Estrella Mountain Community College (EMCC) students were on fire at the 2026 Ignite the Future pitch competition held on April 23 at the Phoenix Forge. Xavier Hall was a finalist, winning $500, and Cheyenne Wheatley walked away with a first-place finish and a check for $10,000!
“I didn’t believe it at first,” Cheyenne said of winning the contest. “I was too focused on how nauseous I was because I was so nervous.”
Ignite the Future saw students from the Maricopa Community Colleges and Arizona State University (ASU) pitching their entrepreneurial ventures to a panel of judges for a chance to win cash to advance their ideas. The competition resulted from a partnership between Maricopa and the ASU J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute.
EMCC Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Paula Livingston said the partnership between Maricopa and ASU serves as a vital bridge between education, entrepreneurship, and career-readiness.
“Entrepreneurial skills are not just for business owners — they are essential for career mobility,” Dr. Livingston said. “By equipping our students with the ability to problem-solve and communicate their value, we are ensuring they are not just ready for a job, but also ready for a lifelong career path.”
Although the competition was a joint effort between ASU and Maricopa, students only competed against peers from their own institutions. The top-place finishers from the Maricopa Community Colleges and ASU each received $10,000, and all finalists got $500.
Cheyenne, who just finished her first year at EMCC as a Presidents’ Honors Scholar, pitched a program called UnhuEd, which gives students who do not qualify for Pell Grants the opportunity to receive a grant, provided they complete specific workshops that teach professional skills needed in the workplace. She said the idea for UnhuEd came from discussions with her classmates centered on the cost of tuition.
“A lot of us always talk about how we attend EMCC to save money, because we make too much to qualify for Pell Grants, but not enough to cover tuition at a university,” she said. “In this economy, it’s hard to expect anyone to pay for college, much less go to a university, because the cost of tuition has quadrupled since our parents attended college, yet minimum wage hasn’t.”
Xavier’s pitch, The Hall Way Forward: Rapid Response Relief Model, focused on providing rapid relief to people facing a financial hardship before a small problem becomes a crisis.
“The idea behind it is simple,” Xavier said. “Sometimes, people are only a few hundred dollars away from losing everything — a missed rent payment, a car repair, groceries, transportation to work, things like that.”
Xavier launched the nonprofit organization The Hall Way Forward in 2025 after working in healthcare and with vulnerable communities who were trying their best, yet still struggling.
“I’ve seen how hard life can get for people,” he said. “Sometimes, they just need help getting through one terrible week.”
Xavier estimates that through various initiatives, outreach efforts, and direct support, The Hall Way Forward has helped close to 200 people since its inception.
“Whether it’s providing supplies, financial assistance, encouragement, or simply making people feel seen and cared for, every interaction has mattered deeply to me,” he said.
Xavier is using the prize money to launch The Hall Way Forward’s next initiative, which aims to help families in need with their grocery bills in a very personal way.
“The plan is to create a form where families can explain their situation, provide proof of need, list how many children are in their household, and share the essential groceries they need most,” he said. “From there, I want to personally go shopping for the families and deliver the groceries myself because I want it to feel human and personal, not just transactional.”
Ignite the Future was one of Xavier’s first major pitch competitions, and he said it was a great learning experience. Leading up to the pitch, all student competitors received professional coaching, resume-building skills, and networking opportunities.
“The experience pushed me outside of my comfort zone and taught me how to communicate my vision of The Hall Way Forward more clearly,” he said. “This nonprofit is something I genuinely care about and want to build up. What started as an idea rooted in compassion and community has continued growing into something I hope can create long-term impact for people going through difficult situations.”
Ignite the Future was Cheyenne’s second time pitching an idea; the first was last September during EMCC’s Everyday Entrepreneur pitch event. She didn’t win that one, but she said her team practiced really hard, so it was good preparation.
“So, although I didn’t win that competition, I don’t think I would have won Ignite the Future if I hadn’t participated in that one,” she said. “I put a lot of work into my presentation, especially after getting feedback from the judges last year. I practiced very hard, too, because I didn’t want to just read off the screen.”
One of Cheyenne’s mentors, EMCC Professor Clarissa Davis-Ragland, went to the competition to cheer her on and said her presentation was polished, professional, and completely her own.
“Watching her command of that stage with such clarity and confidence — I felt proud,” Professor Davis-Ragland said. “She didn't just present an idea; she made the room believe in it.”
In addition to being a Presidents’ Honors Scholar, which covers tuition for the fall and spring semesters, Cheyenne is also a Nina Mason Pulliam Scholar. Nina Scholars receive tuition, fees, books, supplies, a monthly stipend, and mentorship.
Cheyenne plans to transfer to ASU next year to pursue a bachelor’s in marketing and is using the MyPath2ASU transfer program. The program is designed for students to start at a community college and finish at ASU while ensuring they have met the lower-division course requirements for a bachelor’s degree.
“It’s been a game-changer,” she said of the transfer program. “Without it, I would have no idea what I'm doing. It's really helpful to have a visual of classes I've taken and need to take to transfer.”
Cheyenne originally chose EMCC to save money and utilize the transfer program, focusing on her future at ASU, but looking back, she said starting out at EMCC was one of the best decisions she’s made. She’s thrived in and out of the classroom, being heavily involved in campus activities as an Honor’s student and the historian of the Black Student Union.
“I think I’m more successful here than I would’ve been anywhere else for my first year,” she said. “I love the professors I’ve met, and I love the campus.”
Interested in attending EMCC? Registration for the Fall 2026 semester, which begins on Aug. 22, is currently underway. EMCC offers a variety of associate degrees and certificates. It also partners closely with several schools, including Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona, for transfer programs. Classes can be taken in person, online, or in a hybrid format. To begin your journey, visit https://www.estrellamountain.edu/students/enrollment-steps.