Winners Revealed in reSET’s Annual Impact Challenge

ewalsh • October 30, 2015

-13 New England Start-Ups Awarded $75,000 in Cash and Professional Services;

$100,000 Prize Purse Announced for 2016-

(Hartford, Conn., Oct. 30, 2015) – reSET, the Social Enterprise Trust, (www.SocialEnterpriseTrust.org), whose mission is advancing the social enterprise sector, revealed the winners of its annual Impact Challenge last night at The Society Room of Hartford to a record, sellout crowd of 300.

Now in its fifth year, the reSET Impact Challenge recognizes the most innovative and impactful early stage ventures and start-ups from all industries throughout New England. An esteemed group of judges, including Sherrell Dorsey of Uber and Triple Pundit, Adam Dotson of Ironwood Capital, Claire Leonardi, Anthony Price of LootScout and Paul Witinski of Ironwood Capital, narrowed down the over 100 applicants to 12 honorees. The ultimate winners of the competition’s Diamond, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Investor’s Choice awards are listed below. The People’s Choice winner was selected via more than 1,865 online votes (also see below).

Diamond Level – $20,000 + Professional Services Package (1 Winner)

FRESH Farm Aquaponics (http://www.freshfarmct.org)

Gold Level – $10,000 + Professional Services Package (2 Winners)

Movia Robotics (www.moviarobotics.com)

Planet Fuel Beverage Company (http://www.planetfuel.com)

Silver – $5,000 + Professional Services Package (2 Winners)

Hartford Prints! (hartfordprints.com)

Parrot MD (parrotmd.org)

People’s Choice – $1,500 + Professional Services Package (1 Winner)

BookBugs (www.bookbugs.net)

Investor’s Choice – $1,500 (1 Winner)

Send Help Back Home (www.sendhelptoday.com)

Bronze – $500 (7 Winners)

Asarasi, Inc. (www.asarasi.com)

Beautiful Day / Providence Granola Project (www.providencegranola.com)

BookBugs (www.bookbugs.net)

Daily General Counsel (www.dailygeneralcounsel.com)

Dream See Do (https://www.dreamseedo.org)

Hugo & Hoby (www.hugoandhoby.com)

LOTUS Alliance LLC (www.lotusalliance.org)

To mark reSET’s fifth anniversary, the theme of this year’s Impact Challenge was “Welcome to the Future,” signaling that social enterprise has not only been established as a viable business concept, but is rapidly developing as the future of business.

The contest’s $75,000 prize purse was made possible by a large community of supporters, including 710 Studios; AARP; Aeton Law Partners; Bank of America; Bear’s Smokehouse Barbecue; BNY Mellon Wealth Management; Cantor Colburn; Carter Realty; Central Connecticut State University; Clark Insurance; Comcast Business; Community Investment Corporation; Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development; Connecticut Innovations; Day Pitney; Farrell & Farrell Consulting Services; Fiondella, Milone & LaSaracina; Hartford Flavor Co.; Health Educated, Inc.; HealthyCT; HEDCO Inc.; Marcum LLP; Minuteman Press; Murtha Cullina; NoRA Cupcake Company; Powerstation Events; Pullman & Comley; Qualidigm; Quinnipiac University; Remarkable Technologies; SnapSeat Photo Booths; Tariq Farid Foundation; The City of Hartford; The Hartford; The Kitchen at Billings Forge; The Walker Group; The Travelers Companies; The Walker Group (reSET’s Founding Partner); Trinity College; and Updike, Kelly & Spellacy.

reSET also receives generous support from its Strategic Partners: Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development,Connecticut Innovations, MetroHartford Alliance, and The Walker Group.

In addition to yesterday’s awards ceremony, Connecticut Public Radio host John Dankosky moderated a panel, “The Future of Social Enterprise,” about how social innovation is transforming industries. The panel featured disruptive innovators Jean Hammond, co-founder and partner of LearnLaunch; Makaela Kingsley, director of Wesleyan University’s Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship; and Kirc Savage, co-founder of start-up Send Help Back Home.

A separate Impact Venture Showcase took place immediately prior to the event, in which seven early stage, impact-driven businesses pitched their business to an audience of investors, advisors, and guests seeking both social and financial returns.

