Trust Your Crazy Ideas Challenge: Greater New Orleans Accelerator Kicks Off
The Trust Your Crazy Ideas Challenge is officially underway for the Greater New Orleans cohort, as student entrepreneurs begin the JA Accelerator, an intensive, eight-week workshop series held each Wednesday at Junior Achievement’s facility.
This year’s Accelerator builds on the success of JA Catalyst, which engaged more than 1,000 young people in their classrooms across Greater New Orleans last fall. Through JA Catalyst, students explored entrepreneurship as a career pathway while learning how to identify problems, develop ideas, and imagine solutions with real-world impact. From there, hundreds of students applied to advance as semi-finalists for a chance to participate in the Accelerator and compete for scholarship funding.
Those selected for the TYCIC Class of 2026 represent a diverse and inspiring range of student-led ventures. During the Accelerator, teams are matched with mentors and guided through customer discovery, business modeling, financial planning, and pitch development, gaining the skills and confidence needed to take their ideas to the next level.
This year’s cohort includes innovative concepts spanning technology, sustainability, education, wellness, and consumer products. The 2026 Trust Your Crazy Ideas Challenge Greater New Orleans teams include:
Starfish Athletes (Archbishop Chapelle High School) – A mental-health support app for athletes and coaches, offering mindfulness tools, discussion forums, and athlete-specific challenges.
Thin Chef (The Willow School) – A flame-resistant, full-surface stovetop liner that improves kitchen hygiene and convenience.
Curated Couture (Archbishop Chapelle High School) – An app that helps users style outfits from their own wardrobe while buying and selling clothing.
SpeakWild (Frederick Douglass High School) – A communication and confidence-building program that blends public speaking with wilderness skill development.
Pack It Up (Chalmette High School) – A trash can that automatically seals bags once they reach a target weight.
Jacked-it (Chalmette High School) – A stylish weighted jacket designed for subtle, everyday exercise.
AYZ Agency (Frederick Douglass High School) – A launched, student-owned marketing agency specializing in social content for local businesses.
MedTech (Archbishop Chapelle High School) – An AI medical-simulation training app that allows students to diagnose and treat virtual patients.
ClassConnect (Mount Carmel Academy) – A tutoring-matchmaking app connecting students with verified peer tutors for real-time academic help.
Green Leaf Currency (Edna Karr High School) – An eco-reward system that provides monetary credits for sustainable actions.
Pothole Pal (Mount Carmel Academy) – An app mapping pothole locations with severity ratings to improve road safety.
The Sounds of NOLA (Warren Easton High School) – A museum attraction celebrating New Orleans music and live events.
SyncBoard (Mount Carmel Academy) – Hand-held, Bluetooth-linked whiteboards that mirror classroom displays.
Power Pouch (Mount Carmel Academy) – A charging pencil pouch that stores supplies while powering devices.
BioFresh Containers (Ben Franklin High School) – Antimicrobial, reusable food containers made with chitosan, a plastic-free shellfish byproduct.
Ecollect (Sarah T. Reed High School) – An organic compost and eco-friendly fertilizer created through food-waste collection.
As the Accelerator continues, students will refine their business models, test assumptions, and prepare to pitch their ideas to business leaders later this spring at the Semi-Finals held at Loyola University on Thursday, March 5th and with the finals, The Big Pitch, at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) on Thursday, March 12th. These young innovators are not only developing ventures—they are building confidence, resilience, and skills that will serve them far beyond the competition.
Learn more at www.trustyourcrazyideas.org.