BREAKTHROUGH Program

BREAKTHROUGH Program is sponsored by Digitalundivided. Digitalundivided's BREAKTHROUGH program supports women of color entrepreneurs, including Latinas, with a financial award and mentorship. Most recipients have a scalable business model or idea.

Digitalundivided's BREAKTHROUGH Program, provides founders with a deeper understanding of their customers, startup funding, growth marketing strategies, and networking opportunities to scale their ventures, supported by Surdna Foundation , JPMorganChase , and Pivotal . In order to qualify for the program, founders must: Be 18 years of age or older Have a business registered in US for at least a year Operating within the US or D. C.

Have majority ownership of an established business with traction Have a technology component incorporated into the business (website or mobile app) Generate a minimum of $50,000 annual business revenue Located within 100 miles of the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) region of Breakthrough Willing to support “Lift While We Climb Commitment.

” Selected founders will receive: Guidance on scaling businesses via virtual live sessions with industry leaders.

Expert advice and personalized guidance from business leaders and entrepreneurs through mentorship A deeper understanding of the tools and resources necessary for establishing banking relationships A community of entrepreneurs who can collaborate, share experiences, and help one another succeed; Increased visibility and recognition in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Ongoing support Post-Program KEY DATES (Northern California) Recruitment cycle: June 1st - July 24th Application Review: July 20th - July 24th Interviews: July 27th - July 31st Finalists Notification & Onboarding: Week of August 3th Live Sessions: August 10th - August 28th (Tuesdays and Thursdays) In person practice session in Sacramento: September 10th In person celebratory event in Oakland: September 17th Session 1: Program Overview and Fireside Chat Session 2: Accessing Capital: Effective Funding Strategies for Growth/The Power of Capital Session 3: Marketing and Branding Strategies Session 4: Using Technology to Grow your business, including AI Session 5: Negotiation and Scaling Sales and Revenue Models Session 6: The Art of Pitching/Storytelling Need Capital for Your Business?

We connect small businesses like yours with the right network of funders through CRF Connect . Fill out the pre-application form below in just a few minutes. Our network of capital providers will review your profile and reach out with the best funding options for your situation.

It's free, fast, and no strings attached. You don't need to go door to door — we make the connection for you. This form is the first step toward accessing resources that can transform your business.

Fill out the form below and take the next step: Meet our San Antonio Cohort Passionate Mexican Woman, former IT by profession and dedicated to coffee by election, she… Tiana Symmonds is the Founder and Leadership Architect of AskTiana Solutions, a premier… J.

Faith Bio is the Founder and CEO of Iron Grace, LLC dba Peace n’ Pilates, a culturally… Kat Sterling is the Co-Founder and COO of NüSpira, a health and wellness brand providing… Sheila Naya is the co-founder and CEO of AKINYI, a premium skincare brand.

Her goal is to… Nesha Brown is the Executive Director of Mint To Prosper Foundation and the founder of… Enrique Treviño is a Texas entrepreneur and founder of a family-owned snack company focused… Gabrielle Nguyen is the Owner of APDAT Print Co.

, a screen printing shop and event screen… Marisa Gonzalez is the Founder and Clinical Director of Juniper Therapy, a telehealth… Happyness Tea Company LLC Catherine Derr is the founder of Happyness Tea Company, a craft loose leaf tea blender.

Her… Diana DiPietro built Swoon from a vision that was deeply personal and, in many ways,… Marathon Kids is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving youth health and wellness… Passionate Mexican Woman, former IT by profession and dedicated to coffee by election, she created a company called Olla express cafe in 2017, using her own nostalgia and homesickness craving for cafe de olla.

She created a cultural concept through gastronomy innovating with unique and traditional latin flavors for a lovely experience. Rescuing recipes from her Abuelas, starting in a vintage mobile unit and growing the brand in a long journey from a coffee truck and all the way to retail with her Piloncillo Syrup considered one of the best products in Texas in 2021.

She opened a brick and mortar in 2023 in Downtown San Antonio with a great potential to be an amazing reference of Mexican hospitality and a must go place to visit in San Antonio as a tourist and locals as well. Tiana Symmonds is the Founder and Leadership Architect of AskTiana Solutions, a premier leadership architecture and strategic advisory firm.

The company helps high-achieving leaders move from mere occupancy to absolute Architectural Sovereignty™ by designing new professional floor plans. AskTiana Solutions started in 2025 when Tiana realized she was an Architect living in a world of Firefighters and wanted to fix the broken wiring before the fire starts.

She acts as a fractional leader and leads The Architect's Circle™, a 6-month build season that moves executives from tactical labor to sovereign design. Tiana believes that data-rich does not mean people-poor and works to ensure leaders stop being the insulation that keeps everyone else warm while they are freezing in the draft.

