Written By Stephanie Stoenner, MBA Candidate
February 23, 2015
Around the globe, there are more than a hundred million children under the age of six living in slums, who do not get the quality education they need to prepare them for school and/or to be successful in society. In attempt to address this heartbreaking global issue, The Hult Prize Social Enterprise Challenge has proposed the question, can we provide quality early education to ten million children, under the age of six, in urban slums by 2020?
Our team of five Boise State MBAs believes we can.
We think that to be successful in developing a social enterprise we need to build it upon trust. It is the foundation of all sustainable and reputable social enterprises. Trust enables organizations to thrive financially and thereby acquire the vital resources and knowledge necessary to successfully impact markets served. Simply stated, it is confidence garnered by stakeholders and communities affected by the change an organization is trying to enact. As a team, we have instilled our skills, values, and business expertise into our efforts to create an organization dedicated to providing a viable solution to solve the issues surrounding early childhood education and in many regions across the globe.
We also believe empathy is critical to preserve various belief and value systems embedded in societies worldwide. Communities will be receptive to our solution because we have the capability and willingness to understand views other than our own. This empathy will be a powerful aid for influencing communities to change the ideology currently surrounding early childhood education within slums.
Our team hopes that trust will differentiate our team from the competition. Collectively, our accomplishments, cultural experiences, educational backgrounds, and overall competencies will provide the essential skills required to create a profitable, impactful social enterprise. Our initiative will revolutionize early education within low-income locales and break down the barriers currently in place within slums scattered worldwide.
We are so grateful we have the opportunity to implement effective teaching strategies and learning techniques to ultimately improve the future of the world’s youth. Whether or not we advance from the finals, we will be happy to have been able to participate in such an amazing experience.
The MBA students representing Boise State at the 2014-2015 Hult Prize Competition are Jeremy Branch, Daniel Salamone, Haley Schaefer, Jessica Sokoloski, and Stephanie Stoenner.