Three Canadian student teams up for million-dollar Hult Prize
International business award will be given to entrepreneurs addressing refugee issues
Canada’s reputation for humanitarian and compassionate handling of refugee issues is getting a boost from the results of a $1-million international competition that is sometimes dubbed the “Nobel Prize” for business students.
The theme of this year’s Hult Prize, “Refugees — The Reawakening of Human Potential,” focused on “restoring the rights and dignity of people and societies who may be, or are forced into motion due to social injustices, politics, economic pressures, climate change and war.”
Earlier this month, Canadian universi- ties won three of the six final spots out of 2,000 teams in the contest run by the Hult Prize Foundation, a not-for-profit organization. The contest is the world’s largest student competition for producing the next wave of social entrepreneurs.
Teams from York University, the University of Waterloo and the University of Calgary won in semifinal rounds in Shanghai, London and Dubai respectively, and are in contention for the prize to build their own social enterprise and put their ideas into practice. The prize will be awarded in September.
“We are so honoured to know three of the six final teams are from Canada. We are so proud of that,” said Vasiliki Belegrinis, 20, a third-year business student on the York’s Team Empower.
“This is a great opportunity to show the world Canada is a leader in social entrepreneurship.”
The York team was formed in the fall by Akash Sidhu and his high school friend, Joseph Truong, both 21 and in their fourth year at the Schulich School of Business.
Friends Amal Naufer and Belegrinis were later brought on board.
Naufer, 20, also in her third year at Schulich, said her parents left Sri Lanka and arrived in Canada via Saudi Arabia in 2001 to have a peaceful life and better future.
Truong’s parents were Vietnamese refugees in the 1970s and stayed in camps in Malaysia before they were resettled to Canada.
The team interviewed refugees connected through York’s Centre for Refugee Studies and asked what dignity meant to them and what could be done to make them feel empowered.
“How they define dignity is having access to opportunity to take control of their lives,” Naufer said. “Connectivity to the internet can facilitate their access to opportunity.”
Through what is known as mesh technology, the York team hopes to provide stable and affordable internet access through wireless “mesh nodes” in refugee camps and large urban centres.
The team wants to use the technology to distribute and share information on education, employment and health care among refugees.
Sidhu said the team spent10 days in Shanghai and was thrilled with the exchange of ideas with competitors from around the world.
Each team was required to make two 10-minute presentations before 16 judges and other contestants.
“It was nerve-wracking but our message resonated with the judges,” he said.
Each finalist will attend the Hult Prize Accelerator, a six-week incubator training program, and have a chance to pilot their ideas before the finals in the U.S. this coming September, where the winner will be picked.
“This means a lot to us. We absolutely want to win. If we use the money effectively, we can make a difference in so many lives,” Truong said. Team EPOCH from the University of Waterloo is proposing to develop an app to allow refugees and community members to share skills, knowledge, talents and services.
Skill2Trade, the team representing the University of Calgary, won in Du- bai for a project to assist refugees in Calgary and Ghana.
The 2013 Hult Prize was won by a team from McGill University on its project to grow edible insects for food. The social enterprise, Aspire, operates in Ghana and the United States.