Press & Recognition: To date, she has been recognized for co-inventing a patented AI-driven returns system at Amazon and earning a perfect 100 Net Promoter Score for her flagship program. Her work has also been featured in YES, HONEY. J.

Faith Bio is the Founder and CEO of Iron Grace, LLC dba Peace n’ Pilates, a culturally rooted Pilates brand offering community-based wellness experiences and premium athleisure. Her mission is to make Pilates accessible, culturally inclusive, and transformative for women, especially women of color, through movement, mindfulness, and community.

Peace n’ Pilates was founded in 2025 after Faith experienced a personal shift through Pilates, using fitness as a way to reconnect with her faith, discipline, and inner peace. As Founder and CEO, she leads brand strategy, class programming, instructor development, and the expansion of both pop-up experiences and a future studio model.

Faith believes that wellness should not be exclusive, but a lifestyle that empowers women to feel strong, grounded, and aligned in every aspect of their lives. To date, Peace n’ Pilates has hosted curated wellness events and continues to build a growing community across the DMV and Dallas metroplex.

Kat Sterling is the Co-Founder and COO of NüSpira, a health and wellness brand providing clean, functional products designed to support daily habits for energy, immunity, and overall well-being. Her mission is to make wellness simple, accessible, and sustainable through convenient, high-quality products that fit into everyday life.

NüSpira was founded in 2024 after Kat lost her corporate role and struggled to find wellness products that were clean, convenient, and effective, inspiring her and her husband to create solutions that truly work. As Co-Founder, Kat oversees daily operations, strategic growth, partnerships, and product development, ensuring the brand delivers quality and impact at scale.

Kat believes that everyone deserves access to simple, effective tools to take control of their health and build better daily habits. To date, Kat is an Amazon Best-Selling author, a 2025 Black Women in Executive Leadership Woman of Wellness Award recipient, and has been featured on Atlanta Live and in Flourish Magazine. Sheila Naya is the co-founder and CEO of AKINYI, a premium skincare brand.

Her goal is to provide products that nourish and rejuvenate the skin. AKINYI was founded in June 2022, when Sheila and her husband, JD, were frustrated with skincare products that did not work for them. As the co-founder and CEO of AKINYI, Sheila oversees marketing, communications, and business development.

Sheila believes that skincare steps don't have to be complicated, which is why AKINYI was created to simplify the skincare routine by providing premium products that work. To date, AKINYI has been recognized as the beauty pick for summer 2024.

Nesha Brown is the Executive Director of Mint To Prosper Foundation and the founder of PurposeMint, a fintech platform designed to help asset-limited households build real savings and long-term financial stability. Her mission is to help families move from financial fragility to lasting stability by reclaiming the $1,100 “juggling tax” extracted by predatory systems and replacing it with real savings and access to opportunity.

PurposeMint was developed as a spinout of the Conqueror Community Savings Program after early cohorts showed that families could consistently build $500+ safety nets when given the right structure, tools, and support. As founder of PurposeMint, Nesha leads product development, institutional partnerships with banks and credit unions, and revenue strategy, while also serving as Executive Director of Mint To Prosper Foundation.

Nesha believes that stability starts with access to the right systems—not just information—and that when families can build even a $500 safety net, it can shift their entire financial trajectory. To date, Nesha has been recognized as a Baton Rouge Changemaker and Community Hero by MetroMorphosis and has been selected for programs such as Build Up 2026, Female Founders Pitch Night, The Mine, and the SBA THRIVE Emerging Leaders Program.

Enrique Treviño is a Texas entrepreneur and founder of a family-owned snack company focused on creating bold, innovative products with strong local roots. Starting from a small operation, Enrique built the business through hard work, creativity, and a passion for developing unique snacks that stand out in the market.

He is best known for products like Good Find Pork Rinds and Coco Chops, which combine quality ingredients with original flavor concepts. With a background in business and a hands-on approach to leadership, Enrique is focused on expanding production, investing in larger-scale operations, and growing partnerships with major retailers across Texas and beyond. Gabrielle Nguyen is the Owner of APDAT Print Co.

, a screen printing shop and event screen printing company. Her mission to provide brands a fun and interactive way to get in front of their audience. APDAT Print Co.

was founded in 2014 when a local band needed merch for their show. Word-of-mouth spread like wildfire and they quickly became the go-to shop for promotional merch. After figuring out how to take their print shop on the road, APDAT Print Co.

started screen printing onsite at conferences and trade shows. As the Owner of APDAT Print Co. , Gabrielle is the first point of contact for quotes, setting up event logistics, and everything in-between including payroll and day-to-day business operations.

