Social Business Innovation Challenge

We are proud to announce the winners and finalists for the 2013 NH Social Business Innovation Challenge. On September 30, 2013, finalists teams presented at the New Hampshire Social Business and Microfinance Forum. The winners in each track were selected by our distinguished Final Round Judging Panel, made up of 10 individuals who provide an incredible breadth and depth of expertise and perspective as social business thought leaders, investors, and operating founders/CEO from around New England, the United States, and internationally. The top three prize winners received their awards from Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus at his keynote address.

We give sincere thanks to our Preliminary (Online) Round Judging and Final Round Judging Panels and sincere congratulations to our winners and finalists!

Community Track:

Student Track:

First Prize: $4,200

Agua Inc.

Bret Steiman (Durham, NH)
Kris Roller
Pedro Thomas Delgado Ortiz

First Prize: $4,200

PLAN: The Post-Landfill Action Network

Alex Freid (Political Science/Philosophy, Lee, NH)
Tyler Loranger
Sophie Rathjen

Second Prize: $2,000

Senergy Solar

Bob Lambert (Portsmouth, NH)
Pat Jackson
Dan Lambert
Matt Doubleday

Second Prize: $2,000

HYdration for Dominican Republic with Agua TEam (HYDRATE)

Emily Carlson (Ocean Engineering, Durham, NH)
Ransom Horner-Richardson
Harrison Roakes

Third Prize: $1,000

Nearby Registry

Allison Grappone (Concord, NH)
Alyssa Buckley
Gina Grappone

Third Prize: $1,000

ThoughtSoko

Toby Dewhurst (Mechanical Engineering, Dover, NH)
Dan Savage

Finalists:

A Woven Thread

Katherine Berube (Concord, NH)
Bethany Seremet

Better Future Alliance

Stuart Arnett (Concord, NH)
Hunter Ulf

Focused Sustainability

John Clifford (Madbury, NH)
Nick Isaak

Green Alliance

Jim Cavan (Portsmouth, NH)
Sarah Brown
Tricia Dinkel

ReRootEd

Samuel Boduch (Barrington, NH)
Amy Crosby

Finalists:

Containing Homelessness

Zachary Howard (Business Administration, Durham, NH)

Foody

Nathaniel Brown (Mechanical Engineering, Lyme, NH)
David Desaulniers

Micro Loan Network

Ethan Ash (Business Administration, Nottingham, NH)
Jonathan Malatesta
Marcus Chase

Sustainably Reclaimed

Sean Michalski (Business Administration & Sustainability, Manchester, NH)

The Securitization Solution

Bryan Merrill (Political Science & International Affairs, Londonderry, NH)

Overview

To coincide with the visit by Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate and pioneer of the microfinance industry, the Paul College of Business & Economics at the University of New Hampshire is proud to announce the Social Business Innovation Challenge. 

Muhammad Yunus saw pervasive poverty in Bangladesh and knew he had to do something. He lent $27 USD to 42 families to pay their debt to local creditors. This simple idea led to the creation of the Grameen Bank, which eventually launched a worldwide revolution, giving access to banking for the first time to some of the poorest member of society. Today we call this simple idea microcredit. Yunus won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work permanently improving the lives of millions.

What is your idea that could change the world? Share it at the Social Business Innovation Challenge!

The Social Business Innovation Challenge invites individuals and teams from across the state of New Hampshire to identify pressing social and/or environmental issues at the state, national or global level, and then find an innovative business-oriented approach to solving them. Finalists from around the state will compete on September 30th in Durham, New Hampshire for cash prizes to help them launch their innovative idea.

The competition will feature two tracks:

  • Student Track: Open to current full-time or part-time matriculated students (undergraduate, masters, or graduate level) and 2013 graduates of a New Hampshire-based universities or colleges.
  • Community Track: Open to any current or aspiring social entrepreneur, community member, or businessperson who is a resident in the state of New Hampshire.

The Social Business Innovation Challenge is designed to be an “innovation accelerator” and to encourage participants to develop original, innovative proposals (versus detailed business plans) in the form of a three-minute video and two-page paper. Proposals may describe the development of a new enterprise or a new entrepreneurial initiative for an established social business.

