Officials gather for ribbon cutting for Ally Co (September 26, 2022)

Elected officials and local organizations helped cut the ribbon on a new venture studio focused on community in Jamestown Monday night.

Ally Co Co-founder Katie Castro said the concept of a venture studio is new to Western New York, “And what a venture studio does, essentially, is it starts start-ups. So we’ve all heard of venture capital firms. The difference here is sweat-equity versus liquid capital. And so our company is starting start-ups and we’re also coming alongside existing organizations to be their innovation change management help.”

Castro said Ally Co will help businesses or non-profits incubate an idea through the process of launching it, “And we do that for a little equity, it’s a sweat for equity model. But our process would help yield best results. In fact, so, start-up studios or venture studios have been found to have seven times better results than a traditional start-up that starts on their own.”

The multi-cultural company currently has seven employees, with half of them being bilingual. Castro said the company primarily operates online with in-person events and retreats available.

Ally Co services include product and program development, marketing, financial management, and corporate social justice.

She added that 15% of Ally Co’s profit will be invested in a fund at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation to benefit non-profit innovation.

Ally Co can be reached online at allyco.org.

The rally is in response to the U.S. Supreme Court‘s decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, saying there is not a federal constitutional right to an abortion.

The rally is in support of the right to abortion and to support the stance that abortion is healthcare.

At noon, a march is scheduled to take place from Dow Park on West Sixth Street to Tracy Plaza on East Third Street.

Speakers at Tracy Plaza will include motivational speaker Katie Castro, local poet Autumn Echo, local dance artist Sukanya Burman, and local female political candidates and professionals Sandra Lewis and Alyssa Porter.

The rally will conclude with a march that returns to Dow Park.

Katie Castro

Jamestown High School holds its 2022 Commencement ceremony tonight, June 24, at Chautauqua Institution.

This year’s commencement speaker is strategist and social entrepreneur Katie Castro.

For over 14 years, Mrs. Castro has worked in community development and poverty alleviation; maternal-infant healthcare and political lobbying; church mission strategy, NGO incubation, and public relations.

Mrs. Castro is the founder and leads Ally Co. in Jamestown. She has also been a speaker and coach with Women Speakers Collective in Los Angeles, California and worked as a Strategic Lead at Boundless Communications, Toronto, Canada. She holds a Master of Arts in Strategic Leadership from St. Bonaventure University.

The Commencement Ceremony takes place at 7:00 p.m. tonight in the Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater. The ceremony also will be live streamed at www.jpsny.org/graduation.

WRFA’s Jason Sample talks with Katie Catro, board chair of Community Helping Hands in Jamestown, NY, to talk more about the organization and the services it provides to the community. For more information, also visit http://www.chhny.org/.