Partners & Funders
Organizations on the same team
You built it. We bring the systems and infrastructure for what's next.
Melon 29:7 is a preparation platform built to function across two lanes — Launch Pad for entrepreneurs who haven't yet registered a business, and Legacy for owners of registered businesses getting ready to compete for contracts and grants. Both lanes run through the same infrastructure: registration, banking relationships, money readiness, and digital presence in the right order, not as standalone services.
Founded and led by Odell Palacio, Melon brings over two decades of practitioner experience across retail banking, real estate, and community economic development — branch management, micro-lending decisions, foreclosure and redemption transactions, and corporate-community partnership development with major SE Michigan institutions.
Melon channels that experience into a single focused model: clearing the practical barriers — registration, banking, money readiness, digital presence — that keep capable entrepreneurs stuck, then building on top of them. The platform is early, and it is built to grow.
Knowledge must have infrastructure to act on. Infrastructure must have knowledge to operate. The platform builds both — because either alone leaves the entrepreneur unprepared when opportunity moves.
What every entrepreneur needs to know before opportunity moves. Money readiness coaching, business modeling, financial projections, and industry-specific curriculum built around the actual situation. For new entrepreneurs, this is the foundational thinking that earns grant eligibility. For established business owners, this is the strategic analysis that drives the next move.
What gets built around the entrepreneur to make their business operational. Business registration, banking relationships, custom websites, digital presence, and capital readiness packages. Plus access to vetted referral networks for legal, accounting, certifications, and insurance — the partners every business needs in place before they're needed.
A cash injection without preparation is temporary. Financial education without infrastructure is incomplete. Melon builds both — in the right order, with the right people.
For entrepreneurs who haven't yet registered a business. No LLC, no EIN, no business bank account — not because you haven't been working, but because the work has lived off paper. Launch Pad is where we file the registration, open the accounts, and build your first real digital presence, together.
Scholarships reserved for Builders who commit $100 of their own. Sponsors cover the remaining $400.
Different doors, same spine. For owners of a registered business getting ready to compete for contracts and grants — readiness, certification, and the digital presence to back it up.
Each engagement scoped during our first conversation.
Organizations on the same team
Launch Pad and Legacy walk in through different doors — the first for entrepreneurs building registration, banking, and a first digital presence from scratch, the second for registered owners getting ready to compete for contracts and grants. The spine is the same: money readiness scoped to the situation, one-on-one coaching, a vetted network for whatever comes next, and an open door when life shifts.
No templates. A plan that fits the person in front of us.
Get StartedEvery plan begins with a money readiness assessment built around your situation — before any business curriculum is delivered.
LARA filings, EIN, and warm referrals to low-barrier business banking partners. The paperwork happens with us, not as homework.
Custom website built by Melon, owned by you. Verizon Digital Ready curriculum runs alongside — industry-specific, grant eligible.
Stable income managed with intention is a wealth-building tool. Our free weekly job board covers Southeast Michigan.
Browse Open Jobs →Specification analysis, compliance gap identification, and submission support for the contracts and grants that move the business forward.
Hands-on help with WOSB, MBE, MWBE, and ACDBE applications — the paperwork that unlocks set-aside contracts most owners never have time to chase.
A professional website built around what RFPs and lenders actually look for, owned by you, maintained with you.
Built on direct, firsthand experience navigating RFP compliance, grant applications, and certification processes for a small business close to home.
Removing the barriers that keep good entrepreneurs out of the system. Registration, banking, and digital presence come first — so when the next door opens, the business is ready.
Don't take our word for it — hear from the small business owners we've had the honor of working alongside.
Very efficient work, Odel! Thank you so much for your support in starting my business.
Working with Mr. Odell Palacio has been phenomenal. He has given me direction and resources to help my business grow as well as tips for establishing professional development.
Let us know which track fits your situation and we'll be in touch within 48 hours.
Prefer email? hello@melon297.org for general inquiries · partnerships@melon297.org for funders and corporate
No payment to inquire. Builder Pathway pricing, scholarships, and Legacy service fees are discussed during our first conversation.
Unfindable. Unfundable. Fixing the barriers in between. Melon 29:7 partners with organizations that approach economic inclusion as strategy. The conversation starts with what you want your capital to accomplish and how fast it needs to move.
Start the ConversationEvery contribution goes directly to program delivery for entrepreneurs who've been locked out of mainstream support. Choose the path that fits you.
$400 funds the scholarship portion of one Launch Pad seat — completing the pathway for a Builder who commits $100 of their own. This is a young, hands-on program: your sponsorship funds a specific Builder's path, start to finish, and you'll see exactly where it went.
Tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, A Brighter Way, a Michigan 501(c)(3).
Fund a defined, countable outcome — a cohort of Builders moved through registration and readiness, with reporting you can put in front of your own leadership.
Or put your platform in front of entrepreneurs who need it. Melon has run paid enrollment partnerships connecting Builders to tools they should be using — a model that works for any company with a product worth putting in front of this audience.
Tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, A Brighter Way, a Michigan 501(c)(3).