Important Dates

September 5-17 Information and support sessions (click here for current listing).
Tuesday, September 10 at 6:30 p.m. Movie "Bonsai People: The Vision of Muhammad Yunus" followed by information session.
Friday, September 13
(Revised Deadline)		 Deadline for community and student team registration.
Friday, September 20 at 5:00 p.m. Deadline for entries to be uploaded to the competition website.
September 21-24 Preliminary round of judging (online review of all submissions by panel of judges).
Wednesday, September 25 The date by which finalists will be notified.
Monday, September 30 Final competition in Durham.
8:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. Final round of judging (eight finalist teams from each track).
10:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Winners will be announced by Professor Muhammad Yunus and showcased during the keynote address as part of the New Hampshire Social Business and Microfinance Forum

 

Entry Guidelines and Format

  • Participants must first register to compete HERE by Friday, September 13.
  • Participants must prepare two components as part of their entry and upload these to the link provided after registration, by Friday, September 20 at 5:00 p.m. EST:
      • A video of a strict maximum of three minutes adhering to these technical specifications:
        • .mov or .mp4 file
        • Resolution of 720p or 1280x720 progressive (Note: these mean the same thing: some video programs use one label, while other programs use the other label.)
        • Codec: H.264 set to a minimum of "medium high" quality (Note: most programs ask you to specify quality on a range from Lowest to Highest - somewhere around medium high to high works well, or if it's a numerical scale, about three-quarters of the way up.)
        • Challenge entrants in both tracks are encouraged to contact UNH’s Parker Media Lab with questions about video formatting. PML is located in the Dimond Library on UNH’s Durham Campus. It is staffed and open Sunday-Thursday 10-10 and Fridays 10-5. You can contact them for advice by phone at (603) 862-1747 to speak with any of the staff team, or by email to reach PML’s manager, michael.mcintire@unh.edu.
      • An accompanying brief written summary "pitching" their concepts for a social business, with a strict maximum of two pages (PDF, 12 pt. type, margins 1 inch or more).
  • The Preliminary Round of judging will take place online, September 21 - 24 by an impressive panel of judges.
  • Eight finalists in each track will be notified by September 25.
  • The final round will take place at UNH on September 30 with an illustrious judging panel.
  • Winners will be announced by Professor Yunus at his keynote address.

Guidelines on Content

The Social Business Innovation Challenge is designed to be an "innovation accelerator" and to encourage participants to develop original, innovative proposals to address the social and environmental issues facing the state of New Hampshire and beyond through a market-based approach.

Submissions will be judged partially on the viability of the initial proposal; that is, fully developed business plans are not to be submitted and are not within the scope of the competition. See below for additional judging criteria.

Video

Your team's video should be the primary tool for summarizing the nature and scale of the problem you want to address and for "selling" the innovativeness and effectiveness of your social business solution.

It should highlight the following key areas:

  1. The social and/or environmental problem to be addressed and the opportunity
  2. Your proposed social business solution

NOTE: Please see the additional resources section for helpful links, including examples of noteworthy social businesses. Public domain videos, photos or other content can be included in your three-minute video. Written permission is required for all copyrighted and protected source materials.

Written Summary

Your two-page written summary will be the other key component of your entry and will be reviewed by judges in both rounds of the competition. This document gives you the chance to expand a little more on some of the important components and key concepts found in your three-minute video.

The two-page summary should address the following key areas, as appropriate to your idea:

  1. The Problem:

    What specific social (or environmental) problem does your innovation address?
    Why is this social problem important and who benefits from addressing it?
    What is the scale of the problem?
    Is the problem localized or is it of national and/or global importance?
    What is/are the root cause(s) of the problem?
    Are there additional contributing factors to the problem?
    Are current solutions to the problem offered?
    Are they effective?
    Why or why not?
    Are any of them market-based?

  2. Your Social Business Innovation:

    As briefly as possible what is your vision?
    What change do you ultimately want to create in the world?
    Why do you believe a market-driven solution will be most effective at addressing the problem?
    How will you achieve your vision through your social business? (In non-technical terms, briefly describe the strategic approach of your social business innovation.)
    How will you bring your social innovation to the intended market?
    How will your social business be financially self-sustaining within a reasonable time period?
    What is the geographic area and size in terms of number of people served by your social innovation?
    What is your social business "value" proposition, that is, what are the recognized benefits the social innovation brings to the market?
    Why is your solution innovative?
    Why is your solution more effective than existing solutions aimed at addressing your identified problem?
    How do you know that your social innovation is actually addressing the root cause(s) of the problem, and not just a symptom?
    How will your solution create the intended impact?
    How long will it take for your social innovation to have a lasting and meaningful impact on addressing the problem and at what cost? (Note: Social innovations that are closer to being implemented and at a lower cost in addressing the problem will be judged more highly than those that require significantly more time to bring to market and at a higher cost.)

