CUNY Startups

How often do you visit the Career Center?

Opportunities don't just happen, you create them!
Meet Lauren, University Associate Provost of Careers & Industry Partnerships at CUNY Central The City University of New York, Purnima, Director of Career & Professional Development at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Center for Career & Professional Development at John Jay College and Tara, Lehman College alumna and Director of CUNY Internships at CUNY Central.

Listen to their full episode now available here: https://youtu.be/sP_hFMGS4-U

Cooking is love made visible! As seen on Shark Tank and in the New York Times, Co-Founder and CEO of Burlap & Barrel Single Origin Spices, Ethan Frisch, is not only a culinary chef, but also a relentless social justice and food inequality activist. Ethan earned his bachelor’s degree at Macaulay Honors College & The City College of New York. It was through Ethan’s non-profit work in Afghanistan where he found the zest for a business opportunity. Ethan, along with his business partner Zohar, co-founded ‘Burlap and Barrel’ in 2016.

Burlap and Barrel’s mission is to end inequality and exploitation in food systems that disenfranchise skilled farmers. They do this by working directly with the best spice farmers, foragers and cooperatives around the world, to bring beautiful and unique spices and other foods to professional and home chefs in the United States. The spices are also naturally free of gluten and other additives, colorings, anti-caking agents and fillers. Looking for an internship? Food loving customer interested in buying affordable spices?

Well spice up your life and contact them here: care .com
Website: https://www.burlapandbarrel.com/

Tinabeth Piña is an EMMY® award winning multi-media journalist who has worked on air and behind the scenes for ABC, FOX, PBS, A&E, The History Channel & Oxygen, to name a few! She won her first EMMY® award for her writing/producing on VIVA!, a nationally syndicated program on Tribune stations that showcased Latinos in entertainment.

She’s currently the Managing Editor at CUNY TV - The City University of New York EMMY® award winning television station, as well as the Creator, Executive Producer and Host of LATiNAS, the channel’s monthly award-winning show that celebrates women of the Latinx community nationwide. Tinabeth is also the Creator, Executive Producer, and Host of the nationally syndicated and EMMY® nominated travel show on PBS, GLOBE SCHOLARS™ - a program that documents students as they study abroad.

Listen to Tinabeth’s Full Interview on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/en_X7bNY

CUNY & Beyond Podcast is BACK! And we’re kicking off Season Two with public affairs champion and Baruch College alumna, Yuridia Peña.

Holding a Master of Arts in Corporate Communication, Yuridia, founded Alta Consulting, a public relations and community affairs firm helping nonprofits, corporations and political campaigns achieve their public affairs goals. Her firm was listed as City & State’s Political PR Power 75 in 2024 and she was named City & State’s Responsible 100 in 2020.

Yuridia has held communications roles in government, labor, corporate and nonprofit spaces. She served as VP of Communications for , a healthcare company serving nearly 1 million Medicaid participants in New York, Deputy Press Secretary for , Communications Director for NYC Council Member Weprin, Communications Specialist at , and Senior Consultant for .

Some of her notable clients include George Latimer for Congress, Letitia James for Attorney General, Shaun Donovan for Mayor, the NYC Racial Justice Commission, The New York Immigration Coalition, NY Sun Works, ExpandED Schools, exalt youth, Rehabilitation Through the Arts, Bard Prison Initiative and Levy Konigsberg .

Listen to Yuridia’s Full Interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/r-BVl2zEH5c

California: Where even the sunshine takes selfies!
Co-Founder and Board Member of Glass House Brands, Jocelyn Rosenwald, doesn’t hesitate to tap into her unique skills and spearhead new opportunities. As a former founding teacher, with a master’s in education from Hunter College , Jocelyn spent four years shaping the lives of 1st graders and Kindergarteners. For the past 11 years, she’s expanded her professional portfolio in the investment and real estate industry.

