Once upon a time in South Dallas, there was a cucu lemon; odd, overlooked and misunderstood.
MATI-X saw something different: potential.
Our mission is to turn overlooked resources into food, entrepreneurship and economic opportunity for communities facing food and economic inequity and especially young people aging out of foster care.
Why? Because 30–40% of America’s food supply goes uneaten, while young people leaving foster care often enter adulthood without the employment and financial stability most of us take for granted.
Our goal is to serve 100 foster youth every year and teaching them how to build businesses, earn income and create ownership all the while expanding access to fresh food and reducing waste.
Your donation funds the work: entrepreneurship training, fresh food access, cold storage, zero-waste solutions, mentorship and opportunity.
You are not just giving to MATI-X.
You are helping us prove that what society overlooks can become what a community needs.
Give today. Help us turn potential into possibility.
MATI-X is here to make sure aging out of foster youth are not left to figure out adulthood alone.
We create a pathway for 17-year-olds to learn, earn, and own: building real businesses, gaining the skills to create a living, and developing a community that stays with them long after they leave the foster care system. MATI-X is a nonprofit entrepreneurship platform developing sustainable, zero-waste businesses in South Dallas built for ownership, sustainability, and real economic impact.
DALLAS TO ZIMBABWE
Help Send 10 MATI-X Graduates to the Global Stage
This North Texas Giving Day, MATI-X is raising $65,000 in matching funds to send 10 MATI-X graduates to Zimbabwe to present their businesses, participate in the XL Festival, and take part in an international zero-waste and entrepreneurship exchange.
These are not students going on a field trip.
They are young entrepreneurs who have completed MATI-X’s Build a Boss program and developed their own business ideas through our capstone process. Now they have an opportunity to take those ideas beyond Dallas and onto an international stage.
The official announcement will be made August 23, 2026, at the Obama Center.
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP
Before our students can go, they need to be ready.
The $65,000 campaign will help provide passports, leadership and global-readiness training, business presentation preparation, travel preparation and the costs necessary to get our 10 graduates to Zimbabwe.
This is a matching funds campaign, which means every dollar raised helps unlock the larger investment needed to make this opportunity possible.
THIS IS ABOUT MORE THAN A TRIP.
We believe exposure changes what young people believe is possible.
Our students will meet entrepreneurs, experience another culture, present their businesses, learn about international zero-waste practices and bring those lessons back to Dallas.
We are asking North Texas to invest in 10 young entrepreneurs who are ready for their next opportunity.
Our goal: $65,000.
Help us get them from Dallas to Zimbabwe and give them a global stage to build from.
Equity means ensuring opportunity is not limited by a young person’s zip code, family circumstances, or access to resources. MATI-X advances equity by connecting entrepreneurship, zero-waste practices, and responsible resource allocation to create pathways to ownership, income, leadership, and global exposure. We help young people turn overlooked resources and opportunities into economic value so they can build, compete, and lead on an equal footing.
Organization name
Mati Infusions DBA MATI-X
Tax id (EIN)
84-2817614
Causes
Community Improvement
Operating Budget
$100,000 - $249,999
Counties Served
Dallas
BIPOC Serving
Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx, Native American
BIPOC Leadership
Both the Executive Director/CEO and Board Chair
Address
2819 Marsalis St