Pictured: Beth Rubin, director of the Public Policy Ph.D. Program, with student team members.
A UNC Charlotte graduate student team has moved one step closer to a $1 million prize in funding to launch a sustainable social venture, in the world’s largest student competition and start-up platform for social good.
The Hult Prize Foundation recently announced that the UNC Charlotte team had advanced to the regional finals of the fifth annual Hult Prize. In partnership with President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative, the innovative crowdsourcing platform identifies and launches disruptive and catalytic social ventures that aim to solve the planet’s most pressing challenges. The team will join other competitors in San Francisco on March 7 and 8 in one of the six regional finals scheduled around the world. This year’s challenge focuses on the 250 million slum dwellers around the world who suffer from chronic diseases.
The UNC Charlotte team members are Cicily Hampton, Michael Kvassay and Melissa Duscah (all students in the Public Policy Ph.D. Program); and Melissa Kerr (Political Science and Public Administration and Geography and Earth Sciences).
“I’m incredibly impressed with this team of students and their commitment to use their skills and their knowledge to improve the world,” said Beth Rubin, director of the Public Policy Ph.D. Program at UNC Charlotte. “These students are deeply committed to addressing some of the most pressing issues faced not only by the region but by the global community. Their decision to enter this competition attests to how the students are able to draw upon their interdisciplinary training to come up with an entry that can compete against these other top teams.”
The UNC Charlotte team competed against 10,000 student entries from over 350 colleges and 150 universities to make it to the regional finals. Following the regional finals, one winning team from each host city will move into a business incubator process, where participants will receive mentorship, advising and strategic planning guidance as they create prototypes and set-up to launch their new social business. The Clinton Global Initiative will host a final round of competition at its annual meeting in September, where CGI delegates will select a winning team to receive the $1 million prize.
The UNC Charlotte team’s idea would bring the concept of the patient-centered medical home-delivery system to the urban slums of the developing world. The team identified that people who live in slums lack political power, health education and consistent employment. They also lack transportation to healthcare facilities and they engage in less healthy behaviors, such as smoking.
Goals include reducing noncommunicable and chronic disease through education. The concept also considers ways to lower the shocks to income by providing an insurance mechanism when illness occurs. The focus would include lowering costs of health care in slums by decreasing the reliance on medications and specialty care, with a focus on prevention and disease management with culturally competent health educators, primary care providers, and nurse practitioners. The team’s concept proposes giving patients more power over their health care decision-making through patient/provider concordance.
“Advancement to the regional finals of the Hult Prize is a testament to the education and mentorship that we have received while at UNC Charlotte,” team member Hampton said.
“The team members bring a unique set of skills to the table,” she said. “Three team members come from the Public Policy PhD program, and between the four of us, we have educational and work experiences in economics, public finance, sociology, geography and earth sciences and political science and public administration. Our team approaches this topic from a variety of experiences and perspectives.”