In February 2020, she welcomed another venture, co-founding Glass House Brands, Inc. Glass House, with over 200 employees, grows high-quality, affordable cannabis in greenhouses in California. The abundant sunshine and mild coastal climate keep their plants thriving year-round. Glass House uses environmentally sensitive techniques and cutting-edge technology, including efficient computerized systems of fertigation, odor control, and precision agriculture. They believe cannabis should be a force for good, used to improve the lives of consumers, employees, communities, and the planet.

Learn more about the product services they’ve tailored to meet the broad range of needs in the cannabis community: https://glasshousebrands.com/

CUNY Startups is excited to announce we’re establishing a Student Advisory Board. We’re looking for CUNY Undergraduate and Graduate students willing to join our team to make a difference in the lives of college students and grow professionally in an innovative environment. If you or someone you know is interested in entrepreneurship, leadership development, and helping other students achieve their goals, we encourage applying.

Note:
To be eligible, you must be a current matriculated CUNY student during the 2024-2025 academic year. The suggested number of board members is 12-25 CUNY students. We will permit only one student from each CUNY college to sit on the board.

If interested, please complete and submit the application form here: https://forms.gle/imWRet9RGSv2xmtGA

Please spread the word within your networks and help us acquire stellar CUNY candidates to fill these multiple vacancies, for this inaugural initiative.

Creating her own success story, one milestone at a time
Although we’re ecstatic 11 of our CS alum were granted vendors access at TechDay, one of them, with a dual role as our Intern, clocked in that day for her final shift. It’s with great joy and sadness, that we present our Marketing Intern, Marwh Alzandani, with special recognition.

Yemen born, Marwh will be graduating from the College of Staten Island on Thursday, May 23 with a BS in Business Management. She’s been an invaluable asset to CUNY Startups these last 2 years as our webmistress, spearheading research projects, creating the Instagram segment ‘What Happens Next’, and suggesting interviewees for our podcasts. Including the recommendation of Read Alliance, a NPO she volunteered as a tutor in 2021. She’s been a wonderful team member to work with and has great problem-solving skills. What makes Marwh an outstanding individual is her attention to detail and eagerness to grow and learn.

In October 2021, she founded Easy Meets, an app that aligns your preferences with your friends and creates personalized itineraries and experiences, saving you time and money. Marwh has participated in numerous entrepreneurial competitions, including every program and competition offered by CUNY Startups. In September 2022, she joined our (New Venture Accelerator) NVA1 cohort, where she met one of her co-founders, Basmalla Attia, and won first place on Demo Day. She also met one of our volunteer mentors who worked at Tech Stars, and secured a concurrent, remote internship at Techstars. Marwh joined our NVA2 cohort (Spr23) and placed 3rd on Demo Day. Easy Meets also pitched in our inaugural Startup Battle w/ Berlin School of Economics and Law (Spr23), inaugural SaaS Startup Pitch w/CEAS Investments (SUM23), and CUNY Clash w/Amazon (Spr24). Marwh is proactive and uses each experience as a learning opportunity to improve her venture’s pitch. Based on the CUNY Clash judges’ feedback, she tweaked her pitch for two competitions the following week, where Easy Meets was victorious: 1st Place ($2K) at Baruch CEO Business Plan & Pitch Competition and 1st place ($15K) in the "Women In Tech" portion of the competition at The Zahn Innovation Center at CCNY. Talk about going out with a bang in your final year!

We want to thank Natalia Sandor, a CS alumna and CS mentor, who met Marwh during her LaunchPad Student Ambassador role at CSI and encouraged her to apply to intern with us. We're privileged to have met Marwh and are beyond proud of her educational, personal, and professional achievements. We look forward to seeing Marwh and Easy Meets flourish in the future. She’s already agreed to serve as a CS volunteer post-graduation and that’s a testament to her helpful character.

Download Easy Meets: https://easymeets.app/

Watch some of her pitches: https://www.youtube.com//videos

ICYMI: Or did you witness this event and have a burning desire to see the presentations again? Watch the 2024 CUNY Clash Ideas Competition Recap video on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/DSUp5__a354?si=fxbbA3FIKreF-DR0

Please don't forget to like, share, comment, and/or subscribe!

