Marvina Wilkes, Red Dress Events, LLC, Dorchester, MA: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
Sixteen years ago, Marvina’s church auxiliary needed to raise money. She created a fundraising position and started with a fish fry. After the first event, she received numerous phone calls asking to plan events, parties, conferences, etc. From ther...
Wangari Fahari, Fahari Records, Inc., Beverly, MA: 2023 Rising Star Winner
Wangari Fahari is a Kenyan singer, writer, and activist . She started Fahari Records to enhance the visibility and expansion of African artists for greater engagement, appreciation, and understanding worldwide.
Kim Estrada, GuacEstrada, Everett, MA: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
Kim started her business to share Guatemalan, cilantro-free, guacamole with her community. She wanted to showcase her Mom’s family recipe, which is different from the traditional Mexican style.
Sara Altukhaim, The Toyary, Melrose, MA: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
During the depths of Covid-19, Sara launched The Toyary, a toy lending library, with the mission to save sanity and minimize waste. Through her business, she offers an alternative path to toy consumption and constructive play—one that she hopes posi...
Dora Aguilar, Bright Beginners Daycare LLC, Randolph, MA: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
As a mother of three, Dora found it extremely difficult to work and raise her children while providing the necessary amount of safety, nurturing, and love needed to instill a well-rounded foundation. She knew she wasn’t alone in this struggle. She ...
Vera Sheehan, Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, South Burlington, VT: 2023 Rising Star Winner
The Indian Arts and Crafts Law of 1990 requires that artists need to be citizens of a state or federally recognized tribes. For four Abenaki tribes, it had been illegal for them to sell their artwork as Native American made art in the State of Verm...
Lauren Palmieri, Arrowhead Lodge, Milton, VT: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
Recognizing there were not enough opportunities to connect with neighbors on a day-to-day basis in her small community, Lauren opened Arrowhead Lodge in Milton, VT in February 2020. She sells craft beverages that support local people and believes t...
Delna Khambatta, Delna’s Kitchen, Williston, VT: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
Delna is passionate about plant-based, handcrafted, small batch meals with layers of flavors. The growing awareness of different cultures, and the acceptance of diversity has spurred a demand for ethnic meals. Delna recognized this as an opportunit...
Diane Abruzzini, Rigorous Technology, Williston, VT: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
Diane recognized how vital regional manufacturing companies are to the economies and communities that surround them. Her company Rigorous Technology helps these industrial manufacturers increase efficiencies through automation technologies which pr...
Laura Rios, WHAT A WOOD WORK, Dover, NH: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
Laura’s business idea for WHAT A WOOD WORK (WAWW) stemmed from a combination of pandemic-related hardships in early 2020. The resulting lockdown triggered an extreme rise in puzzle demand and an unprecedented world shortage. In May 2020, she reache...
Charlene Huard Marcoux, Home Base Transportation, Manchester, NH: 2023 Rising Star Winner
As the mother of neurodivergent children, Charlene saw through the eyes of a parent the importance of having safe, reliable, and efficient transportation for special needs families. After using these services for her own children and then working wi...
Kelly Dwyer, Nature Education Opportunities, Hooksett, NH: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
Kelly truly believes in the restorative benefits of connecting with nature on a daily basis and has set business goals to deliver these to a variety of audiences. She launched Nature Education Opportunities in May 2021 with the goal of connecting pe...
Kerri Dutton, LNA Health Careers, Manchester, NH: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
Kerri’s previous experience as founder of “My CNA Now”, where she developed the first hybrid LNA program in the state of New Hampshire provided the background she needed when LNA Health Careers changed ownership in 2020. Now serving as Director of ...
Traci Bisson, Golden Dog Adventure Co., Barrington, NH: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
Traci is inspired to help connect people and their dogs by providing training and socializing opportunities to bond and build relationships - as well as to reconnect people with nature to improve their health and wellbeing. Her services reach a comm...
Tiesha Sinouthasy, Peace of Mind Nannies, East Providence, RI: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
After college, Tiesha worked as a nanny throughout various babysitting agencies in Rhode Island. Her experiences exposed her to the frustrations parents of children with disabilities would frequently share about the difficulty in finding quality ch...
Deborah Hickey, Deb Hickey Photography and Collage, Providence, RI: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
Deborah first began her pet portraiture business during the pandemic. Friends would send her photos of their pets and she would find portraits from the early 1900s of people or families that would match their cat’s or dog's personality.
Aura Fajardo, Aura’s Chocolate Bar, Cranston, RI: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
Aura’s chocolate journey started with her growing family’s need for birthday cakes. This inspired her to learn more as she signed up for classes at Johnson & Wales thinking she was going to become a cake decorator. While her first chocolate class...
Syroya Eugene, Syroya’s Bakery, Providence, RI: 2023 Rising Star Winner
Syroya’s Bakery was inspired from a hobby that dates back to 2012. She loved to share her passion for baking with friends, as a way to show them how much she loved them. As word of mouth on her delicious creations grew, she was able to turn her ho...
Jo-Anna Cassino, Flipp Salon Apothecary, Providence, RI: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
Jo-Anna founded her business, Flipp Salon Apothecary on principles of environmental stewardship. She is passionate about running a truly holistic business while serving the community at large.
Jeanette Walker, Walker’s Functional Nutrition, Florence, MA: 2023 Rising Star Nominee
Jeanette’s passion for healing oneself naturally inspired her to start her own business, Walker’s Functional Nutrition. With the alarming epidemic of chronic illness being a major concern for her, she has been able to provide functional nutrition c...