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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FROM: Nancy Gardner (206) 543-2580
nancylou@u.washington.edu
DATE:
February 21, 2006
Students representing universities in China, India, Japan
and the United States will present their ideas to incorporate
both financial and socially sustainable solutions for reducing
poverty through new business development, in the University
of Washington’s Business School's second annual Global
Social Entrepreneurship Competition.
Set to begin next week, the competition's focus on social
entrepreneurship requires that teams find creative and commercially
sustainable ways to improve the quality of life in developing
countries. Social entrepreneurship is loosely defined as
an individual or group whose aim is to create new ways to
solve social problems. This can involve setting up not-for-profit
businesses, or businesses which make some profit but whose
role is to develop the community in some way.
Organizers say Seattle philanthropic business leaders are
increasingly looking to students for creative ideas that
promote social enterprise. Teams will be judged on the following
criteria: impact on quality of life in the developing world,
implementation feasibility and financial sustainability.
Patrick Byrne, chief executive officer of Overstock.com who
is known for his philanthropic work and attention to ending
poverty in third world countries, will be this year's keynote
speaker.
"Social entrepreneurship, the central concept behind
this competition, may be effective at alleviating global
poverty," Byrne
said. "Worldstock, a department within Overstock.com,
is modeled upon this concept. Worldstock enables thousands
of impoverished craftspeople to sell their products online,
establish long-term businesses and create a sustainable living
for themselves and their families."
Business plans submitted include solutions for how to recycle
old computers in India; converting China's domestic sewage
into fertilizer; improving sanitation and supplying safe
drinking water in Pakistan; and using wind-generated electricity
to Kenya's poorest neighborhoods.
Teams of undergraduate and graduate students will participate
in the competition, which runs from Feb. 27 through March
3. The 10 teams competing are: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
(Shanghai, China); Kobe University (Kobe, Japan); Bharathidasan
Institute of Management (Tamil Nadu, India); S.P. Jain Institute
of Management and Research (Mumbai, India); KAIST Graduate
School of Management, (Seoul, South Korea); Baylor University
(Houston, Texas) and four from the University of Washington.
Debra Glassman, senior lecturer in business economics and
assistant faculty director of the UW's Global Business Center,
said as Seattle becomes better known internationally for
its proliferation of philanthropic organizations, future
business leaders are playing an increasingly vital role in
the development of emerging markets.
"The motivation for GSEC is to contribute to the alleviation
of global poverty," said Glassman. "We are doing
that by educating young entrepreneurs, who have creative
ideas about how to tackle the problems of poverty using business
models. The problems of poverty are interdisciplinary ones,
and one of the most interesting aspects of the competition
is the interaction among team members from different disciplines."
UW teams are required to include members from at least two
different schools or colleges on campus. This year's UW teams
include students studying business, engineering, science,
public affairs, international studies and environmental health.
Stephanie Renzi, a UW graduate student studying international
Chinese studies, said her experiences working and studying
in Beijing allowed her to witness China's environmental degradation
and experience its ill effects on public health. She and
her teammates have proposed a plan to combat air pollution
in Beijing through the design and installation of "green
roofs," or growing plants on roofs that help cut back
on unhealthy levels of carbon dioxide.
"I am anxious to use GSEC as a creative forum to discuss
Beijing's air pollution and question whether or not modernization
need
always compromise the environment," said Renzi. "My
team and I agree that modernization and environmental conservation
can work in harmony with one another. Our business proposal
adapts basic technologies to Beijing's distinct environmental
situation in a way that simultaneously promotes economic
development and improves environmental health."
During the preliminary round on March 2, teams will have
10 minutes to present their ideas, followed by 15 minutes
of cross-examination from the judges. The top four teams
will have a chance to perfect their presentations, get a
good night's rest, and return to face the judges the following
day.
The Global Business Center, the principal event organizer,
will host the event, in partnership with the Business School's
Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and UW's Marc
Lindenberg Center for Humanitarian Action, International
Development and Global Citizenship. Additional support is
provided by the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs
and the Initiative for Global Development, a Seattle-based
alliance of business and civic leaders.
Participating teams have been awarded more than $20,000 in
travel scholarships and will vie for a grand prize. Both
the preliminary and final rounds of the competition are open
to the public and they will take place: March 2 from 12:30
p.m. until 4:00 p.m. and March 3 from 1:45 p.m. until 4:30
p.m. in the Douglas Forum, located in the Bank of America
Executive Education Center, on the UW campus.
Sponsors are Howard and Lynn Behar, Du Pont, Ivars, Mezza
Café, Pioneer Human Services, Symetra Financial, UW
Business School and the University of Washington.
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