Three of the seven teams advancing to the final round of competition in the prestigious Booth School of Business 2020 Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC) are led by students from Harris Public Policy. One of the first social venture accelerator programs, SNVC has helped launch more than 100 companies and nonprofits focused on a social mission since its inception in 2011. 

The finals will be held virtually June 2nd, with the winner receiving at least $100,000 in start-up capital to fund and pursue their venture. The finals will be livestreamed beginning at 10 a.m. CST, and winners will be announced that afternoon. 

“I’m thrilled that Harris is so well represented at SNVC this year,” said Ron Gibbs, faculty adviser for social entrepreneurship at Harris. “This success reflects the hard, impressive work of these outstanding teams during these challenging times. It also reinforces how the data-driven training and tools that Harris students receive helps them build viable, innovative entrepreneurial approaches to address major policy and social challenges.”  

 Harris proposals that advanced to the SNVC finals include: 

  • Living Waters has developed a low-cost, easily deployable rainwater collection system to provide clean water to the world’s displaced populations in refugee camps and informal off-grid settlements. Team members include: Caleb Kao, MPP'21
  • Impact Toolbox (I-Toolbox) is a digital incubation platform that provides youths and emerging social entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa with the opportunity to learn, network, and access seed funding to transform their ideas for social change into viable social ventures. Team members include: Segun Fatudimu, MAIDP'20, Linh Dinh, MSCAPP'21
  • NGOrganize is a revenue-generating tech company providing SaaS solutions for organizations to manage social initiatives, analyze results, and report impact to donors, investors, and stakeholders, with a near-term focus on supporting organizations responding to the pandemic. Team members include: Anirudh Ani Ajith, MPP/MBA'21

Harris’ 2020 record showing in the SNVC finals builds on previous successes in the competition that include: 2019 second place finisher Shakti, a venture which focuses on educating illiterate women in India; 2018 third place finisher KitcheNet which provides low cost nutritious meals to low income families in Chicago; and 2015 first place entry BallotReady, a growing enterprise that aims to help voters make more educated choices.

Teams from Harris participate each year in a series of social entrepreneurship competitions, including the Oxford Challenge, the Clinton Global Initiative University Meeting (CGI U) and other competitions, in addition to SNVC.    

The SNVC is the cornerstone of the Rustandy Center’s Edwardson Social Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Chicago, an initiative named in recognition of a 2016 gift by John Edwardson, ’72, retired chairman and CEO of CDW and co-chair of Advance Illinois. The SNVC is run by Chicago Booth's Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, along with the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Those with an idea for bringing about social change, and interested in social entrepreneurship opportunities at Harris, should contact Ron Gibbs at rgibbs@uchicago.edu for more information.