On Thursday, November 13, 2025 Citizens Bank hosted a virtual day long Skills Based Volunteering Day of Service/Flash Consulting for 9 non-profits selected by Citizens for their 2025 national annual Champions in Action Award for Creating Employment Pathways for Diverse Abilities from applications from organizations across the country. RIDDC’s Self-Employment project funded by DLT was selected in July 2025 as one of the 9!
The 9 non-profits all met one another through a Teams Meeting today and we learned about each others employment initiatives then received individualized TA from over 20 Citizens Staff from their Business Development and Marketing Departments across the country. For RI they had 5 Marketing staff meet (online) 9 of our entrepreneurs who each gave their individual Elevator Pitches, showed and described their products for sale and shared their current marketing ideas. They all did such a great job! They each then received immediate feedback from 5 Citizens Staff who asked them questions and gave feedback on their business idea and other practical marketing strategies to consider for their business to be more successful to increase their customer base and sales income. Great enthusiasm for the businesses and great tips and advice!
These are the entrepreneurs who were involved:
- Mike Dooley Photography
- Gabi’s Got Style On the Spectrum-Gabi Preite
- Rachel Rasnick Art
- Rebecca’s Yarn Barn-Rebecca Craig
- Gracie’s Warm Fuzzy Feelings..Donna Beausoliel
- Christina Battista: Peer Supports
- Myles Braun Husband: Peer Supports
- Katie Lowe: Cheetah Greetings
- Project Friends Cafe: Brenda Donovan
Check out the Citizens Champions in Action Page here which has a description of each of the 9 organizations selected within the United States for the 2025 award. The descriptions includes RIDDC, with a photo of Self-Employment graduate Jack Carfagna, business owner of Mr. C’s Old Thyme Scents!
Citizens Bank in RI has also identified 8 of their staff who will be volunteering from 7:00 am-3:00 pm at this year’s “Small Business Saturday SHOP RI” event at the Crowne Plaza on Saturday, November 29, 2025. In addition, they will be assisting us with our FIRST Statewide Pitch Competition in early 2026 with a first prize of $5,000.00 for one of our lucky entrepreneurs! Stay tuned for more information on that!