By Nathaniel Luce
Students from across Vanderbilt University are competing for a $1 million prize awarded for the best idea for addressing income inequality in crowded urban spaces around the world.
The challenge is issued from the Hult Prize Foundation, a start-up accelerator for young social entrepreneurs emerging from the world’s top universities. This year, the Owen Graduate School of Management, in conjunction with the Turner Family Center for Social Ventures, is a first-round host. On December 7, student teams will compete in the Hult Prize @ Vanderbilt by presenting five-minute pitches on their plans. If Vanderbilt fields at least ten teams, then the winning team will automatically advance to the global regional finals. Interdisciplinary teams from Vanderbilt have reached the regionals each of the last two years.
“The Hult Prize is a chance for Vanderbilt students to shine in the global spotlight,” says Mario Avila, director of the Turner Family Center for Social Ventures at Vanderbilt. “Vanderbilt has a rich tradition of nurturing social entrepreneurs, from Muhammad Yunus to Kyle McCollom. The Hult Prize competition is a chance for current students to follow in that tradition.”
The Hult Prize is offered in partnership with former U.S. President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative. The annual competition aims to create and launch the most compelling social business ideas—start-up enterprises that tackle grave issues faced by billions of people. Each year, a critical social problem is selected by President Bill Clinton and a challenge is issued. Teams of three or four students then develop a tailored and innovative start-up enterprise to solve the problem. Winners receive $1 million in seed capital, as well as mentorship and advice from the international business community.
Last year’s challenge was to design a project that would provide quality education to 10 million children under age 6 in urban slums by 2020. A team from Vanderbilt, including students from the Owen and Peabody schools, was one of 200 teams to qualify for the regional finals out of a field of 20,000 teams.
“Our team last year had a terrific experience, and I want to make sure as many Vanderbilt students as possible have the same opportunity,” says Matt Inbusch, MBA’16 and campus director of the Hult Prize @ Vanderbilt competition.
Last year’s $1 million prizewinners were from National Chengchi University in Taiwan. They designed a program for improving informal day care centers in urban slums by turning local caregivers into small-business owners that operate their own franchises.
In this year’s Hult Prize, students are challenged with building sustainable, scalable and fast-growing social enterprises with the goal of doubling the income of 10 million people residing in crowded urban spaces by better connecting people, goods, services and capital.
“The Hult Prize is a fantastic opportunity to explore, collaborate and learn about ways to bring market-driven solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems,” Inbusch says.
Open to universities, colleges and students on every continent, the Hult Prize has grown to become the world’s largest student movement for social good. Swedish entrepreneur Bertil Hult and his family fund the prize, which is called the “Nobel Prize for Students” by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, a Vanderbilt graduate and a pioneer in the field of microcredit. Nearly all of the Financial Times’ Top 100 MBA programs participate.
Judges for Hult @ Vanderbilt are Bruce Bowman, President of KaBOOM!, Kila Englebrook, Director of the Social Enterprise Alliance, and Buddy Best, CEO of Soles4Souls.
The Turner Family Center is hosting upcoming workshops for students to refine their ideas. Interested students can reach Campus Director Matt Inbusch at matthew.inbusch@owen.vanderbilt.edu for more details.
“We don’t expect students to have a complete business plan to tackle poverty in crowded urban spaces,” Inbusch says. “Right now, we’re focused on brainstorming so that we can help teams develop market-based plans from their early-stage ideas.”
Contact Person: Brett Israel Director, Business News & Communications Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management
Contact Phone: (615) 322-NEWS
Contact Email: brett.israel@owen.vanderbilt.edu