NOTE: Please see the additional resources section for helpful links, including examples of noteworthy social businesses.

Eligibility and Terms

Eligibility

Entries in both tracks must meet the criteria of a "Social Business":

  • Present an innovative solution to a defined problem (such as poverty and climate change) facing the state of New Hampshire, region, nation, or world.
  • Social businesses aim to be market-based and financially self-sustaining through earned revenues and profits rather than grants or donations.
  • Social businesses harness the best of market-based approaches, but have a primarily social, rather than financial, objective.

Student Track

Participation is open to current full-time or part-time matriculated students (undergraduate, masters, or graduate level) and 2013 graduates of a New Hampshire-based university or college. 

Submissions by individuals or teams are encouraged, including those from campus student organizations, clubs, class projects, or class sections.

Teams may have up to five (5) members, but only two (2) students from each team may present if selected for the Final Round. All team members are expected to be in attendance at the final round. 

Each team is strongly encouraged to have a faculty advisor from their university or college.

Community Track

Participation is open to any current or aspiring New Hampshire social entrepreneur, community member or existing business.

  • Submissions can be by individuals or teams.
  • There is no limit on team size, but only two (2) members from each team may present if selected for the final round on September 30. All team members are expected to be in attendance at the final round.
  • Entries from existing social businesses should be in the formative stages of development (i.e., less than one year old) or should represent a major new entrepreneurial initiative for an established social business.

Terms

In order to enter and compete in the Social Business Innovation Challenge, teams must agree to the following:

  • Complete the registration form by the deadline.
  • Submit all entry materials by the required deadline.
  • If selected for advancement in the Online (Preliminary Round), teams must commit to participate in the Finals Round on the Durham UNH campus to be held 8:00am-9:45am, Monday, September 30, 2013
  • If selected for advancement in the Online (Preliminary) Round, teams must also commit to attend the New Hampshire Social Business and Microfinance Forum on the Durham UNH campus to be held 10:00am -12:15pm, Monday, September 30, 2013 to hear Professor Yunus' keynote presentation and to be present for the announcement of the Challenge winners and awarding of prizes by Professor Yunus
  • Agree to allow all submission materials to appear on the Challenge website
  • Certify that you own, or have the owner's permission to use/present, all intellectual property utilized in your entry materials, including any technology
  • Agree to allow photos of your team and video footage of your presentation from the Finals Rounds to be used on the Challenge website and in future publicity
  • Agreee to abide by UNH/USNH IT and Acceptable Use Policies

Judging Criteria and Process

A panel of judges will evaluate submissions using three primary criteria:

  1. Clearly defined social and/or environmental problem to be addressed
  2. Originality and clarity of the social business innovation, and potential for social or environmental impact
  3. Demonstration of a high probability of success defined as scale of intended impact, sustainable over a reasonable time period.

Click HERE to view the scoring rubric. Judging will take place in two rounds:

Online (Preliminary) Round

  • After teams have uploaded their entries to the competition website, the Online (Preliminary) Round will be judged by a distinguished panel of social entrepreneurs and experts from across the state and the nation. Judges will review and score each entry, both the video and the written summary.
  • A total of eight (8) teams from each track will advance to the Final Round.

Final Round

  • Eight (8) teams from each track will present their entries, in person, in the Final Round.
  • A maximum of two (2) representatives from each finalist team are allowed to present, although other team members are encouraged and invited to be present in the audience.
  • The two team members representing each finalist team are required to arrive at the competition venue no later than 7:00 a.m. for check-in and important AV briefings.
  • The two members representing each finalist team are also required to be in the audience for the entirety of the Final Round (8:00 - 9:45 a.m.) and for the Keynote Address and Awards Presentation (10:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.)
  • Each team will have a total of five (5) minutes to introduce their team members and to introduce and play their video in front of a panel of Final Round Judges.
  • The Final Round judges will have five (5) minutes for Q&A with each team following their presentation.
  • All Final Round team presentations and Q&A sessions will be videotaped.

Please note:

  • Members of the public are encouraged and invited to attend all presentations, but only the panel of judges will be permitted to ask questions of the presenting teams. Other student teams are also not permitted to ask questions.

  • To avoid distractions to presenting teams, audience members will only be allowed to enter and exit during breaks between presentations.

