Patton Foundation Awards Top Young Innovators at Brentwood Academy Pitch Competition

Spencer Patton stands with the three winners at the Brentwood Academy 2025 pitch competition.

Sydney Ball and Darius McDonald look on as a Patton Foundation contestant pitches.

Fueling Innovation and Entrepreneurial Thinking Among Tennessee’s Youth

We invest in the next generation of founders, fuel local innovation, and build strong communities.”

— Spencer Patton

BRENTWOOD, TN, UNITED STATES, November 13, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Patton Foundation celebrated the next generation of Tennessee entrepreneurs last night as six Brentwood Academy students pitched their original business ideas before a panel of business leaders, founders, and industry experts. After an evening of standout presentations, three students were selected as the 2025 Patton Foundation Pitch Competition winners.

First Place: Hutton Stringfellow (11th grade) — Haven, an AI-powered onboarding and insight assistant designed to streamline and improve care for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder by centralizing reports, observations, and videos into a dynamic support profile.

Second Place: Henley Johnson (11th grade) — FrontPorch, a community-based marketplace connecting busy adults with trusted teens seeking flexible, short-term work through secure, school- and neighborhood-centered groups.

Third Place: Sam Wells (12th grade) — Voxara, an innovative natural-language-driven video-editing tool that helps beginners navigate complex creative software like Adobe After Effects by generating customizable layers through simple written prompts.

The remaining finalists presented equally impressive ideas, highlighting the depth of innovation within the Brentwood Academy community:

McKenna Watkins (12th) — LoadUp, an on-demand hauling app that matches customers with local truck owners for affordable, same-day help moving large items.

Sam Sawyer (7th) — SilverTech, a scam-prevention and education app that protects senior citizens by detecting suspicious messages and teaching users how to identify fraud.

Micah Robinson (11th) — Bye Bye Box, an affordable, gig-based returns pickup service designed to streamline the online returns process for consumers and small businesses.

Founder Spencer Patton emphasized the power of celebrating young talent:

“The Patton Foundation exists to champion entrepreneurship across Tennessee by equipping bold thinkers with the mentorship and support they need to turn big ideas into lasting impact. We invest in the next generation of founders, fuel local innovation, and build strong communities.”

Judges for the 2025 Patton Foundation Pitch Competition

Spencer Patton — Patton Foundation, Signature Required Media, Patton Logistics Companies

Ernie Chappell — Entrepreneur & Investor

Annalee Cate — CEO, RCPA

Dr. Nidhi Gupta — Founder, Phreedom Foundation

Darius McDonald — Founder, Vanguard Strategy Partners

Sydney Ball — Business Leader & Entrepreneur

The Patton Foundation pitch competition at Brentwood Academy is part of the Foundation’s ongoing mission to inspire and elevate emerging founders across the state. By providing mentorship, coaching, and real-world pitching experience, the Foundation hopes to spark lifelong innovation.

Kylie Larson
Patton Creative Group
+1 615-239-5979
email us here
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube
TikTok

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.