March 3, 2011 - 5:43pm
Students win $1,000 to bring fresh produce to Detroit stores
BY HILLARY BOK
- Salam Rida/Daily
A panel of business experts awarded a $1,000 prize to a team of students that came up with a plan to provide fresh produce to convenience stores in Detroit at the Social Venture Creation Gala held on Saturday, April 17 at the Ross School of Business.
Team “Get Fresh Detroit” was one of four teams to present its project as part of the Social Venture Creation Course “How to Use Entrepreneurship for Social Good.” Offered by the College of Engineering’s Center for Entrepreneurship, the course allows students to apply what they have learned about social entrepreneurship theory to the real world.
The other teams in the class included IMAGINE Africa, Community Car Sharing Ann Arbor and eHealth Exchange. IMAGINE Africa presented a plan for providing Internet access for educational purposes to students in Kenya. Community Car Sharing Ann Arbor explained its hopes for implementing a peer-to-peer car-sharing program in Ann Arbor, while the eHealth Exchange team shared a project focused on improving health care in Africa by using the Internet to train community health workers. This team plans to carry out a trial in Lesotho, Africa.
Moses Lee, College of Engineering lecturer who co-teaches “How to use entrepreneurship for social good,” said the course is unique because it allows students to take what they’ve learned to the next level.
“A lot of other programs are trying to start classes like this, but we are definitely at the forefront,” Lee said.
Social entrepreneurship as a course of study is catching on at higher education institutions across the country, according to Lee.
“At universities across the U.S. there are more of these classes that are popping up. A lot of them, though, are on just the theory,” Lee said. “We say, ‘Well, let’s take it a step further.’ Talking to students, they say, ‘Don’t just teach us theory. Help us make it happen.’”
The presentations at the event were the product of months of planning that took place as students worked together in teams to carry out the business principles they had learned in class. The teams presented their ideas to experts and received feedback to help them improve their projects. After the final group presented, the panel chose which team would receive the $1,000 prize.
The panel included James Holloway, associate dean for Undergraduate Education at the School of Engineering, Deborah Burand, director of the International Transactions Clinic at the University’s Law School, Robert Kennedy, executive director of the University’s William Davidson Institute, Gautam Kaul, professor of finance and managing director of the University’s Social Venture Fund, Jenny Comiskey, senior strategist for IDEO — a global design and consulting firm — and Iain Roberts, IDEO partner.
While the panel chose one winner, the judges said all the teams impressed them with their passion.
“It’s great that Business School students are starting to worry about deeper issues,” Kaul said. “The passion just blew me away.”
Get Fresh Detroit will have its first official event at the Trotter Multicultural Center on April 28 at 7 p.m. Students will be able to learn about the benefits of providing healthy food options to Detroit convenience stores.
