The 2026 New Haven Civic Innovation Prize Awards 

On April 10, 2026, Startup Yale celebrated its eleventh annual conference, honoring entrepreneurial and community-driven ventures at Yale and across New Haven. The New Haven Civic Innovation Prize, administered by Dwight Hall and led by Director of Community Outreach and Engagement Johnny Scafidi ’01, awards up to $25,000 to student- or community-led efforts that benefit the city of New Haven. This year marked the New Haven Civic Innovation Prize’s seventh round of funding. 

Previous winners include Enrich Health, an organization that establishes maternal health and wellness centers focused on reducing health disparities for Black women nationwide and Huneebee Project, which trains youth who have been involved with the foster care system or child protective services to nurture beehives and gardens. 

During the 2026 Startup Yale conference, a panel of judges heard pitches from four finalists for the Prize: Dental Co-Pilot, PEARL CT, QuarterMill, and PathConnect. Ultimately, all four organizations received awards and honors at the event. 

As part of the Prize’s programming during Startup Yale, each organization gave a live pitch to a panel of judges, explaining its mission and how it would use the awarded funding. 

After each organization presented, a panel of judges, including Arthur Thomas ’19 M.Div., Genevieve Walker, Luis Chavez-Brumel, and Allie Lopez ’27 (former Senior Co-Coordinator on Dwight Hall’s Student Executive Committee), awarded prizes to the finalists. 

Dental Co-Pilot won first place and received a $15,000 grant. Dental Co-Pilot is an AI-powered platform that helps healthcare providers overturn insurance claim denials. Through the analysis of historical outcomes and the prediction of appeal success, the platform aims to help health centers and hospitals recover millions in lost revenue. The platform was founded by Ahtasham Firdausi ’25 M.P.H. 

PEARL CT was awarded runner-up and received a $7,500 grant. PEARL is a Connecticut-based nonprofit focused on reducing periodontal disease disparities among underserved adults through community-based oral health education, preventive screenings, and more. With app-based education and appointment navigation to affordable dental care, PEARL partners with trusted local sites to improve health literacy, access, and long-term preventive behaviors across Connecticut. PEARL CT was founded by Andja Demiraj ’26 M.P.H., Yumi Yang ’26 M.P.H., and Amy Guan ’26 M.P.H. 

The Civic Innovation Prize also supports Yale College students seeking to effect positive change during their time in New Haven. The third-place winner was QuarterMill, which received a $2,500 grant. The startup was founded by Yale College junior Keith Pemberton ’27 and uses AI to read historical documents and oral histories, thereby creating a living archive. Discovering individuals and connecting them across collections is central to its mission. 

The Audience Choice Award grants $2,000 to the audience’s favorite venture and is determined by a live vote. This year, the award was given to PathConnect, a platform that helps new residents and immigrants in New Haven access mentorship, housing guidance, financial literacy resources, community services, and employment pathways through verified local partners and communal support. 

All of the participating organizations emphasized how meaningful funding can be in advancing their missions and expanding their reach. 

The New Haven Civic Innovation Prize is a key program within the Advance pillar of Dwight Hall’s Engage, Grow, and Advance program delivery model, fostering innovative solutions to promote lasting change in the New Haven community and around the world.