Wave x Shorty Awards Elevate Creatives Fund: Introducing the inaugural recipients

This past May, Wave (one-stop money management for creators and small business owners) and the Shorty Awards (an awards competition honoring digital and social talent) teamed up to launch the Elevate Creatives Fund, aimed at helping creatives break the Internet—not the bank.
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The creator economy is a segment of small business in which creators create, distribute, and monetize their content. It’s growing quickly, and not stopping any time soon. In spite of this, the needs of creators are still overlooked.
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Unfortunately, creators may not always have traditional cash flow and need to rely on multiple revenue streams to earn a living, making it challenging to translate all that talent and passion into a sustainable business. 
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That’s why we want to do our part to help change that.
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The Elevate Creatives Fund, which is aimed at providing a financial boost to creators looking to grow sustainable creative businesses, received over 500 applications. We read entries from a range of deserving creators—from podcasters to poets to mental health activists and artists. We were blown away by the quality of entries… so much so that we expanded the grant from $100,000 to $120,000 USD to allow for a sixth worthy recipient. 
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Today, we are honored to announce the six recipients who will each receive a $20,000 USD grant, along with complementary accounting coaching from Wave’s in-house advisors. Read on to learn more about the winners! 

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Jamie Feldman

Journalist, essayist, and content creator developing a podcast tackling debt and financial literacy.

Joseph Arujo

Latinx LGBTQ+ mental health activist and content creator working on a debut children’s book.

Alyson Stoner

Actor, author, digital creator, and the founder of Movement Genius, a platform making mental wellbeing affordable, accessible, and culturally relevant.
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Tiffany Yu

Content creator, speaker, and CEO and Founder of Diversability, an award-winning and entirely disabled-run and -led social enterprise to elevate disability pride.

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Rollie Williams

Creator and host of Climate Town, a docu-comedy video series focused on demystifying the climate crisis.

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Kirby Porter

Former Harvard women's
basketball player and founder of New Game Labs, a media and marketing firm helping athletes unlock their potential through emerging technology.

Shortlisted applicants include:

1. Golda Arthur
2. Bithia Dantoumda
3. Damona Hoffman
4. Kaena Alice Hood
5. Felicia Hsu
6. Amanda Morell
7. Eno Oduok
8. Blake Pfeil
9. Nicole Rechtszaid
10. Hamnah Shahid
11. Carolyn Silveira
12. Dane Stewart
13. Keith Terrell
14. Ariel Viera
15. Kacie Willis