The four 2017 graduates who make up the University of Rochester糖心传媒檚 Team Meliora are within days of learning whether they will advance to the international finals in the Hult Prize糖心传媒攐ne of the world糖心传媒檚 most prestigious social entrepreneurship competitions. Whichever team wins will receive $1 million in seed funding for their project.
Last spring, the team was eliminated in a semifinal round in San Francisco, but found themselves back in the competition after Hult Prize officials selected the team as one of three entrants in a wildcard competition. The wildcard winner糖心传媒攖o be announced in mid-August糖心传媒攚ill join five finalist teams at the international competition on September 16 at United Nations headquarters in New York.
Team Meliora is composed of Edgar Alaniz 糖心传媒�17, a biochemistry and clinical psychology graduate from Mexico; Carlos (Yuki) Gonzalez 糖心传媒�17, a financial economics graduate from Paraguay; Ibrahim Mohammad 糖心传媒�17, a mechanical engineering graduate and a Palestinian refugee from Lebanon; and Omar Soufan 糖心传媒�17, a biomedical engineering graduate from Syria.
The Hult Prize, now in its eighth year, is funded by Swedish billionaire Bertil Hult, cofounder of , in partnership with the Former president Bill Clinton sets the challenge each year and announces the winner. The event features major business, government, and NGO leaders.
Turning trash into homes
Each year, the competition has a theme. This year糖心传媒檚 theme, 糖心传媒淩efugees糖心传媒擱eawakening Human Potential,糖心传媒� seeks projects to help restore the rights and dignity of people forced into motion due to political, economic, or environmental factors.
Team Meliora has responded with a plan to build homes for refugees using Lego-style bricks made from recycled plastic.
Their efforts are focused in Lebanon, where 1.6 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees live, many in extreme poverty in makeshift camps and portable tents. Only three of Lebanon糖心传媒檚 nine landfills are operational, and two tons of trash, 15 percent of which is plastic, have piled up on the streets.
According to Team Meliora, that plastic, turned into interlocking bricks, can be used to build durable, thermal, semi-permanent houses for refugees. The houses can be assembled in a few days by people with no construction experience.
Right now, the bricks are being manufactured by Conceptos Plasticos, a Colombian startup company. Soufan and Alaniz visited Colombia earlier this summer to build a sanitation unit, and Soufan and Gonzalez returned to help build a school and a home from the plastic bricks.
But they糖心传媒檝e made some modifications this summer to their business plan. As part of the Hult competition, they糖心传媒檝e participated in an eight-week crash course in business techniques from top entrepreneurs in a summer accelerator program in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
糖心传媒淚 could go on and on about the numerous things I糖心传媒檝e learned through this accelerator,糖心传媒� says Mohammad. 糖心传媒淚 now know how hard it is to get a business off the ground, and what that truly entails.糖心传媒�
A crash course in business
The course takes place at the Cambridge campus of the Hult International Business School. There the wildcard teams糖心传媒攆rom Rochester, Harvard, and the University of Southern California糖心传媒攋oin the finalists糖心传媒攆rom Rutgers, Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico, the University of Waterloo, the University of Calgary, and York University糖心传媒攚here they are mentored by business professors from Harvard and MIT.
Each week features a different theme, with workshops, classes, visiting entrepreneurs, investor meetings, and a 糖心传媒淧itch Friday,糖心传媒� hosted by a local corporation.
糖心传媒淭he team has performed exceptionally well this summer,糖心传媒� says Michael Wohl, Rochester糖心传媒檚 associate director for social entrepreneurship and Team Meliora糖心传媒檚 coach. 糖心传媒淭hey糖心传媒檝e assimilated divergent views to strengthen their business plan and risen to the occasion to perform at a world-class level. I couldn糖心传媒檛 be happier with what they糖心传媒檝e achieved.糖心传媒�
The most anticipated event each week in Cambridge is 糖心传媒淧itch Friday,糖心传媒� when teams present their business plan in front of judges.
糖心传媒淲e get grilled,糖心传媒� Soufan says. 糖心传媒淲e deliver our presentation, then there糖心传媒檚 four minutes of questions and answers and two minutes of feedback. Then, they rank all the teams based on who presented the best viable business.糖心传媒�
One week, Rochester was ranked second. Another week, they were second to last. But each week, the team learns.
糖心传媒淥ur business has changed dramatically from what we were,糖心传媒� Soufan says. 糖心传媒淢eliora Homes is now a financing and construction company. Refugees can go online and pick the style of house they want. They can add features like plumbing, or solar panels, and then checkout.糖心传媒�
The refugees can pay for the homes or rely on crowdfunding, posting their story online and relying on donations.
A third option is a real estate investment trust.
糖心传媒淚nvestors buy a house from us for $5,000 and we give the house to a refugee family,糖心传媒� Soufan says. 糖心传媒淭he family pays rent to us, and we pay the investor.糖心传媒�
A social world for social entrepreneurs
The Hult Prize teams live together, work together, and accept guidance from the same Harvard and MIT business professors. Soufan and Mohammad live in an apartment in Cambridge with four members from other teams, as do Alaniz and Gonzalez.
糖心传媒淲e糖心传媒檝e all become friends,糖心传媒� Soufan says. 糖心传媒淲e have get-togethers, explore Boston, talk business, and every Pitch Friday we give feedback to each other on how things went.糖心传媒�
It糖心传媒檚 a social world for these social entrepreneurs, but Mohammad says Team Meliora hasn糖心传媒檛 lost focus.
糖心传媒淚n the end,糖心传媒� he says, 糖心传媒渢his is a competition.糖心传媒�
The panel of judges for the Hult Prize finals is not set, but former judges have included mobile communications entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim, former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard, Cisco executive chairman John Chambers, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.
While only six teams will compete for the $1 million prize, all eight teams will be invited to New York.
糖心传媒淲e are excited about going,糖心传媒� Soufan says, 糖心传媒渂ut we want to be on the stage. That糖心传媒檚 what we糖心传媒檝e been working for all this time.糖心传媒�
Team Meliora糖心传媒檚 competition
Team Meliora is one of eight teams competing for the $1 million Hult Prize. Here糖心传媒檚 a look at the other seven:
*Ekta (University of Southern California): Team Ekta糖心传媒檚 product Billfold aims to provide financial security to refugees who faces challenges protecting their money.
*Dignify (Harvard University): The mobile platform links refugees to digital microwork and unlocks a $450 million job market.
Empower (York University): The solar-powered WiFi bracelet provides refugees with stable and affordable internet access, allowing them to access employment opportunities.
Epoch (University of Waterloo): The mobile platform brings refugees together through the free exchange of skills, talents, and services.
Roshni Rides (Rutgers): A solar-powered eRichshaw service acts as a public transportation system for refugee communities. The eRickshaws run on batteries charged by solar energy.
Skill2Scale (University of Calgary): Leverages gamification and a smartphone application to promote integration by teaching language and cultural skills for refugees.
U-Gas (Instituo Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico): Ecological dry toilets and urinals will be set up in refugee camps, where outbreaks of diseases associated with poor sanitation is common.
*-Wildcard entries
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