Since its inception, reSET’s Impact Challenge has awarded more than $180,000 to scaling entrepreneurs. At the awards event, reSET CEO Kate Emery announced that the 2016 prize purse will be $100,000.

About reSET

reSET is a nonprofit organization whose mission is advancing the social enterprise sector. Its strategic goals are threefold: to be the “go-to” place for impact entrepreneurs, to make Hartford known as Impact City, and Connecticut the Social Enterprise state. reSET serves all entrepreneurs, but specializes in social enterprise ― impact driven business with a double or triple bottom line. In addition to providing co-working space, accelerator and mentoring programs, reSET aims to inspire innovation and community collaboration, and to support entrepreneurs in creating market-based solutions to community challenges. reSET’s goal is to meet entrepreneurs wherever they are in their trajectory and to help them take their businesses to the next level.

reSET’s Impact Accelerator recently was a winner of the U.S. Small Business Administration Growth Accelerator Competition, the only Connecticut growth accelerator to receive the award this year. www.SocialEnterpriseTrust.org

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Leadership Transition Announcement: reSET Executive Director to Step Down in 2026

By awalsh • February 13, 2026

Dear reSET Community, The Board of Directors today announces the departure of Sarah Bodley as Executive Director of reSET in a planned transition later this year. The Board has immense gratitude for Sarah and all her contributions over the years. Over the last seven years, Sarah has built an amazing foundation for the organization and she leaves reSET in a strong position for continued growth and service. Sarah joined reSET in 2018 and over the past seven years has solidified and expanded reSET’s mission of supporting impact-driven entrepreneurs throughout Connecticut. Here are a few key highlights from Sarah’s time here: Facilitated the acquisition of Collab New Haven, expanding reSET’s footprint to a statewide geography and further enhancing our mission Developed and implemented new core programs including the award-winning Food Incubator, as well as the Food Accelerator, Retail Incubator, Measure What Matters, and Digital Marketing Mastermind Established reSET as a founding partner of the Hartford Culinary Collaborative, enabling greater connectivity and cooperation among food-centric support organizations in our region Doubled the organization’s budget to over 1 Million Dollars, securing multi-year State government grants Won the prestigious Neighborhood Builders Award from Bank of America, and the Leadership Greater Hartford Polaris Community Award in 2022 Established an endowment fund thanks to support from the Zachs Family Foundation to support the long term sustainability of reSET’s mission Over the coming months, we will be continuing our search to find reSET's next Executive Director. Sarah will stay onboard through June to ensure a smooth handoff to our next leader, and will be available as a resource throughout 2026. It is the Board of Directors’ priority, along with Sarah's, to make this transition as smooth as possible to continue the great work Sarah has helped us do over her tenure. The Executive Director’s Job Posting can be found at this link, and we invite you to keep in mind any potential candidates in your community or network that you think might be a great fit. The Board of Directors wishes Sarah the best of luck in her future endeavors. We are appreciative of the dedication and enthusiasm she has given to reSET over the last seven years, particularly navigating our organization seamlessly during the historic times of the pandemic, changes in administration, and an ever-evolving landscape of opportunity for entrepreneurs. We are confident that with Sarah’s support, this transition will be a smooth one for our Connecticut entrepreneurs, partners, and generous supporters. We look forward to continuing our growth and to serving our mission of supporting the social enterprise sector. If you have any questions or concerns during this transition, please don’t hesitate to reach out via contacting admin@resetco.org to get in touch with the board. Sincerely, Ali Lazowski + Dave Menard, co-chairs, reSET Board of Directors

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reSET Food and Retail Programs Featured in Radio Interview

July 7, 2025

Listen in to the replay of John Voket of Connoisseur Media's interview of reSET Food Program Manager Katrice Claudio and Program Manager Ndubisi Okeke that aired on Sunday July 6, 2025. They talked about the reSET programs that are enrolling for the fall--the Food Accelerator for food businesses looking to scale, and the Retail Incubator for early stage product-based businesses looking to ramp up for holiday markets in Connecticut. Listen here: https://audioboom.com/posts/8745230-reset-fall-program-preview The interview aired on the award-winning "For the People" show on Sunday, July 6 on WEBE 108 FM, STAR 99.9, WPLR FM and THe VOICE of Connecticut and on the podcast.