Rézme captured the $40,000 Michael & Lori Milken Family Foundation Grand Prize and earned the most live votes to also win the Audience Choice Prize presented by EdSales Elevation Experience at the 16th annual Milken–Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition (EBPC) today in New York City.
The venture, a compliance software that dismantles systemic barriers keeping justice-impacted individuals from jobs, housing, and higher education, entered the competition last year but went home empty-handed before returning this year to win two prizes.
“It’s a little surreal. We were semifinalists last year, received support from the program, then went through a crucible moment,” said Jodi Anderson, Jr., co-founder and CEO of Rézme. “We experienced all of the stuff that makes a start-up difficult … and then we just kept powering through it. John Gamba and the whole Catapult team really helped us, and then a year later, to be here again and to win the finals is a full-circle moment. We’re really overwhelmed right now but excited to get back to the mission, especially at this critical moment.”
Other winners include College Contact, which won the $25,000 Flexion Prize, and Enlightapp, which received the Institute for Education Innovation Prize.
Before advancing to the finals, EBPC semifinalists took part in the Penn GSE Catapult virtual accelerator, where they grew their ventures through self-paced learning and mentorship from industry experts.
Seven finalists pitched their ventures to a live judging panel as well as an audience of investors, researchers, and practitioners. The final competition was a keystone event of the HolonIQ’s 2025 Back to School Summit.
Widely considered the most prestigious and well-funded competition of its kind, the EBPC has awarded more than $2 million in cash and prizes since its founding. Past winners and finalists have gone on to raise more than $200 million in funding to scale their ventures and deepen their impact.
“At its core, the EBPC is about hope,” says John Gamba, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Penn GSE, who directs the competition. “Through bold ideas and a belief in what is possible, these innovators are showing us how education can unlock opportunity for every learner.”
The 2025 EBPC prize winners are as follows:
- Rézme captured the $40,000 Michael & Lori Milken Family Foundation Grand Prize.
- College Contact won the $25,000 Flexion Prize.
- Enlightapp earned the $10,000 Institute for Education Innovation Prize.
- Rézme collected the $5,000 Audience Choice Prize presented by EdSales Elevation Experience.
- The finalists also received $10,000 cash from Catalyst @ Penn GSE.
“Education innovation is about more than solving immediate challenges. It is about envisioning a future where every learner has the opportunity and support to thrive. The Milken–Penn GSE EBPC celebrates the visionaries who are working to turn that future into reality,” said Michael Golden, Vice Dean of Innovative Programs and Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.
The EBPC is made possible through the generous support of the Michael and Lori Milken Family Foundation, Flexion, Institute for Education Innovation, and EdSales Elevation Experience.
The Milken family, several of whom are Penn graduates, embody the Ben Franklin spirit. Through successful educational entrepreneurship—from pre-K services through college education for working adults—as well as investments in educational enterprises, they have demonstrated a commitment to the leaders of tomorrow. In their four decades of philanthropic activities, the Milken family has made innovation in education—as exemplified by the Milken Educator Awards and National Institute for Excellence in Teaching—a cornerstone of their work.
About Penn’s Graduate School of Education
Penn GSE is one of the world’s leading schools in education research and practitioner preparation. Penn GSE partners with schools, universities, and communities to expand educational access—especially for those underserved by society—and, through rigorous research and innovative programs, develops new knowledge and transformational teachers and leaders in pursuit of educational opportunity. Follow Penn GSE on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.
Find more on educationcompetition.org or follow the conversation on X: @CatalystPennGSE and #MilkenPennGSE.
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