A team of Boise State University MBA students has advanced to the regional finals of the sixth annual Hult Prize.
The Hult Prize is the world’s largest student competition and start-up platform for social good.
In partnership with former President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative, the innovative crowdsourcing platform identifies and launches disruptive and catalytic social ventures that aim to solve the planet’s most pressing challenges.
Student teams will compete in five cities around the world for a chance to secure $1 million in start-up funding to launch a sustainable social venture. Boise State’s team is from the full-time MBA program in the College of Business and Economics, and includes team members Stephanie Stoenner, Jeremy Branch, Haley Schaefer, Daniel Salamone and Jessica Sokoloski. They will compete in London March 13-14.
Each team selected was chosen from more than 20,000 applications received from more than 500 colleges and universities in 150-plus countries.
“This is the third year in a row that a Boise State MBA student team has advanced to the regional finals of the prestigious Hult Prize,” said Trisha Stevens Lamb, director of the career track MBA program. “This is a testament to how bright, motivated and socially conscious our students are. They are really looking to make a difference in the world and this experience will no doubt shape their global and philanthropic outlook as they become leaders in our communities.”
The Hult Prize gives entrepreneurs from around the world a platform to innovate and revolutionize the way society thinks about servicing the poor. The 2015 Hult Prize will focus on building start-ups that provide sustainable, high-quality early education solutions to 10 million children under the age of 6 who live in urban slums.
“Servicing the world’s poorest through profitable and sustainable enterprise is not just good for the world, it’s great business,” said Ahmad Ashkar, CEO and founder of the Hult Prize Foundation. “We couldn’t be happier that Boise State University will be joining our mission with their participation in the sixth annual Hult Prize.”
The Hult Prize regional final competitions will be held in Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai and Shanghai. Following the regional finals, one winning team from each host city will move into a summer business incubator, where participants will receive mentorship, advisory and strategic planning as they create prototypes and set up to launch and scale their new ventures. A final round of competition will be hosted by President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative at its annual meeting in September, where CGI delegates will select a winning team that will be awarded the $1 million prize.