HULT PRIZE FINALS
Hult Prize Global Finals 2013—
The Winning Team is Chosen
Monday September 23rd saw the long-awaited global finals of this year’s Hult Prize with
hundreds of guests, including global leaders, attending the ceremony hosted by the
Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers.
Over 80 Hult alums were in attendance and saw former U.S. President Bill Clinton
award USD1 million in seed capital to the winning student team from McGill University,
for their innovative insect-based solution to the global food crisis. Founded by Hult
MBA 2010 alum Ahmad Ashkar, the Hult Prize is dedicated to helping budding social
entrepreneurs realize their innovative solutions to global challenges.
Fresh from intensive mentoring at the Hult Prize Accelerator, the six groups of finalists
from the London School of Economics, Asian School of Management, ESADE
Business School, University of Cape Town, McGill University, and our very own Hult
team from the San Francisco campus, presented their innovative solutions to an
Executive Jury of luminaries. Judges included Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director,
World Food Programme; Kathy Calvin, President and CEO, United Nations Foundation;
Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Founder of Grameen Bank; and
Peter Sands, Group CEO, Standard Chartered Bank. The winning team’s ‘Aspire’
solution focuses on spreading sustainable insect farming techniques to slum dwellers
by distributing “micro-livestock” growing kits. Although only one team could win the
coveted USD1 million startup seed money, all finalists did receive a full, one-year
membership to the Clinton Global Initiative.
Next year’s Hult Prize challenge is already underway, with applications being accepted
at hultprize.org. The 2014 Hult Prize President’s Challenge, as selected by President
Bill Clinton at the CGI Annual Meeting is “Healthcare: Non-communicable Disease in
the Urban Slum.” After this year’s unique insect-eating solution, who knows what kind
of innovative approach to healthcare the next wave of social entrepreneurs will think up!
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