Bend woman, co-founder of Altitude Beverages, earns $25,000 grant

Laura Melgarejo Silva, owner of Altitude Beverages was named as one of the Stacy’s Rise Project 2024 winners and will be awarded a $25,000 grant, mentorship from Frito-Lay and PepsiCo leadership and an incomparable built-in community of powerful women to help them achieve their business dreams.

Silva of Bend co-founded Altitude Beverages, zero-proof cocktails packed with functional ingredients for an unwind without the booze.

As a woman-founded business that began as a humble sandwich cart and grew into a household brand, Stacy’s Pita Chips knows that when one woman rises, we all rise. To
honor this legacy, the brand created the Stacy’s Rise Project grant and mentorship program in 2017, and has since awarded more than $1 million to women-owned businesses across North America.

Stacy’s Pita Chips, a woman-founded brand with a longstanding
legacy of supporting women entrepreneurs, has partnered with another iconic woman-founded brand, Barbie, to celebrate Women’s History Month through the stories of women from past, current and future generations. United by a shared vision of uplifting women
and changing “herstory,” the partnership kicks off with a limited-time offer of “Barbie” inspired Stacy’s Pita Chips packaging – with bags available in both human and Barbie sizes.

“Barbie and Stacy’s Pita Chips share a common goal of inspiring women to achieve their dreams, so this partnership is a match made in ‘herstory,’” says Rhasheda Boyd,
vice president of marketing, Frito-Lay North America. “Stacy’s is proud to continue its ongoing support of women founders through the Stacy’s Rise Project, and with Barbie, we’re thrilled to extend that spotlight on the upcoming generations of aspiring women
trailblazers.” United by these legacies, the brands share a passion for supporting past, current and future generations of women.

This story is based on submitted information and has not been verified by our news team.

This article appears in Mar 13-20, 2024.