The Rhode Island Innovation Foundation Innovation Fellowship Winners Named

The Rhode Island Foundation announced the two winners of their “Innovation Fellowship” Program Wednesday night at Roger Williams Casino. David Dadekian and Amy Bernhardt will be given $300,000 over three years to fund projects that will brighten the future of Rhode Island. The Fellowship, founded in 2011 by philanthropists Letitia and John Carter, rewards inventive undertakings that will improve life for Ocean State residents. The organization’s aim is to “do the greatest good for the greatest number of Rhode Islanders and build around the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation.”

This year, the winners were chosen from a pool of 343 candidates, which was narrowed down to 33 semifinalists, and then even further to 12 finalists. The fellows are selected by a seven-member panel made up of area business and community leaders from institutions like GTECH and the University of Rhode Island. Past winners of the award have spearheaded projects focused on eradicating Hepatitis C in the state, and building platforms to allow entrepreneurs to easily launch start-ups.

Bernhardt’s project is a manufacturing pilot facility for the production of digitally printed textiles. This project is perfect for RI with its history of textiles, and she says it will “bring together design and manufacturing.” The project aims to modernize the area’s print methods, as Bernhardt notes that, “the old printing technology (silkscreen) has become obsolete and is environmentally unsustainable.” Only a few facilities so far are using new digital printing technology, and Bernhardt’s facility will make RI one of the first in the country.

Dadekian is the founder of Eat Drink RI, an organization dedicated to showcasing the best local cuisine. Their annual food festival has become a community favorite (the third annual festival will be held from April 24-27), but Dadekian has something different planned for the fellowship award. He will be creating a central market and food hub that will feature various culinary businesses, a public market, and an educational component. “We’re trying to bring all this fantastic food available in RI to its residents and make the market a destination for tourists,” he said.

The two winners are currently looking for locations for their respective projects, with Dadekian saying that he wants a “central location” so Rhode Islanders won’t have to travel very far.

The event was run by RI foundation president and CEO Neil Steinberg, who made some opening remarks, saying he was “amazed how positive, energetic and committed” this year’s batch of applicants were.  Following Steinberg were a few words from Mr. and Mrs. Carter, with Mr. Carter commenting on the “unimaginable” task of having to pick two winners out of such a large pool of talented candidates.

The winners were given a chance to say a few words and both thanked the foundation and the Carters for all of their generosity. Dadekian joked that he may have “bitten off more than he could chew.”

The ceremony closed with some final remarks from Steinberg. He noted that to make the state better, “we need to take all the talk and the ideas and turn it into as much action as possible.” If all goes according to plan, Rhode Island’s communities will reap the benefits of the Carters’ generosity combined with the innovative solutions put forth by this year’s fellows.