Social Innovation Competition for $50,000 Prize
As mentioned in the MPA Weekly Newsletter
Inventors come up with ideas; innovators put them into practice. The Social Innovation Competition provides a vehicle for taking a student innovation from idea to reality. The competition is a real-world exercise in developing skills in plan development, pitching ideas to investors, developing networks and receiving constructive feedback for increasing the probability of successfully launching a venture. The competition operates like a business plan competition, awarding seed funding directly to the student-led venture that best meets the judges’ criteria. The range of projects eligible for the award is limited only by the ambitions and imaginations of the contestants.
Students from all disciplines are challenged to unleash their energy, idealism and public-spirited thinking to affect change in areas of critical human need. The RGK Center is searching for student social entrepreneurs to develop compelling and innovative plans for new initiatives that will contribute to the public good.
The competition has three stages. We invite college students from around the globe to enter the competition online by briefly stating their innovation. From all entries, a small group is selected as semifinalists and invited to develop a detailed venture plan. Three finalists present their plans to a selection committee comprised of leaders from the business, nonprofit and government sectors. At the final event, held at the University of Texas at Austin, a single winner is chosen and awarded $50,000 to launch their venture. http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/rgk/competition/