Judging Panel

Final Round Judges

Howard Brodsky, Co-Founder, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, CCA Global Partners
Laura P. Dagan, Chair, Board of Trustees, Champlain College
Ron Grzywinski, Retired Chairman and Co-Founder, ShoreBank Corporation
Gary Hirshberg, Co-Founder/Chairman, Stonyfield Farm
Mary Houghton, Retired President and Co-Founder, ShoreBank Corporation
David T. Ives, Executive Director, The Albert Schweitzer Institute and Adjunct Professor, Quinnipiac University
Andrea Levere, President, Corporation for Enterprise Development
Chris Macrae, President, Norman Macrae Foundation
Eric Schwarz, Co-Founder and CEO, Citizen Schools
Jackie VanderBrug, Senior Vice President, U.S. Trust

Online (Preliminary) Round Judges

Online Judging Panel Chairperson:
Greg Van Kirk, Co-Founder, Community Enterprise Solutions and Social Entrepreneur Corps, 2012 Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year (Latin America), Ashoka Lemelson Fellow and Ashoka Globalizer

Online Judging Panel Members:
Ben Anderson, Chief Operating Officer, Preserve Products
Ted Barber, Co-Founder, Prosperity Candle
Michael Behrmann, Co-Founder, Revolution Energy
Mike Bellamente, Executive Director, Climate Counts
Matthew H. Benson, Partner, Cook, Little, Rosenblatt & Manson pllc
Peter Cooke, Principal, Cooke and Associates
Tania Ellis, Special Advisor and Managing Director, The Social Business Company
Alyson Genovese, Principal, Cause Solutions
Michael Gurau, President, Clear Innovation Partners
Rebecca Hamilton, Director of Product Development, W.S. Badger Company, Inc.
Amy Seif Hattan, Corporate Sustainability Officer, Thornton Tomasetti
Margaret Heffernan, CEO and Author
Nathaniel V. Henshaw, Managing Director, CEI Ventures, Inc.
David Herring, Executive Director, Wolfe's Neck Farm Foundation
Lindsay Hyde, Founder, Strong Women Strong Girls
Jill Kickul, PhD, Director, Stewart Satter Program in Social Entrepreneurship, Stern School of Business, New York University
Deborah Leipziger, Principal, Deborah Leipziger Consulting
Sarah Littlefield, Director of Finance, New Hampshire Community Loan Fund
Andrea McGrath, Principal, Connecting Capital
Moriah Meyskens, Adjunct Professor of Management, University of San Diego
Mark Newton, Vice President Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability, Timberland
Brett Peirce, Founder and Executive Director, Meridian Stories
Betsy Peters, CEO, Possibility U
Dave Rowell, Executive Vice President for Sales, Foss Manufacturing
Charles J. Spies III, Chief Executive Officer, CEI Capital Management LLC
Susan Hunt Stevens, Founder and CEO, Practically Green
Beth Tener, Principal, New Directions Collaborative
John Ujda, Vice President of Marketing, Better World Books
Michelle Veasey, Executive Director, New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility
Jennifer Walske, Partner, Myriad Investments, LLC, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and International Business, University of San Francisco
Linzee Weld, President, No Small Potatoes Investment Club, Steering Committee, Slow Money Maine
Laney Whitcanack, Executive Vice President, Federated Media Publishing Inc., Co-Founder and Board Member, The Princess Project

Prizes

Winning proposals will receive exciting benefits and prizes. The cash awards below reflect the minimum amount each winner will receive and may be increased by a successful award crowdfunding campaign.

STUDENT TRACK

  • 1st Prize - $3,000 $3,900 cash*
    (The increase in the 1st place cash prize is thanks to the generosity of donors to the crowdfunding campaign)
  • 2nd Prize - $2,000 cash*
  • 3rd Prize - $1,000 cash*

*Cash prizes for the Student Track are provided by the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics and the Bud Albin Fund. Cash prizes are intended to provide investment to a social business, to help fund its establishment and/or growth, or to help winning students further their education around concepts related to social business.

COMMUNITY TRACK

  • 1st Prize - $3,000 $3,900 cash*
    (The increase in the 1st place cash prize is thanks to the generosity of donors to the crowdfunding campaign)
  • 2nd Prize - $2,000 cash*
  • 3rd Prize - $1,000 cash*

*Cash prizes for the Community Track are made possible in part by a grant from the Transformation and Innovation Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Cash prizes are intended to provide investment to a social business, to help fund its establishment and/or growth.

