February 25, 2010
Teams bring sustainable solutions to address poverty to UW in annual international competition
As the world’s top athletes complete their competition in Vancouver, BC, a global competition of another kind is getting under way in Seattle — the sixth annual Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC).
Beginning Monday, March 1, 12 teams from around the world will arrive at the UW to pitch business plans for commercially sustainable solutions that address issues of poverty in the developing world. On the line: $18,000 in prize money.
The student teams hail from Bangladesh, Canada, China, India, Rwanda, and the U.S., including three teams from the UW that were selected from a record-breaking pool of 161 applications from 36 countries.
Their business ideas range from pedal-powered lighting solutions in Africa to oral saline (made from cassava) that addresses water borne diseases in Bangladesh.
The competition gets under way on Tuesday, March 2, from 4 to 6 p.m., when teams gather at the Husky Union Building East Ballroom for the GSEC Trade Show to present their ideas to the UW community and the general public. During the Trade Show, attendees will have the chance to nominate a team for the People’s Choice Award.
From there, the competition unfolds as teams face the judges on Thursday, March 4, during two rounds of presentation and cross-examination. Teams’ plans are judged on three criteria: effect on the quality of life and poverty alleviation in the developing economies; financial sustainability; and, feasibility of implementation.
The competition culminates at the GSEC Awards Banquet featuring keynote speaker Bill Gates, Sr., Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
All preliminary and final competition rounds are open to the public, and a full schedule of events, including locations and times, can be found here.
GSEC is organized by the UW’s Global Business Center at the Foster School of Business, with the support of Microsoft and the UW Department of Global Health.
