Celebrating Arizona’s tapestry

Arizona is home to emerging talent and groundbreaking community programs–many of which never receive public attention or accolades. These businesses and nonprofits are creating life-changing technology or providing support services that are changing the lives of not only Arizonans but people across the world. To showcase all Arizona has to offer, the event will honor three for-profit companies as well as three non-profit organizations that have a local, national and global impact.

VisionGate, Open Hearts, Chicanos por La Causa, Architecture – Infrastructure – Research, Inc. (AIR), axialHealthcare, and The Shine Project are champions of service, innovation, and growth. And, they all call Arizona home.

“Arizona’s business climate is by far one of the most supportive to our business operations,” President and Chief Commercial Officer of VisionGate, Scarlett Spring, stated. “Arizona has a supportive entrepreneurial community and emerging resources including strategic players in the market supporting young companies, angel investor participation and incubator resources that are maturing.” VisionGate is an oncology pharmaceutical and diagnostics company that focuses on saving lives in Arizona through the development of its new products aimed at treating cancer, detecting cancer earlier, and preventing cancer altogether. Its advanced optical computed tomography (Optical CT) platform has the potential to detect a wide range of cancers at earlier stages so that immediate treatment is possible.

Open Hearts, an organization that provides mental health and wellness services, believes that healing involves the body and mind, as well as a connection to the local community. Its holistic approach has been applied to 4,500 youth and families each year since its founding 42 years ago.

Another health organization, axialHealthcare, is improving the well being of patients in pain while mitigating opioid misuse. By considering patient risk factors and knowledge of alternative therapies, axialHealthcare’s team is able to develop a treatment plan that is best suited to a patient’s needs.

Aiming to empower Latinos in Arizona, Chicanos Por La Causa provides a range of bilingual and bicultural services in health and human services, housing, education, and economic development. “Forged in the fires of a time when civil injustice and its inequities had come to light, CPLC’s roots are and always have been in Arizona,” Bill Irwin, director of marketing & communications, expressed. “Since then, we have become one of the largest Hispanic nonprofits in the country, promoting stronger and healthier communities throughout the southwestern United States. We provide direct services impacting more than 300,000 individuals annually in Arizona.”

Architecture – Infrastructure – Research, Inc. (AIR) is an architecture and urban design firm focused on translating its research methods and sustainable practices into ingenious design solutions for its clients. The firm investigates the unique environment around each site as inspiration for its designs.

A nonprofit store that sells clothing and accessories, the Shine Project is designed to raise money to send at-risk youth to their first year of college. In addition, founder Ashley LeMieux launched a program called Threads by the Shine Project where young students make fashionable bracelets to help pay for college.

Senator Meza and Karin Robson Taylor have been selected as the co-chairs of the event and the Arizona Chamber Foundation will be hosting. “It’s time to celebrate the businesses and nonprofits that have created a new paradigm for Arizona and are creating positive change not only locally but globally,” said Meza.