She relies on her production team to make the merch magic happen. With a background in brand identity, Gabrielle believes that creating a unique brand experience can leave a memorable impression on their audience. To date, APDAT Print Co.

has been featured in Voyage Houston and recognized by wholesale shirt vendors as a specialist in live event screen printing. Marisa Gonzalez is the Founder and Clinical Director of Juniper Therapy, a telehealth therapy practice licensed in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Colorado specializing in ADHD, trauma, and couples therapy.

Her mission is to make high-quality, identity affirming mental health care accessible to LGBTQ+ communities, neurodivergent adults, and underserved populations across three states. Juniper Therapy was founded when Marisa recognized that the clients who needed support the most faced the most barriers, to finding culturally responsive care, to affording it, and to accessing it at all.

As Founder and Clinical Director, Marisa oversees all clinical operations, provides supervision to pre-licensed MFT associates, and manages multi-state licensure and insurance credentialing. Marisa believes that diverse practice owners are as essential to mental health equity as diverse clinicians and that building one is an act of community care.

Happyness Tea Company LLC Catherine Derr is the founder of Happyness Tea Company, a craft loose leaf tea blender. Her mission is to provide unique teas grounded in traditional herbal principles. Happyness Tea Company was founded in 2013 when friends started buying Happyness Herbal Blend out of Catherine's kitchen.

As Founder of Happyness Tea Company, Catherine oversees new product development and branding. Catherine believes that a cup of tea can solve many of life's problems. To date, Happyness Tea Company has been recognized as the #3 Tea Shop in San Antonio in 2025.

Diana DiPietro built Swoon from a vision that was deeply personal and, in many ways, counter-cultural. In an industry that often rewards speed, volume, and transactional efficiency, Diana chose a different pat, one grounded in foundational excellence, mentorship, and the radical belief that a beauty appointment can be genuinely transformational for the person receiving it.

As a Latina entrepreneur, Diana brings to her work a cultural inheritance of resilience, warmth, and community-first values. She understands from lived experience what it means to navigate systems that were not designed with women like her in mind — systems that too often underestimate the ambition, skill, and economic potential of minority women business owners.

She built Swoon not despite those barriers, but in direct response to them. Her business reflects who she is: a woman who leads with empathy and operates with integrity. From the atmosphere she has cultivated — what her clients describe as a space that "breathes heart" — to her commitment to developing confident, skilled women professionals on her team, every decision Diana makes is rooted in purpose.

She is not simply running a business. She is proving a thesis: that excellence and empathy, when combined, create something the market is hungry for and that communities genuinely need. "She built Swoon not despite the barriers, but in direct response to them."

Marathon Kids is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving youth health and wellness by helping kids build lifelong habits of movement through running and physical activity programs. Since 1995, Marathon Kids has supported schools, coaches, and communities with free, evidence-based tools and technology designed to get kids moving in fun, inclusive, and goal-oriented ways.

Our core offering is the Marathon Kids program and digital platform, Marathon Kids Connect, which enables schools and youth organizations to easily launch and manage run clubs and physical activity programs. Through our platform, educators and coaches can roster participants, track miles and active minutes, celebrate milestones, and engage families and communities in supporting student wellness.

We also provide curriculum resources, rewards systems, reporting tools, and district-level integrations that help schools scale participation while reducing administrative burden. What makes Marathon Kids unique is our focus on accessibility and sustainability.

Our programs are designed to work in underserved and under-resourced communities, ensuring every child has the opportunity to experience the physical, social, and emotional benefits of movement regardless of background or ability level. At our core, Marathon Kids exists to create joyful movement experiences that help children develop confidence, resilience, goal-setting skills, and healthy habits that can last a lifetime.

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be/ZBtL7jvOflo" data-max-height="" data-max-width=""> 2021 BREAKTHROUGH Los Angeles 2022 BREAKTHROUGH New Orleans 2022 BREAKTHROUGH Philadelphia 2023 BREAKTHROUGH New York City 2023 BREAKTHROUGH Oakland 2024 BREAKTHROUGH Atlanta 2024 BREAKTHROUGH Houston 2026 BREAKTHROUGH San Antonio Native Tongue Communications During more than 30 years in advertising, Marissa Nance has invested into her own very… Stand Together Ventures Lab Keeisi is an entrepreneur, scientist, and first-gen advocate.

Keeisi is driven by a desire… National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) Shalayna Williams is a published author, business professional, and community leader. As a… Art2lectual Creative Consulting Jennifer Norton Simpson is the founder of Art2lectual Creative Consulting, a boutique… Dr. Keera Godfrey, the CEO and Founder of Naris Communications, an organizational change… Jacqueline V.

