Competition celebrates student-led social ventures focused on sustainable change

Teams of students from 26 universities across six continents, including two teams from the Akilah Institute, competed for up to $50,000 in seed funding at University of San Diego, California this month.

Akilah students with fellow competitors in San Diego

The Global Social Innovation Challenge pitch competition recognizes, resources, and rewards student-led social ventures focused on sustainable change. The Akilah students were selected through a rigorous competitive process, and prepared their pitches with mentorship from Akilah’s Business Incubation Center. The teams represent two innovative business ideas:

• Rwaponics, a hydroponic nutrition system, and

• Talk App — a mobile application for preventing teenage pregnancy.

The Rwaponics team consists of two women: Rose Mushimiyimana and Aline Iraguha, who both study in the Business Management and Entrepreneurship program at Akilah. Rose and Aline say they believe in creating social change through empowering Rwandan women cooperatives about nutrition.

The Talk App team is led by Floride Tuyisenge who studies in Akilah’s Information Systems program. Floride says:

“I grew up in a rural area of Rwanda and have seen how teenagers are affected by lack of sexual reproductive health education. I am passionate about technology and am eager to use the technical skills I have acquired at Akilah to help reduce teenage pregnancy.”

According to The Bridgespan Group, higher education institutions across the country are seeing more young innovators anxious to change the world. A decade ago, only a handful of schools invested in social entrepreneurship; today, almost 50 percent of the top 50 business schools in the world host a social impact program. This explosive growth can be attributed to a demand from students as well as a global movement around sustainability.

Since 2010, the Akilah Institute has made investing in social entrepreneurship a top priority, educating students through a lens of opportunity and sustainability, and with the goal of matching education to real market needs.

University of San Diego (USD)’s FowlerGlobal Social Innovation Challenge is designed and hosted by USD’s Center for Peace and Commerce — a joint partnership between the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies and the University of San Diego School of Business. Since the program’s inception in 2011, winning teams have received more than $370,000 in seed funding for social ventures in over 17 countries.