Social Entrepreneurship Competitions and Conferences

OPEN CALL - ALL DISCIPLINES INTERESTED IN FOOD AND/OR BUSINESS

Do you have an interest in seafood? Food system dynamics? Consumer trends? Business? Marketing? Innovation? Solution-based thinking? If so, this may be your opportunity to share your ideas!

I would like to invite you to share a creative solution to any of the following challenges identified as top barriers to the sustainable economic growth of small-scale, local seafood in the United States. Any individual with interest is invited to create a proposal using a technique, technology, or knowledge from past experience in any field that may be of assistance. Your proposal can benefit local fishing efforts and marine conservation. Short proposals can be in relation to any one of the following:

LOGISTICS - How can small businesses, often in remote locations, gain access to processing, storage, cheap transportation, and/or markets as a means to increase business while keeping cost low?

 

SETTING A FAIR PRICE - How can a fisherman set prices for the catch that are fair to both the fishermen and their customers?

 

EFFICIENT MARKETING - How could a small business balance the extra time and energy needed for marketing with the need to leave flexibility for doing other things?

 

CONSUMER TRENDS - What types of seafood product would have the most monetary value?

 

SELLING TO AN INSTITUTION - How would a small-scale fishery be able to pass through necessary barriers to sell catch to hospitals, schools, etc.?

Big Ideas Abroad: Supporting Student Innovation in Uganda

Since 2013, the Big Ideas Contest has been open to Uganda’s largest post-secondary school and leader in innovation and research. 

Read more about how Big Ideas helps foster and leverage innovation and entrepreneurship abroad here.

Stripes Group, a growth equity firm based out of NYC, is hosting a 5-week long pitch-off competition for students interested in pursuing a career in investing. Please see attached for a full description of the competition along with an overview of Stripes Group.

The application deadline is 5pm ET on February 17^th, and teams will be notified by February 24^th if selected.

Grants, Prizes & Challenges

MIT Clean Energy Prize - New Developing Economies Track
The MIT Clean Energy Prize is a multi-stage, student-organized business plan competition. In 2016, student entrepreneurial teams competed for a $100,000 Grand Prize and $125,000 in category prizes, among other awards. Student teams enter their business ideas in one of four categories: Generating Energy, Delivering Energy, Improving Energy Usage, and Energy for Developing Economies. CEP is open to any student, anywhere, who has a clean energy start-up idea. Learn more here and apply by February 17.

DIL Explorer Travel Grant 
The Development Impact Lab (DIL) at UC Berkeley invites eligible researchers and graduate students to apply for the Spring 2017 DIL Explore Travel Grant competition (up to US $5,000 in direct costs). The grant supports a) early-stage exploratory research that combines technology innovation with social and economic research to solve international development challenges (i.e. the emerging field of development engineering); or b) travel to developing countries that supports development engineering projects through research, fact-finding or new partnerships. Open to students, faculty, and post-docs from select universities including the entire UC system and Makerere University. Learn more and apply here by February 20.

Saving Lives at Birth Grand Challenge
USAID invites global problem solvers to identify and develop transformative approaches that integrate scientific and technological advancements, better service delivery models, and improved "demand side" innovations that empower pregnant women and their families to practice healthy behaviors and access healthcare during pregnancy, childbirth, and the early postnatal period--especially the first 2 days after birth. Learn more and apply here by February 24.

Bay Area Global Health Innovation Challenge 
The Bay Area Global Health Innovation Challenge will be held on May 20-21, 2017 in San Francisco, California. An annual competition hosted by the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, and the HealthRoots Foundation for Global Health, it offers student teams from universities worldwide the opportunity to present ideas for low-cost, high-impact, scalable global health innovations. Teams will compete for the grand prize of $10,000 in seed funding, and will have the opportunity to engage a high-level cohort of judges and speakers. Open to all currently-enrolled university students and postgraduates. Learn more and apply here by February 28.

