The Hult Prize @ Boise State student pitch competition was held Nov. 10 at Trailhead Boise. There were 28 student contestants from 21 different fields of study making up 8 teams (see the “Teams List”). In an exciting display of interdisciplinary collaboration, the teams competed for the automatic Boise State bid to participate in the Hult Prize semi-final round in Dubai, Shanghai, London, San Francisco or Boston in March 2017.
This year, teams have been asked to create sustainable, scalable, fast-growing social enterprises that restore the rights and dignity of 10 million involuntary migrants forced into motion due to economic pressures, environmental conditions and conflict. Teams pitched their ideas to solve the Hult Prize 2017 Challenge.
The Hult Prize @ Boise State winner was Team Cultivate and their ideas for P.O.T.T. (Portable One Time Toilet). The product is a double layered bag — inner layer breaks down waste, outer layer contains seeds — that produces food from the waste within six weeks.
Judges of Hult Prize @ Boise State were Carolyn Holly, vice president of marketing, communication, and public relations at Saint Alphonsus;Â Harry Northrop, student at One Stone;Â Faisal Shah, co-founder of Trailhead Boise;Â Patrick Wangoi, founder of Heart of Compassion Group;Â Marwan Swedan, physician and former combat medic for the United States Army;Â Haley Hennessey, Boise State Career Track MBA Graduate and two-time Hult Prize regional competitor.
Connor Sheldon, MBA candidate and the Hult Prize @ Boise State campus director organized the event. Sheldon recruited teams, researched the topic, enlisted judges, secured catering and the location, and is now working with the advancing team. She is encouraged to see students act as change agents in the world.
Sponsor of Hult Prize @ Boise State includes: Blue Sky Institute, Boise State University, Small Business Development Center-Idaho and Trailhead Boise.
Bold type denotes College of Business and Economics students.
A Story to be Told
- Ashleigh Anderson (human resources management, Career Track MBA)
- Jessica Bottelberghe (mechanical engineering, Career Track MBA)
- Steven Gabrielsen (accounting, Career Track MBA)
- Ethan Lopez (economics, Career Track MBA)
BARE
- Andrew Dambi (international business, supply chain management)
- Colin Moeser (political science, international relations)
- Jessica Franco (political science: international relations)
DaSphere
- Daniel Ryan (international business)
- Sarah Romero (marketing)
- Tyler Clapier (engineering)
One Big Heart Institute
- Freddy Nyakulinda (social work)
- Zainab Kamel, (general studies)
- YuWen Chen, (ESL, M.Ed.)
- Ryan Personette (linguistics)
Patchwork Hope
- Bradley Tinker (criminology, Career Track MBA)
- Nandini Ghosh (bio-technology, Career Track MBA)
- Sarah Koch (fine arts, Career Track MBA)
- Sydney Axtell (applied economics, Career Track MBA)
Project Recover
- Austin Legg (psychology, Career Track MBA)
- Alexandria Allen (psychology, Career Track MBA)
- Cody Huckvale (exercise physiology, Career Track MBA)
- Becky Davis (journalism, Career Track MBA)
Revitalize
- Hannah Joy Coad (biochemistry, Career Track MBA)
- Amalka Jayasundera (psychology, sociology/anthropology, Career Track MBA)
- Sean Patton (mechanical engineering, Career Track MBA)
- Eldar Sakebaev (international business, Career Track MBA)
Team Cultivate
- Steve Silva (applied science)
- Janice Witherspoon (communication and political science, public law and political philosophy)
- Brandon Sams (mathematics)
- Luke Yeates (communications, journalism and media studies emphasis)