Twillie is a renowned expert on women's leadership and a master negotiator,… KLeveille Entertainment & Publishing Native Tongue Communications During more than 30 years in advertising, Marissa Nance has invested into her own very special personal quest - driving representation in the industry’s workforce AND work. She creates pathways for BIPOC communities to have a seat at the table.

In 2019, she left a 30-year career at Omnicom, where she was one of their first Black/Female, Managing Directors, to launch the FIRST and ONLY minority and female certified media agency, Native Tongue Communications (NTC).

Built on her decades of success, NTC is THE place where Marissa and her team can now advocate for clients that have included Amazon, Pine- Sol, Burt’s Bees, Peanuts, Nike, Microsoft, Intel, Eli Lilly, McDonald’s and Clorox. She serves as protector, advisor and champion for countless women and BIPOC people, all through the lens of media, branded content, DEA&I and marketing communications.

She is an industry leader and a voice for the future. Perhaps most importantly, NTC is 100% owned by Marissa, which means no matter the challenges faced as a small independent agency, she is able to remain steadfast in her NTC commitment to empower those who need it. Stand Together Ventures Lab Keeisi is an entrepreneur, scientist, and first-gen advocate.

Keeisi is driven by a desire to enrich the lives of others and make a difference by supporting inclusive access to capital and leadership development. She previously worked with NASA spinoff, Techstars’ Workforce Development Accelerator, Common Future and currently serves as platform operations manager at Stand Together Venture Lab.

Keeisi obtained her Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2019 and a Master of Science in Physics from the same institution in 2020. In her free time she enjoys cross-country road trips, DIY projects of all kinds, hiking, camping, and spending time with her family.

National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) Shalayna Williams is a published author, business professional, and community leader. As a supplier diversity professional, she has had the pleasure of working in the Public, State, and Private sector.

Her passion for helping minority business owners gain access to the necessary tools to build and grow profitable businesses guided her to her role as Associate Director of Certification for the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC).

Art2lectual Creative Consulting Jennifer Norton Simpson is the founder of Art2lectual Creative Consulting, a boutique agency dedicated to crafting strategic marketing plans that align precisely with her clients’ goals.

With a background in entertainment PR under her own brand, JNoS PR, Jennifer brings high-level expertise with a uniquely personal touch, guiding both corporate and nonprofit organizations toward achieving impactful results. In the ever-evolving world of marketing, Jennifer’s boutique approach ensures that brands stay agile while rooted in strategy.

Art2lectual provides executive-level counsel, merging creativity with business objectives to deliver cohesive campaigns across digital and traditional platforms. Jennifer’s hands-on involvement in every project guarantees clients feel supported, informed, and valued—whether through hybrid work environments or one-on-one collaboration.

Certified and deeply committed, Jennifer tailors her services to bring out the best in each brand, working tirelessly to make sure their marketing speaks volumes and drives lasting connections. Dr. Keera Godfrey, the CEO and Founder of Naris Communications, an organizational change management consultancy, specializing in digital adoption and culture transformation, and she is the Founder of DecisionLoop.

AI, an AI-powered SaaS platform that connects the voice of employees to changes in the workplace that impact their day-to-day work, productivity, and overall success. She is an angel investor, LP investor with How Women Invest (HWI) Fund II, and an Operating Advisor with HWI Fund III. An advocate for women’s health and empowerment, she is also the author of the book, Leaving Normal: How to Let Go and Move the Heck On.

Jacqueline V. Twillie is a renowned expert on women's leadership and a master negotiator, recognized for her work in narrowing the gender wage gap, particularly in male-dominated industries. As the founder of ZeroGap.

co, a firm specializing in leadership training for women, she has empowered thousands through her workshops, coaching, and negotiation strategies. Jacqueline is an Amazon Best Selling Author, celebrated for creating the L. A.

T. T. E.

Negotiation Method and the Resilient Leaders Program, aiming to support and elevate underrepresented leaders. Her mission focuses on teaching women to negotiate effectively, thereby reducing the racial and gender wage gaps.

Through her efforts, Jacqueline has facilitated over 250 workshops, coached over 1,500 women, and helped negotiate over $30M in compensation packages, establishing herself as a pivotal figure in promoting workplace equality. For informational/educational purposes only: Digitalundivided is not affiliated with JPMorganChase.

The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of (or endorsement by) JPMorganChase. Views and strategies described may not be appropriate for everyone and are not intended as specific advice/recommendation for any individual. Digitalundivided is solely responsible for the information presented.

JPMorganChase or its affiliates and/or subsidiaries do not warrant its completeness or accuracy. You should carefully consider your needs and objectives before making any decisions and consult the appropriate professional(s). Outlooks and past performance are not guarantees of future results.

The material is not intended to provide legal, tax, or financial advice or to indicate the availability or suitability of any JPMorganChase Bank, N. A. product or service.