Creative Concepts

Liberal Arts students, alumni take home prizes in the NH Social Venture Innovation Challenge

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Kendra Bostick ’23 (education Ph.D. program) accepts the first place prize in the student track in the 2019 Social Venture Innovation Challenge.

Liberal arts students and alumni were big winners in the University of New Hampshire’s seventh annual NH Social Venture Innovation Challenge (SVIC).

Kendra Bostick ’23 (education Ph.D. student) and Bryn Lottig took home the top prize in the student track with Kikori, a digital platform designed to help educators improve their students' social, emotional and academic outcomes with experiential education activities. The prize was $5,000 and a collection of resources for start-ups.

Second place in the student track went to Christian Hollis ’20 (undeclared) for Ambrosia Fabrics, which develops nontoxic and sustainable furniture fabrics made from hemp and bamboo. Hollis won $3,000 plus resources.

In the community track, second place went to Hannah McBride ’07 ‘13G (philosophy and English majors) of Concord and Jessica Forrest ‘19G of Concord for Community Toy Chest, which provides environmentally sustainable alternatives for toy consumption with community play and education space and toy rentals. The team won $3K plus resources.

Third place went to Brennan Williams ‘19 (anthropology major) of Manchester and John DeAngelis ’20 (anthropology major) of Wells, Maine, for Wildcats Willing, a food repurposing initiative designed to transport UNH Dining food that is safe and edible to local NGOs. Third prize was $2K plus resources.

Designed to be an idea accelerator, SVIC participants develop early-stage concepts for creative, financially sustainable solutions to society’s most pressing sustainability challenges.

Since its founding in 2013, in partnership with Nobel Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, the SVIC has seen participation from more than 1,200 contestants and provided over $300,000 in funding and resources to winners. The program is a collaborative, interdisciplinary event, organized at UNH by the Center for Social Innovation & Enterprise, a joint venture between the UNH Sustainability Institute, the Peter T. Paul College of Business & Economics, and the Carsey School of Public Policy.

A full list of winners in each track and all of the 2019 finalists videos can be viewed here.