We are pleased to share the outcomes of our Social Venture Challenge at the Clinton Global Initiative University at UC Berkeley. At CGI U, we saw 133 proposals, leading to 54 teams in the semi-finals, and 33 teams in the finals. We ultimately selected 37 SVC Winners representing 20 new social ventures that will receive a total of $100,000 in seed funding. Resolution’s community of global changemakers has now grown to more than 280! Learn more about our most recent SVC Winners and their proposed social ventures below:
Jeffrey Hong, Olivia Kuligowski, and Khanh Nguyen started Bridging Borders to instill ethno-cultural empathy and educate students in Houston, TX about the world beyond their own experiences, while also preventing summer-learning loss. The three-week program will provide culture immersion and ongoing learning through hands-on activities that teach teamwork, problem solving, and critical thinking.
Through E^2, Steven Miller and Moriah Shay will create a Mobile Innovation Lab equipped with tools, machinery, and activities to help get underrepresented students in Corvallis, OR interested in STEM-related fields. E^2 will encourage women, minority, and rural students to build an interest in STEM education and careers, and will enable them to participate in the STEM landscape.
Hearts For The Homeless Orlando founders, Andrew Aboujaoude, Jennifer Carvel, and Alexis Ghersi, are developing a new hypertension-screening program for the homeless community in Orlando, FL. They will partner with local food shares and free healthcare clinics to help reduce incidence of hypertension and cardiac diseases in this underserved community. In addition, this initiative aims to promote awareness for this population by creating needed volunteer opportunities for university students.
Odette Zero and Udita Persaud founded the HIRCULES Health Hub to provide health information desks at local public libraries. These hubs will offer culturally competent, holistic health information and resources targeted to Chicagoland communities in Evanston and Skokie, IL. The founders aim to empower community members to take ownership of their health by providing previously inaccessible resources that foster and support their well-being.
Rassidatou Konate, founder of the Iwili Project in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso, will equip high school students and recent graduates with entrepreneurial skills, mentorship, internships, and funding to start businesses. Iwili seeks to address the deficit of resources, jobs, and skills for high school students and recent graduates by offering a holistic program of entrepreneurial, leadership, and professional skills development that prepares students for the job market and further educational study.
Keki-Mawe founder James Tayali will produce an organic cookie and powder product to reduce iron deficiency among pregnant women and children in Malawi. In collaboration with a local manufacturer, Keki-Mawe will produce and market a soil-like iron and folate rich organic powder and cookie product, which will look, smell, and taste like soil to mimic the current soil-eating habits of this target population.
Layla Nassar, Rowanne Ali, and Grace Jean are the co-founders of W.I.N.G.S. (Women In Next-Generation Sciences), a social venture that will expose disadvantaged middle-school-aged girls to interactive Physics curricula as well as advance personal development via mentorship-based support networks. Together, these initiatives will empower young women for further study and future careers in applied sciences.
Emily Moschowits is the founder of Utica Greens, an urban agriculture initiative in Utica, NY. Through her venture, Emily will organize community gardens in the neighborhood to improve efficiency, efficacy, and food distribution. Utica Greens will also introduce educational programing opportunities for existing gardens, as well as build new gardens to foster community, improve access to healthy, local produce, and help everyone to find their inner farmer.
Bantu Mabaso founded The Phalala Youth Empowerment For Food Security to provide youth in her home neighborhood of Phalala, Swaziland with the skills, capital and support they need to run climate resilient agricultural enterprises. This skills-based education and mentorship initiative has the dual goal of empowering youth and combating food shortages caused by a severe drought crisis in the rural community.
Raunak Thakur is the founder of Sulav Urja, a social venture bringing biogas to rural households in Nepal. Through her venture, Raunak will provide households in rural Nepal with a biogas digester to help generate biofuel from organic household waste. Sulav Urja will reduce the harmful effects associated with indoor burning of firewood, reduce deforestation, and economically empower the households living in this village.
Frida Herrera is the founder of Let’s Grow Healthy, a community gardening initiative designed to decrease childhood obesity and promote healthy eating habits for children in Canoga Park, CA. Frida and her team are working with local schools to build gardens and teach hands-on gardening classes to teach children about nutrition, health, and sustainability. Frida is bringing education and healthy produce to the disadvantaged children of this community, which is classified as a food desert.
Anh Thu Ho’s social venture, Ladon, is a communication platform that connects caretakers and social workers in the Bay Area with volunteer interpreters, to bridge the language barrier for citizens with limited English proficiency. Ladon will enable access to quality healthcare by increasing communication between non-English speaking citizens and caretakers, social workers, and other community services through volunteer interpreters.
Pumla Maswanganyi and Precious Ismail are the co-founders of Nimble Fingers Project. Over a period of 6 weeks, Nimble Fingers aims to equip 20 young girls and women in Nigeria with the vocational skills and materials needed to create and run a sustainable small business. During the project, women will attend workshops and practical skills training sessions at the Idi-Araba Lagos. Nimble Fingers is empowering women and promoting economic independence through entrepreneurship.
The Pertiwi Initiative was founded by Aqila Putri, Haikal Ramadhan, and Josephine Ho to address the issue of waste on Panggang Island, Indonesia. The Pertiwi team will utilize an environmentally and financially sustainable model of decentralized waste banking that promotes recycling, waste removal, and economic development. Pertiwi also aims to empower women by expanding access to opportunities that allow them to have more active roles in the community.
Celia Breuer is the founder of Siku Njema Kesho. Siku Njema Kesho’s goal is to enhance farming and promote sanitation and health by increasing access to water through the provision of water tanks and training on rainwater harvesting in Nakuru, Kenya. The community has a jewelry-making program that they are using to fund the other half of the project.
Andy Chen and Leonard Kilekwang co-founded Tecnosafi to communicate information on the prevention of waterborne diseases in a culturally-sensitve way to residents of Chepareria, Kenya using a text message listserv. Through the use of mobile device based education, Tecnosafi will decrease incidences of typhoid and cholera, and also increase quality of life and knowledge of disease prevention.
Christie Lawrence and Jay Sullivan are the co-founders of Think Before Saying: An Initiative Of The You Don’t Say Campaign. This social venture will bring bystander intervention and implicit bias trainings to local high schools. The campaign will leverage the success of an existing photo campaign to illustrate how harmful language can marginalize youth in the LGBTQ community and foster intolerance.
MealFlour is a social venture founded by Elizabeth Frank, Joyce Lu, and Gabrielle Wimer. The MealFlour team will build mealworm farms in urban areas in Kenya and Guatemala that have limited access to protein. The farms will manufacture protein rich flour that can be sold to local bakeries and directly to the community. MealFlour’s micro-franchise growth model also will promote job creation in the communities.
Abd Al-rahman Traboulsi, Jackson Frazier, and Nima Dahir are the co-founders of Refuge, a social venture that aims to empower adolescent refugee populations through intercultural dialogue and higher education. The program will establish an online community to promote intercultural exchange between refugee and American student partners, culminating in an immersion experience at Ohio State University to foster relationships and spur discussion with community leaders.