Business

Ellis Island Tea wins $300,000 investment at Detroit Demo Day

MICHIGAN CHRONICLE — Nailah Ellis-Brown had 90 seconds to convince five judges that she should be the winner of the 2019 Quicken Loans Detroit Demo Day. The Detroit native made every second count, going home as the $300,000 investment winner in the Scale category Friday night at the Fillmore Theatre. Her popular Ellis Island Tea is available in stores around the country, including Sam’s Club, Whole Foods, and Meijer already, but Ellis-Brown has bigger aspirations for her family recipe of Jamaican Sweet Tea.

Published

7 years ago

June 19, 2019

Oakland Post

By Branden Hunter

Nailah Ellis-Brown had 90 seconds to convince five judges that she should be the winner of the 2019 Quicken Loans Detroit Demo Day. The Detroit native made every second count, going home as the $300,000 investment winner in the Scale category Friday night at the Fillmore Theatre. Her popular Ellis Island Tea is available in stores around the country, including Sam’s Club, Whole Foods, and Meijer already, but Ellis-Brown has bigger aspirations for her family recipe of Jamaican Sweet Tea.

“I’ve gotten a lot of accolades in Detroit and I keep getting trophies, but trophies don’t pay my bills,” said Ellis-Brown, who is a graduate of Renaissance High School. “This money will give us a real opportunity to go national with our brand.”

Fifteen finalists were chosen out of hundreds of impressive applications received, to pitch their businesses on stage at Detroit Demo Day. Seven of the metro Detroit entrepreneurs received a share of the $1.2 million in funding from Quicken Loans. The finalists’ pitches were judged, and the winners decided, by nationally-acclaimed entrepreneurs from across the country.

Ellis-Brown impressed the judges during her pitch, with help from the crowd. Competing in the Scale category, the judges wanted to see that Ellis Island Tea could continue its success and thrive beyond the Michigan market. Ellis-Brown felt it could, announcing that Sam’s Club offered her a national long-term distribution contract. In order to do that, Ellis-Brown will need automated equipment and effective marketing, which is what she will use the money for.

“Getting money for marketing has been the hardest and I’ve been at this for 12 years,” said Ellis-Brown. “So, I’m going to pour some of the money into marketing and into better equipment. We need a label machine. Right now, we hand label everything and with a machine, we will cut production by two hours and the labels will be more consistent. This interest-free loan will finally allow us to finance our marketing department and finally take us to the next level.”

In the Grow category, Detroit Dough took home second place, winning a $200,000 investment. The Detroit-based cookie dough maker was founded in 2017 by co-founders Autumn Kyles, and siblings Victoria and Daniel A. Washington. Kyles took the stage during the 90-second pitch, showcasing Detroit Dough’s accolades, including landing sales contracts with MJR Theaters, Emagine Entertainment, the Michigan Science Center, and Michigan Stadium. Detroit Dough now has its eyes set on taking their product nationally.

“I think we were chosen because of our story,” said Kyles, an alumna of Hampton. “We’ve grown our company really fast, we’ve shown that we can market, and we’ve been successful thus far. In my pitch, I showed them that there is growth potential for Detroit Dough and I am really glad that we were chosen for this investment.”

Detroit Dough also won the $25,000 People’s Choice award, as voted by the audience. It also donates five percent of its gross revenue back to its neighborhood in Detroit, Northwest-Goldberg.

This year, attendees voted for three People’s Choice award recipients. A Quicken Loans Demo Day app was made available for the audience to either swipe left if they were not feeling the company or swipe right if they were. The most swipes in their favor in their particular category got an additional grant of $25,000.

“We don’t want the audience to just come and watch and celebrate,” said James Chapman, who manages entrepreneur initiatives including Detroit Demo Day for Rock Ventures. “We want them to get in on the action, because these are going to be businesses that are in their neighborhood, they know who the founders are, and we want to get the audience in on the act. It almost makes them a mini investor.”

To end the festivities, rapper and entrepreneur T.I. took the stage performing many of his hits, including “Motivation”, Whatever You Like”, “24’s” and others.

START category winners:

$100,000: Healthy Roots

$75,000: Honey Cure

$50,000: Gus & Grey

$25,000 People’s Choice Award: Healthy Roots

GROW category winners:

$250,000: Louisiana Creole Gumbo

$200,000: Detroit Dough

$150,000: Eastern Market Brewing Company

$25,000 People’s Choice Award: Detroit Dough

SCALE category winner:

$300,000: Ellis Island Tea

$25,000 People’s Choice Award: Functional Fluidics

This article originally appeared in the Michigan Chronicle.

