Is your business ready to take it to the NEXT LEVEL? Join us on Thursday, September 14th, from 5:30 - 7:00pm., at Apptegy to meet, mingle and hear some pitches from several outstanding entrepreneurs who are making waves in the minority community.

103.7 The Buzz's Derrell Young will be the emcee for the evening.

NEXT LEVEL is a "Shark Tank" Inspired event for established businesses to bring their innovative ideas in front of our Little Rock "sharks." Pitch applicants will be judged and hand selected by our partners at The Venture Center. This event will feature libations, live entertainment and networking with our minority business community. The winner of the NEXT LEVEL pitch competition will win a prize package designed to help take their business to the NEXT LEVEL. The crowd will also get to choose their favorite!

Meet our Sharks

Ebony Mitchell
Director of External Affairs
Arkansas Foodbank

Ebony is from Harrison, Arkansas and graduated from the University of Central Arkansas in December of 2019 with a degree in Business Marketing. Most recently, she obtained her Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Health Administration from John Brown University. She served as Miss Arkansas 2022 and represented Arkansas at the Miss America Competition last December. For the past 7 years, she has raised awareness and provided training to educators and students across the State of Arkansas about online safety. Ebony has experience in marketing, teaching, and sports marketing, but is known for her heart for service to others as an advocate for children and youth issues across Arkansas. She currently serves as the Director of External Affairs for the Arkansas Foodbank.

Jessica Johnston-Myers
VP of Sales Development
Apptegy

Born in Fayetteville, raised in Little Rock, and educated at Hendrix, Jessica Johnston-Myers believes in the power of Arkansas. In her previous work as part of The Venture Center’s early team, she was a champion for the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. During that time, she helped many early stage founders solidify their business concepts through education and ideation events, including in-depth pitch training and pitch competitions. In her current role as Vice President of Sales Development for Apptegy, a fast growing local EdTech startup, she leverages her entrepreneurial experience to help the sales team scale. Jessica is passionate about the growth of local startups and can’t wait to hear how you plan to sell your idea!

Keneasha Scott
Director of Regulatory Compliance
K Scott Consults, LLC

Keneasha Scott is an Industrial and Organizational Psychologist and works for K Scott Consults, LLC, a loss control company that ensures compliance with local, state, and federal regulations for workplaces to ensure workers’ safety, business compliance, and public protection through program/policy development, audits/inspections, training & professional development, and investigations. Scott, having worked in this industry for the last 19 years, is authorized by the US Department of Labor OSHA Outreach office as a private consultant to interpret and present on General Industry standards. She holds a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice and a Master’s of Science in I/O Psychology. Scott is the 2020 Global Entrepreneur Week Big Pitch Winner, the 2021 Little Rock Regional Chamber Minority Business of the Year, a member of the Inaugural Cohort of Women’s Foundation of Arkansas’s WEM HUB, and served as a Mentor in the 2022 VC Woman Achieve Program through the Venture Center, where she was also a member of Spark 2020. Most recently selected as the Consultant of the Year through Urbane Magazine’s Arkansas’s Finest.

Rajesh Chokhani
President
BOND.AI

Chokhani is president of financial institutions and employers network BOND.AI, with locations in Little Rock; Pune, India and Geneva, Switzerland. For 29-plus years he has been involved in business development, joint ventures, operations and greenfield projects at Welspun Tubular, where he is chief operating officer and a member of the board. Chokhani selected the Little Rock Port as the location for the company’s pipe manufacturing facility in the United States, and the facility opened in 2009. Chokhani serves on the boards of the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College, Arvest Bank, Little Rock Regional Chamber, CARTI and Harmony Health Clinic. He represents the Houston Consulate General of India in Little Rock through his work in the community of Indian origin. Chokhani earned his Master of Business Administration from UA Little Rock and holds a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Meet our emcee

Derrell Young
Executive Producer
The Buzz

Born and raised in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Derrell "H.B." Young graduated from Henderson State University in 2006 with a major in Mass Media. Derrell worked his way up the ladder at Little Rock's #1 Sports Station. From intern, part timer, show producer for Drivetime and Executive Producer at The Buzz. He is NOW the Operations Director for 103.7 The Buzz and 106.7 Buz2 with Signal Media of Arkansas. He can be heard throughout the week on The Buzz as well as co-hosting "Double Tech" on Buz2.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE! Please contact Stacy Wilson, Chief Revenue Officer, at swilson@littlerockchamber.com or 501.377.6004.

Additional questions? Please contact Teuana Smith, Director, Diversity Initiatives & Programming at tsmith@littlerockchamber.com or 501.377.6031.

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