Apply to Attend Clinton Global Initiative University 2017!
Join President Bill Clinton and more than 1,000 students, policy makers, topic experts, and leaders from the public, private, and NGO sectors for the annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) convening at Northeastern University on October 13-15, 2017. CGI U challenges young leaders and entrepreneurs to become agents of positive social change by developing a Commitment to Action: a new, specific, and measurable plan to address a challenge in one of CGI U’s five focus areas. Accepted students will have the opportunity to attend, where they will hear from experts in the field, develop practical skills, identify potential partners, and formulate concrete plans of action for the months ahead. More than $750,000 in funding is available for select students, and travel stipends to attend are available. Learn more here, early deadline  is March 1.

Citi Tech for Integrity Challenge
The Citi Tech for Integrity Challenge (T4I) is an open innovation challenge to source solutions that promote integrity, accountability and transparency in the public sector. Solve for real-life problem statements that are relevant to government organizations globally. The accelerator program will run from March to April, when finalists will be selected to participate in Demo Days with cash prizes. Learn more here and apply by March 6.

Global Competition for Hardware-Led Social Innovations
ASME’s ISHOW is seeking sustainable and scalable hardware-based solutions and technologies that can have a transformational economic, environmental and social impact in underserved communities around the world. The global competition invites the best and brightest engineers, entrepreneurs, students, and innovators to enter their prototype solutions that focus on energy, health, agriculture, clean water, and sanitation. Designers are invited to enter one of three ISHOW competitions in Bangalore, India; Nairobi, Kenya, and Washington, D.C - 3 winners at each ISHOW can win up to $50,000. Learn more here and apply by March 15.

Do you have an innovative idea that could impact change in your community or the world?

Application is now open for Duke ChangeWorks 2017!

ChangeWorks is a social entrepreneurship competition on Duke’s campus that provides a platform of guidance and funding for Duke students to pursue a business idea that proposes an innovative solution to a real world social problem.

Originally only for undergrads and run out of the student organization Duke Business Society, ChangeWorks is now being run and managed by Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship and will be open to both undergraduate and graduate students at Duke.

Please see our site for more details

http://www.dukechangeworks.org/

Apply here

Application deadline March 3rd.

Want to learn more? Come to our ChangeWorks Info Session
February 23rd at 7pm

Gross Hall, Room 103

Duke Global Challenge
 

What’s your problem?  And why should we care?  Join the Duke Global Challenge NOW to find out!

The Duke Global Challenge gives student teams the opportunity to tackle the critically important step of going deeper on a social or environmental issue of interest before moving on to generating solutions.  We will support students with workshops to learn how to structure analyses and dynamically present your findings in a way that experts and laymen can understand. 

Winners of the Duke Global Challenge will compete at Oxford University’s Global Challenge in the spring and compete for funding to “apprentice with the problem.”  Register by December 7; Challenge takes place in early 2017.

Global Social Venture Competition

GSVC Empowers the Next Generation of Social Entrepreneurs Around the World

Applications due: December 5, 2016

Regional Finals: February 2017

Global Finals at UC Berkeley: April 5-7, 2017

About GSVC

The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) is one of the oldest social venture competitions, and has the largest global reach. Fouded at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in 1999, GSVC has evolved into a global network of premier business schools, universities, and programs in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.

How it Works

Teams must include at least one student or recent student alum and will learn how to design business models through the “lean launch” process that emphasizes stakeholder discovery, innovation, and social impact measurement. Participants receive exposure, mentorship and access to a variety of education opportunities. Top finalists participate in a Global Finals event that convenes successful social entrepreneurs and thought leaders for a weekend event that culminates in the awarding of over $80,000 in prizes. Judges, mentors, and sponsors shape the global social entrepreneurship community and help transform ideas into ventures that address the world’s most pressing challenges.

Learn more at www.gsvc.org or info@gsvc.org

Flyer attached to email.