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Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

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3 days ago

September 7, 2026

Oakland Post

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Business

Longtime BWOPA Member Brendalyn Goodall Appointed to California Workforce Development Board

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed longtime Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) member Brendalynn Goodall to the California Workforce Development Board. Goodall, an Oakland resident with decades of experience in public service, has held leadership positions focused on

Published

2 weeks ago

August 30, 2026

Post News Group

Post Co-Publisher Gay Plair Cobb with Brendalynn Goodall. Courtesy photo.

By California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed longtime Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) member Brendalynn Goodall to the California Workforce Development Board.

Goodall, an Oakland resident with decades of experience in public service, has held leadership positions focused on employment, aging services and assistance for underserved communities.

“Brendalynn will be a great addition to this Board,” said Gay Plair Cobb, who served as former state Assemblyman Sandre Swanson’s alternate to the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB).

“She understands that California’s non-profit organizations serve persons who have the most significant barriers to their labor market success and that the Board should help these groups navigate the complicated requirements of state funding.

“In other words, she will be a strong advocate for our most marginalized populations. Her voice is needed now, more than ever.”

CWDB works with the governor to shape workforce policies, programs and investments designed to strengthen the state’s economy. It collaborates with employers, workers, labor organizations, educational institutions, community groups and California’s 45 local workforce development boards to expand access to quality jobs and respond to regional employment needs.

According to the board, its work includes coordinating state programs and guiding investments in workforce training and development.

BWOPA California celebrated the appointment, describing Goodall as a dedicated advocate for workers, families and older adults.

“Her appointment reflects a lifetime of leadership, service, and unwavering commitment to strengthening California’s workforce and expanding opportunity for all,” the organization stated in a press release.

Goodall served as summer jobs program coordinator in the Oakland Mayor’s Office from 2012 to 2014. In that position, she helped connect young people with employment opportunities and job experience.

Before joining the Mayor’s Office, Goodall was division manager for Aging and Adult Services in the City of Oakland Human Services Department from 2002 to 2011. She previously served as senior services supervisor and program director for the city’s Department of Aging, Health and Human Services from 1990 to 2002.

Goodall is also a member of the California Commission on Aging, which advises the governor and state officials on policies and programs affecting older Californians.

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Black History

Jackie Wright Champions Bay Area Stories, Filmmakers and Cultural Institutions

As an award-winning communications professional, Wright has worked with corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, educational institutions, artists, and community organizations. In 2026, she expanded that work by launching an introductory public relations class for small businesses and nonprofits, offering practical tools for gaining visibility, shaping messages and building productive relationships with the media.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 30, 2026

Post News Group

Jackie Wright of Wright Enterprises. Photo courtesy of Wright Enterprises.

By Carla Thomas

Jackie Wright has spent more than two decades helping people, organizations and communities understand the power of a well-told story.

As founder and president of Wright Enterprises, a San Francisco-based strategic communications and public affairs firm, Wright has built a career spanning journalism, public relations, media relations, crisis communications, community engagement and multimedia storytelling.

Wright’s commitment to storytelling is also deeply personal. She wrote and co-directed the 15-minute documentary, “Love Separated in Life…Love Reunited in Honor,” which chronicles the story of her parents, Specialist Five (S5 Wyley Wright Jr. and Ouida Fay McClendon Wright. Her father, a U.S. Army helicopter crew chief, died in Vietnam in 1964 while serving as an honor guard during a visit by then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Decades later, Wright and her siblings had their father exhumed from a segregated cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida, and their mother moved from her burial place in Georgia so the couple could be reunited at Arlington National Cemetery in 2014.

The family journey later took Wright and her sister to Vietnam, where they discovered the former military compound that had been named in honor of their father and another fallen soldier. The documentary, centered on love, war, family, racial understanding, and remembrance, earned festival recognition at screenings.

“It was quite an honor to learn about my family’s history and share it on film,” said Wright.

That filmmaking experience complements Wright’s longstanding advocacy for independent cinema. She has served as a media partner and brand ambassador for Bay Area film festivals, including the San Francisco Black Film Festival, Oakland International Film Festival, and the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa.

“It’s important to help filmmakers and underrepresented stories reach broader audiences,” said Wright.

Whether promoting a neighborhood organization, championing an independent filmmaker or preserving her own family history, Wright has remained consistent. Through Wright Enterprises, she has turned communications into both a profession and a form of community service, telling stories that might otherwise go unheard.

“Our stories are an integral part of our history, and our history is not only American history, but worldwide,” she said.