Social Innovation Competition:
2008 Winners
When the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service launched this competition, the idea was to engage as many students as possible in social entrepreneurship, encouraging the next generation of leaders to dream up solutions to today's pressing issues. Now in its second year, the competition has expanded beyond the borders of Texas to include students from any U.S. college or university.
This year, students from 97 different universities across the nation dreamed big and submitted nearly 1,200 ideas for social change. Students offered their innovative solutions to a number of areas, including healthcare, education, the environment, energy sustainability, and nonprofit performance.
Three finalist teams were invited to Austin and competed live in front of a panel of judges. Congratulations to all students who participated this year!
Watch:
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2008 Social Innovation Competition Final Presentations and Award Ceremony | 05/02/08 |
1st Place: $50,000 Grand Prize
People's Choice Award: $1,000
Husk Power Systems, University of Virginia
Team Members: Charles Ransler, Manoj Sinha
Husk Power Systems will provide power to millions of rural Indians in a financially sustainable, scalable, environmentally friendly, and profitable manner. Husk Power Systems has created proprietary technology that cost-effectively converts rice husks into electricity.
2nd Place: $7,500 Prize
Planting Empowerment, Johns Hopkins University, Ohio University, Thunderbird School of Global Management, Virginia Tech
Team Members: Chris Meyer, Damion Croston, Andrew Wulf, Andrew Parrucci
Planting Empowerment (PE) addresses the three issues of environmental degradation, rural poverty and investor consciousness through the offering of three investment products in tropical hardwood plantations in Panama. Capital raised from its three investment products is used to lease land from rural Panamanians for sustainable forestry initiatives. PE aims to offer investors the opportunity to save the rainforests and rural communities of Panama while realizing financial gains.
3rd Place: $2,500 Prize
Swayam, Stanford University
Team Members: Deepti Chatti, Ashni Mohnot, Somik Raha, Thomas Seyller
Swayam helps promising students eliminate the financial barrier to education, a bright future and a better standard of living by enabling investors to fund their education in return for a percentage of their future income for a fixed period of time.
Competition Judges
Serving as the 2008 Social Innovation judges were:
- Tom Meredith, MFI Foundation
- Suzi Sosa, MPower Labs
- Lisa Huddleson, Dell Inc. Foundation
- Philip R. Berber, A Glimmer of Hope Foundation
- Carmen Tawil, Corridor Television, LLP
- Lee Walker, Community Investments
2008 Semifinalists
Forty-eight semifinalist teams were selected to submit a full venture plan in the 2008 competition. View the list of semifinalist competitors.
2007 Winners
The first year of the Social Innovation Competition, students from the University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Rice University and St. Edwards University were invited to compete. From a selection of 284 contestants, four finalist teams competed live for the $50,000 prize. Congratulations to Team Accessibility for taking first place!
After many hours of debate, with what turned out to be an extremely competitive field of exceptional ideas, the judges came to an agreement and chose four finalists. Each team presented their innovation and a panel of distinguished judges selected our grand prize winner and three teams for second place.
Congratulations to all who participated in our first year!
Watch:
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2007 Social Innovation Competition Final Presentations and Award Ceremony | 05/04/07 |
1st Place: $50,000 Grand Prize
AccessAbility, University of Texas at Austin
Team members: Manasi Deshpande, Tarun Nimmagadda, Mickey Ristroph, Matt Stolhandske, Shailie Thakkar
People with disabilities often face daily struggles navigating through a world built for able-bodied individuals. AccessAbility provides users with pedestrian-scale searchable maps, offering detailed accessibility features such as hill gradients, curb cuts, ramps, automatic door entrances and wheelchair-accessible bathrooms.
2nd Place: $10,000 Prize
Bridge Academy, University of Texas at Austin
Team Members: Sarina Hickey, Pegah Javidpour, Marialena Rivera
Due to their migratory lifestyles, children of migrant farm workers often lack the stability and support that is crucial to a successful academic career. The first charter school of its kind, BRIDGE Academy aims to dramatically improve the lives of these children by providing a stable and nurturing learning environment with a unique three-tiered rotational teaching plan to keep students with the same teacher for three years in a row.
2nd Place: $10,000 Prize
PAIR, Rice University
Team members: Chethana Biliyar, Matt Campbell, Elaine Chang, Stephen Dictor, Christina Lagos, Rajen Mahagaokar, Pamela Mathai, Payton Odom, Ying Shi, Jane Sundermann, Achala Talati
Uninformed of the educational opportunities available in the U.S., middle school and high school refugee students frequently fall into a cycle of settling for low-wage jobs. PAIR offers these refugees two new learning centers and a unique, interactive Web site, maximizing the number of refugees enrolling in college while simultaneously developing their confidence, computer skills and a more positive outlook on expanded horizons.
2nd Place: $10,000 Prize
SunNight Solar, Rice University
Team Members: James Rapore, Timothy Burke
With the majority of households in the developing world not having a reliable source of light after the sun goes down, SunNight Solar offers a sustainable cost-effective source of light for those in need. From just one day of sitting in the sun, the SunNight Solar flashlight can provide four to five hours of illumination, without fumes, smoke or fire risk, thus addressing environmental issues, illiteracy and poverty at the same time.