklin High School, took first place and $1,500 in seed funding for ParTee, a New Orleans-based business that will bring mobile golf simulators to backyard events and festivals.
Second place and $1,250 went to Check Ball, founded by Blake Stanfill Jr. of St. Augustine High School, a platform designed to help athletes find and book courts, with real-time visibility into availability and activity.
Third place and $1,000 went to SIPS NOLA, founded by Makeda Butler, a senior at Benjamin Franklin High School. The venture is a teen-centered mocktail bar focused on accessibility, self-expression, and community.
Notably, the top three winning teams focused on experience-based businesses, emphasizing entertainment and in-person connections — a fitting reflection of New Orleans' identity as a city built on culture, community, and live experiences.
The People’s Choice Award of $750 went to Aniyah Moore, an 11th-grader at Edna Karr High School, for her personal hair-styling business, Styled by Nu.
Each presenting YEA! venture also received $500 to support continued growth.
Michelle Jackson, who also serves as founder and executive director of the i.Invest National Youth Business Competition, awarded three additional $250 grants through her nonprofit to ParTee, Check Ball, and DiNaja Brown, an 11th-grader at Sci High, developing a financial planning organization for high school students.
The competition was judged by Davorio Stevenson of The Idea Village; Shay Claiborne, founder of Milestone Mate; Lindsey Navarro, founder of El Centro in New Orleans; and Jennifer Jones, Director of Divisional Change & Operational Readiness at Louisiana Blue.
The program was made possible through support from Louisiana Economic Development (LED), the RosaMary Foundation, Louisiana Blue, and the Miller Family Foundation, which provide full tuition and seed capital for participants. The New Orleans BioInnovation Center provided classroom space throughout the year.
Applications for the 2026–2027 YEA! class are now open. The program runs from September through April, with sessions held Monday evenings at the New Orleans BioInnovation Center. Participants leave with a launched venture, pitching experience, and a foundation in building and leading new initiatives.