In addition, the first place winner of the Community Track will receive:

  • 100 hours of consulting generously donated by PixelMEDIA, a leading New Hampshire-based web strategy, design and development firm.
  • Six months of complimentary participation in the New Hampshire Innovation and Commercialization Center (NH-ICC)'s Accelerator Company Program. In partnership with the University of New Hampshire, the NH-ICC is dedicated to accelerating business and innovation in New Hampshire.

Logistics and Travel

Faculty and students who are travelling to participate in the Social Innovation Challenge can reserve rooms at the Holiday Inn Express or the Three Chimneys Inn, both located in Durham, NH, just a few blocks from the University of New Hampshire. UNH has negotiated special rates for participants. Reservations must be made no later than September 20, 2013 to qualify for these special rates.

  • Holiday Inn Express
    • Tel: (603) 868-1234
    • $99 per room per night
    • REFERENCE WHEN BOOKING: UNH Yunus Visit
  • The Three Chimneys Inn
    • Tel: (603) 868-7800
    • $129 per room per night (or $119 per night for single rate)
    • REFERENCE WHEN BOOKING: UNH Yunus Visit

Information and Support Sessions

Interested in learning more, brainstorming, or getting feedback on your idea? Come to these events, open to both students and community members statewide:

Thursday, September 5
6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
UNH - Durham MUB 304

 Net Impact UNH Brainstorming: "How Would YOU Use Business to Change the World?" (with pizza!)
Monday, September 9
5:40 p.m. - 8:40 p.m.
UNH - Durham Paul College (room 235)

NH Social Business Innovation Challenge LEAN STARTUP WORKSHOP with:

Marc Sedam, Executive Director, Office for Research Partnerships and Commercialization, and New Hampshire Innovation Research Center

Fiona Wilson, Assistant Professor of Strategy, Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship, Paul College

Have a passion for solving social and environmental problems but worried you haven't got what it takes to be a social entrepreneur? Got some initial ideas for entering the Social Business Innovation Challenge, but need some help? Worried you can't pull together your proposal by the submission deadline? You can if you attend this workshop!

Spend an intense, but invaluable three hours, learning the "Lean Startup" approach and actively work on your proposal ideas for the Social Business Challenge. Based on the best-selling book, "The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses," this approach is based on the belief that everyone can be a social entrepreneur, and helps social venture startups shorten their product development cycles by adopting a combination of business-hypothesis-driven experimentation, iterative product releases, and "validated learning".
September 9, 10, 12, and 13
12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
UNH - Durham MUB Union Court		 Faculty and Net Impact UNH will be available to answer questions.
Tuesday, September 10
6:30 p.m.
UNH - Durham MUB Theater 2		 Movie "Bonsai People: The Vision of Muhammad Yunus" followed by information session (with pizza at 6:00 p.m.!)
Wednesday, September 11
12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
UNH - Durham Paul College Lobby		 Faculty and Net Impact UNH will be available to answer questions
Thursday, September 12
6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
UNH - Durham MUB 304		 Net Impact UNH Brainstorming: "How Would YOU Use Business to Change the World?" (with pizza!)

Tuesday, September 16 and 17
12:45 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. and
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
UNH - Durham Parker Media Lab (Dimond 237)

 (Registered Teams Only) Video production hints and tips, and drop-in support for short video production Q & A.

Additional Resources for Teams

Examples of Innovative Social Businesses

With sincere thanks to Hummingbird Pictures LLC and Holly Mosher, Director and Producer, Bonsai People.

Examples of Social Business Entries in Other Competitions

The following videos are examples of more advanced levels of competition, but they may nevertheless inspire your creative process.

Resources to Help Guide the Creation of Your Video Entry

For All Competitors

Although the services of the Parker Media Lab at UNH (PML) are available only to UNH students, they have a number of web-based resources to help any competitor in the Social Business Innovation Challenge with your video submisson. In particular, we recommend the “Guides” section of the website:

http://parkerlab.unh.edu/guides.html

For UNH students only: 

For registered UNH students, the Parker Media Lab (PML) also supports students and faculty in production of rich media. Staff of the PML have the expertise to guide you through the project and the PML also provides you with all the guides, and equipment to help you plan, shoot and edit your media assignment. Find out more online at http://parkerlab.unh.edu or come in Sunday-Thursday 10-10 and Fridays 10-5.

Videos

 Other Useful Links

Download Fliers

Contact Information for the Challenge

Dr. Fiona Wilson
Assistant Professor of Strategy, Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship
Peter T. Paul College of Business & Economics, University of New Hampshire

Email: fiona.wilson@unh.edu

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