A dog is a man’s best friend🐕
We had a lovely conversation with CUNY Startups Alum & LaGuardia Community College alum, Rashi Arora, CEO and Co-Founder of CuddlyTails. CuddlyTails is an online platform that allows pet owners to book pre-verified sitters and walkers located in the same building or neighborhood who will take care of your furry baby like their own. In this FINAL episode of the season, Rashi explains how, with the help of our CUNY Startups accelerator program, she was able to conceive and expand her pet sitting business across 40 cities within the U.S.

Watch Rashi's Full Interview:
https://youtu.be/CoGwWVC_f7g

Where Can You Find a Trustworthy Petsitter? EP4: Where Are They Now? Series w/ Rashi Arora CUNY Startups Alum, Rashi Arora, talks about how an entrepreneurship accelerator program helped transform her budding idea, to a full-scale pet sitting busin...

Doors are meant to be opened!
Eleven of our CUNY Startups Alum have been granted a special opportunity to exhibit their startup ventures at Tech Day! Tech Day is the largest startup event in America filled with thousands of new potential investors, talent to hire, customers to connect with, and partnerships to explore. It’s where startups find the resources they need to launch, grow, and scale their businesses.

Our CUNY Startups alum are participating and were offered: complimentary attendance at all pre and post-show parties, attendance at all panel discussions & fireside chats on site! It pays to participate in our programs😉

Tech Day will be held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center on Friday, May 10, 2024, 10am – 5pm. Come support our alum and network with other professionals. Register Here: https://techdayhq.com/expo-attendee-registration-page

The City University of New York students are 'Chasing Adventures' and we're showing up for them by 'Capturing Memories'.

ICYMI: Our Spring 2024 NVA 2 cohort delivered phenomenal business pitches during Demo Day two weeks ago. Watch the recap on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/cP8NQGwqKhA?si=KNr1DT_-BDhbwQ1l

Please don't forget to like, share, comment, and/or subscribe to our channel if you want to see more content.

Pitch Competition- NVA2 Spring 2024 Demo Day CUNY Startups hosted a Demo Day for our Spring 2024 NVA 2 cohort at the Lawrence N. Field Center for Entrepreneurship within CUNY Baruch College. Watch the r...

Come Snack, Clap, and Pop Up at our 3rd Annual CUNY Clash Ideas Competition. Join us in person at Amazon, on May 3, at 11 am and watch The City University of New York students (from Baruch College Bronx Community College Queens College Borough of Manhattan Community College/CUNY CUNY John Jay. The City College of New York Kingsborough Community College) battle it out!

Students will be presenting ideas to you and a panel of judges for a chance at $20,000 in cash prizes. Special guests may drop by 😉😉. Did we mention it’s free and open to the public? Make sure to RSVP to secure your seat, since there’s limited space.

RSVP ticket link closes Tuesday, 4/30 or until we sell out. Get your ticket today!
Ticket Link: cuny-startups.ticketleap.com

Note: Only registered guests will be permitted to enter. Please bring your ticketleap ticket, preferably via mobile device (save the planet), for check-in purposes.

Winners never quit! Congrats to the 12 student startup teams from our Spring 2024 NVA2 cohort for delivering amazing business pitches at Demo Day, Friday, April 5. It’s never easy launching a business venture, especially when life is constantly throwing curveballs. You’ve all shown true GRIT by dedicating invaluable time, energy, creativity, and strategies to completing this FREE 10-week accelerator program. We are proud of you, and you should be proud of yourselves too. Students at always rise to the occasion!
The City University of New York

1st Place- $1,500: Kiri
2nd Place- $500: Wheel Eating
3rd Place- $250: Simple Sustainable Solutions
Audience Fan Favorite- Free CS hoodie: Simple Sustainable Solutions

We want to give a heartfelt THANK YOU to the volunteer mentors who’ve helped guide our student teams each week (check them out on our website). Without you, there wouldn’t be a program. And a special thank you to Ying Zhou, Jan Renner, and Harini Mittal, PhD Mittal, who volunteered as our Demo Day judges.

