One year after finishing the program, the Community Enterprise Accelerator's (CEA) Cohort 3 came back to lead the 8th installment of its signature series, Bronx Brilliance! Bronx Brilliance took place on Thursday, November 5, from 6 to 9 PM at DREAM Charter High School on Bruckner Boulevard in Mott Haven, and it was free for everyone who came.

The Bronx Brilliance flyer from CEA: Celebrating Cohort 3.

One of Their Wednesdays

The five members of Cohort 3 (which includes our own Anthony Ramirez II) have met every Wednesday for nine months, sometimes twice a week. That's 36 weeks of talking about what's working in their businesses, what isn't, and what scares them. They started as strangers. Now they're friends, and part of the larger CEA community.

So instead of a panel, they brought the room into one of their Wednesdays. Over three rounds, a fellow told a story from the year and asked a question. Then everyone got up, found somebody they hadn't met, and the two of them answered it. Not small talk: share, and listen. Three rounds, three new people. The cohort:

• Anthony Ramirez II, From The Bronx
• Desmond West, pinStripe IT
• Gregory "Shotti" Morgan Jr., LR2 Photo Studio
• Melissa Groneveldt, Monshe
• Terese Brown, Terese Sydonna

Anthony and Melissa on stage as Cohort 3 is introduced.

Round 1: Community

Anthony and Melissa opened the first round on community, and both stories came back to the cohort. One of Melissa's biggest dreams for Monshe was seeing her cookies sold in an airport. With introductions from Anthony and Terese, it became a real opportunity: Monshe cookies go on sale at LaGuardia Airport this coming Monday!

For Anthony, after almost twenty years of running businesses in The Bronx, those Wednesdays with the cohort and Tim turned out to be something he didn't know he was missing: people in your corner who celebrate your wins, even the ones you keep quiet, like a New York Emmy.

Then came the question for the room: Who showed up for you this year without being asked? How? And who could you show up for next?

Rounds 2 and 3: Systems and Mentorship

From community, the night moved to systems with Shotti of LR2 Photo Studio, because you can't show up for anybody if you're doing everything yourself at 2 in the morning. Terese and Desmond closed with mentorship and the young people they brought up through the program this year. To finish, the fellows each said something about one another, a few of the interns spoke, and Tim handed out the plaques.

Anthony and Desmond on stage under the How Tonight Works slide.

Read about Anthony's time in the program in Nine Months That Changed How We Run From The Bronx, and see how the last edition went in Bronx Brilliance Shines at Lehman College.

Who Was in the Room

The point of the night was who sat next to whom: college students from Lehman College and the University of Mount Saint Vincent alongside business owners who have been building in The Bronx for years. Dr. Susan R. Burns, President of the University of Mount Saint Vincent, opened the night, and Ernst Valery, Founder and President of EVI Equity, was the featured speaker. The emcees were Amanda Mercado of CEA, who came up through its intern program and graduated from Mount Saint Vincent in May, and Remy Reyes, a Lehman College student and CEA intern.

A full room for Bronx Brilliance.

Food and drinks came courtesy of the University of Mount Saint Vincent, LR2 Photo Studio ran a free headshot station, and Optimum and the New York Power Authority were table sponsors. From The Bronx had a table set up too, with hats, mugs, pins and stickers.

From left: Anthony, Derick & Paul at the From The Bronx table.

From left: Tim, Anthony, Desmond, Melissa, Terese and Shotti.

Thank you to Tim and the whole CEA team, to Melissa, Shotti, Terese and Desmond, and to everyone who showed up and brought someone who should be in that room. Learn more about the program at ceabx.org.

From The Bronx to The World!!