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Global Challenge Winners Tremendous Response to Inaugural Competition More than 60 teams--representing 32 unique institutions from across the country--registered to participate in the inaugural Global Challenge: Creating Alliances for Economic Prosperity. In partnership with USAID's Business Growth Initiative, the Smith School of Business hosted the final round of competition on Friday, April 23 at USAID's headquarters in Washington, DC. Finalists presented their proposals in front of a panel of judges that included representatives from the Peace Corps, USAID, the Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance and J.P. Morgan.
The eight finalist teams were selected based on the strength of their first round written submission, in which they developed a plan for a public private alliance in the tourism industry in Asia. Teams were tasked with considering both the private sector company's long-term business goals and the host country's development agenda when formulating their proposals. They were judged on a number of factors, including business feasibility, social impact and economic sustainability. The winning teams received $5,000, $2,500 and $1,000, respectively, and opportunity to have their papers published and distributed in the international development community. Read more about the finalists' proposals at the Global Challenge website.
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Following a luncheon with keynote speaker Alonzo Fulgham,
Chief Operating Officer of USAID, the winning teams were
announced. A team from the Smith School of Business,
composed of Andrew Gendreau, Bryan Stroube and Robert Vesco,
took first place for their innovative proposal to develop a
program of sustainable cultural tourism targeted at improving
the socioeconomic outcomes of low-income residents of Thailand.
In second place was a team from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced
International Studies (SAIS) and the Wharton School, with a
proposal to develop an ecotourism experience fueled by economic
incentive to preserve protected wildlife area in Cambodia.
In third place was a team from the Smith School that developed a
plan to make Vietnam a preferred destination for medical
tourism.
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SPRING 2010 |