BTW: Each team spent time creating 2-minute promo videos for their venture. Check them out on our Youtube Here: https://lnkd.in/epBDttzC

SAVE THE DATE: Recap video will also be available via YouTube on April 17

Shamelessplug: NVA1 Applications are now open! Apply Here: https://lnkd.in/ehn_ehZs

CUNY Students: Fall 2024 NVA 1 Applications are open!!
We’ve streamlined our modules and it’s giving more bang for zero bucks.

Learn more and apply here: https://forms.gle/tiA9agQT9gXdHD3a8

You don’t need sight to have a vision
Six audacious women had a vision for everyone to see what is possible. So, in 1926, they founded Visions, a non-profit that promotes independence, employment, socialization, vocational rehabilitation and family services to those who are blind or visually impaired. We met with the recently retired Executive Director, Nancy D. Miller, who dedicated almost 40 years making an impact at this progressive organization.

Listen to NPO Squared EP7 to learn more about Visions and how you can work at this organization known for its amazing employee benefits, volunteer, or donate.
Listen Here: https://youtu.be/E5GJdIzYsfo

Working While Blind or Visually Impaired | EP7: NPO2 Podcast w/Nancy D. Miller CUNY Startups host, Adia, is joined by guest Nancy D. Miller! This week's episode is full of eye catching success stories of the blind and visually impaired ...

Unforgettable, Unmissable...
We're excited to announce our NVA2 Spr24 Cohort is nearing the 10 week finish line. RSVP to get your FREE ticket to watch the final pitch competition live at the Field Center ➡️ Baruch College Audience members will vote for their favorite pitch and the fan favorite team will win a special prize.

Sign up here: cuny-startups.ticketleap.com/cuny-startups-demo-day---spring-2024/
by 12pm Thursday, April 4*

You’ve got a new match!

We interviewed CUNY Startups Alum, Arif Khan for our series, "Where are they Now?" Arif is the Co-Founder of WooStudy (*currently undergoing a name change*). WooStudy* is a platform that matches students with their DREAM university, for Free99. On EP3, Arif reflects on his over 25-year experience in the financial industry, including working for Bloomberg, and how he transitioned to developing an ed-tech platform.

Listen to Arif's Full Interview Here: https://youtu.be/goz07YDqbwA

3 Tips From a Founder | EP3: Where Are They Now? Series w/ Arif Khan CUNY Startups Alum, Arif Khan, recalls on the benefits his involvement in our accelerator program had on his business and how he capitalized on his extensive...

After receiving several emails from CUNY students requesting more time, CUNY Startups has extended the CUNY Clash submission one final time!

Upload your 60 second video using this direct link: https://forms.gle/MBkgZX9w481P7kJW6

****New Deadline: Monday, March 4****

Introducing the innovative powerhouse, riosakairi , Artistic Director at The Jazz Gallery . For decades, Rio has been a formidable agent committed to revamping The Jazz Gallery, which is open 4 nights a week in . The Jazz Gallery serves as an international center, where the youngest generation of emerging professional musicians are nurtured with opportunities to collaborate with their peers, discover and refine their creativity, and perform in front of eager audiences. Listen to Rio's interview on the CUNY Startups podcast, NPO Squared EP6, to learn more about The Jazz Gallery and how you can perform as a , rent the space, and/or attend .

Check out Rio’s Full Interview Here: https://youtu.be/UXJa-NrecLs

We received your emails and DMs asking for more time to record your ideas. So we're extending the application deadline for CUNY Clash, One More Time!! Upload your 60 second video explaining your idea by Friday, February 23 11:59pm, for a chance to win FREE CASH!

