MADE Wins Inaugural 'Keep It 100' Pitch Competition at One Club’s NYC Conference

Left to right: Carolyn 'CC' Concepcion, founder of courtesy of c: c/o c, Cassandra Illidge, VP of global partnerships and exec director HBCU Programs, Getty Images, Adrianne C. Smith, founder, Cannes Can: Diversity Collective (CC:DC), Chris Crawford, founder and CEO, Elite Media Tommy Johnson, founder and CEO, MADE, Jimmy Smith, chairman and CEO, Amusement Park and LaGloria Wheatfall, communications and engagement, Elite Media

Photography credit: Arturo Holmes

MADE, a verification system developed to protect Black creativity, was declared the winner of the inaugural 'Keep It 100' Pitch Competition sponsored by Elite Media. The winner was announced at The One Club’s 'Where Are All the Black People' Conference in New York City on Friday evening, October 17.

A $50,000 grant was presented to Tommy Johnson, founder and CEO of MADE, by Chris Crawford, founder and CEO of Elite Media, who was joined on stage by the entire panel of judges. 

MADE was selected from a group of five finalists, each of whom also received $12,500 towards their dream endeavours. These included:

• Mec Zilla, founder of CrackedVC – a new system to replace traditional venture capital
• Morgan Means, CEO and founder of Evental – a digital marketplace that allows suppliers to monetize their inventory while offering real-time pricing, availability, and booking for users
• Adam Franklin, founder of Twendi – a sports media platform spotlighting African and diaspora athletes through short-form, cinematic stories
• Ayo Abigail, director of strategy and outreach for Walk of Same - an enterprise that is pioneering the 'empowerment jewellery' category – a new standard that blends fashion, function and fearlessness

MADE was selected, in part, because its mission to support Black-owned businesses and Black creativity, dovetails with the vision of the 'Where Are All the Black People' Conference. Chris Crawford said, “The ‘Keep It 100’ pitch competition celebrates the power of attention, the power of purpose, the power of supporting one another. Today, the community won. Every contestant brought it. Their audacity and ambition was on full display. We’re proud to help this inaugural group of creators, innovators and entrepreneurs bring their visionary ideas to life.”

Elite Media, a black-owned, women-led independent agency based in Harlem, conceived the 'Keep It 100' Pitch Competition as a way to shake up the industry and reinforce its belief in a community based business model. Elite Media is challenging the industry to out good one another and create change that will transform communities.