Thanks to our partner

more and by scanning the QR code or w/link in bio

Upload a 60 second video for a chance to win free cash!
A goal is a dream with a deadline. And that deadline has been extended!
Applications now close on Tuesday, February 20

Learn more and apply here: https://cunystartups.com/clash/

From Scientist to Entrepreneur!
We interviewed CUNY Startups Alum, Shaina Raklyar, for our new series, "Where are they Now?" Shaina is the Co-Founder and CEO of Next Generation Quantum Corp, a City Tech CUNY Alum, Physics PhD candidate at The Graduate Center, CUNY, and Physics Professor at . She's also a new volunteer mentor at Cuny Startups. On episode 2, she recounts her CUNY Startups accelerator experience as a student and shares how she was able to pivot from a biomedicine career path to starting her own company.

Check out Shaina’s Interview Here: https://lnkd.in/gnc8Yq_

Countdown mode: ON
Apply to CUNY Clash today, before time eludes you!

GRIT formula: Skill= effort x talent. ACHIEVEMENT= effort x skill
By Angela Duckworth, Author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Learn more and apply here: https://cunystartups.com/clash/

Think outside the sink

charity: water is making a splash, funding almost 140K water projects across the globe. Their goal is to provide basic access to clean and safe drinking water to the remaining 703 million people. We had an eye-opening discussion with Anthony Marinos, Head of Business Development at charity: water, and discovered three ways students can support and raise awareness for their cause. One impactful method is to start a fundraising club on your campus. Unfortunately, water doesn’t grow on trees. So, all hands and hearts on deck are needed to ensure everyone has access to safe and clean H20.

Tune in to NPOSquared EP5 to learn more about charity: water and how you can advocate for, volunteer with, and seek employment at this NGO!

How to : https://youtu.be/sPjxTyxDcpk?si=8qKPuc09gR4YZLSB
& on the YouTube Music App

Got GRIT?
Do you have what it takes to get an idea off the ground?
Enter CUNY Clash Today! ALL CUNY STUDENTS ARE ELIGIBLE!!!!!

1) Share a recorded video explaining your idea
2) Then hit the ground running

Learn more and apply here: https://cunystartups.com/clash/

Application closes February 16, 2024

Baruch College Borough of Manhattan Community College/CUNY Bronx Community College College of Staten Island Queens College Lehman College Brooklyn College

ICYMI: Our Fall 2023 NVA 1 cohort delivered amazing business pitches during Demo Day last month. Watch the recap on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/TqXhJGM2AfE

What are you waiting for? 🗓
NVA2 Applications close tomorrow Friday, December 29.🕐
That's one day away!!!!

Gather your:
✍️ Team
✍️ MVP (Learning Protoype)
And APPLY NOW

New Venture Accelerator 2 (NVA2) is a FREE 10-week program for students and alum with a startup team.

Watch Promo Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3tvpW8rDxw
Learn more and apply here: https://cunystartups.com/accelerator/

Go Green or Go Home
We had an engaging conversation with Manuela Zamora, Executive Director and pioneer at York Sun Works' Greenhouse Project. NY Sun Works is dedicated to bringing high-quality to k-12 students and in areas where it’s most needed. They envision a generation of environmental innovators, empowered to create solutions to global climate challenges. Tune in to EP4 today to learn about their impactful programs and youth conferences that are rapidly expanding and changing our NYC public schools.

Listen: https://youtu.be/sP7juiKAkRE or on the YouTube Music App

SPA DAY GIVEAWAY!!!
To close out finals week, we are giving away two free daily admission spa passes to a CUNY student. Visit our IG page to find out more details.

You were born to shine!

And if you want the opportunity to knock, it’s time to build the door. Get ready to LINK, LEARN, & LAUNCH your startup! New Venture Accelerator 2 (NVA2) is a FREE 10 week program for students and alum with a startup team.

Bring your:
- Team
- MVP (Learning Prototype)

We're here to help. We’ll provide:
- The tools needed to build the door

Watch Promo Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3tvpW8rDxw
Learn more and apply here: https://cunystartups.com/accelerator/