Global Social Entrepreneurship in Seattle
Last week, the University of Washington's Foster School of Business organized the 9th annual Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC). Teams of students from all around the world participated in a business plan competition to address the problems of global poverty, health, and development. FIUTS partners with GSEC each year to connect participating students with local homestay hosts to add an additional cultural exchange element to their stay in Seattle.
This year, thirteen hosts welcomed nineteen GSEC students into their homes for a week. Judging by all the hugs and excitement between hosts and students at the final celebration dinner on Thursday, these brief homestays were a meaningful and rewarding experience.
Students at the GSEC celebration dinner (photo by Catherine Farrar)
It's always amazing to see how students and hosts can develop such a close connection in just a few days. Hosts were excited to learn about the teams' social initiatives and were so proud of the students for their hard work during the competition. Students accepting awards at the celebration dinner gave incredibly heartfelt thanks to their hosts for their warmth and hospitality.
Below is a story from one host, Catherine Farrar, about her hosting experience, along with some great photos from a couple of other GSEC hosts:
---
Cathy and Prukalpa
I hosted a student who was one of two in a team that entered the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC 2013) for the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. What a pleasure to meet and spend a week with this bright young woman from South India, who is studying at a university in Singapore.
I picked her and her team partner up at the airport and drove them to and from the University of Washington every day. It was their first time in the U.S. Doing this made me feel like I had a small part to play in their success as they won the Information and Communication Technology Prize for their business, Social Cops.
Their time in Seattle was very intense, and the evening before their presentation to the judges, they worked at my house, and then Skyped late into early morning. Prukalpa and I chatted about life in India and Seattle over breakfast and we shared some dinners.
Cathy with Prukalpa and Varun, the members of the Social Cops team
I attended some of the GSEC events, including the celebration dinner at the Grand Hyatt. There I met all the participants, including Seattle community members, who worked so hard to develop viable business models that also improve global society, and to support this competition in so many ways. What a pleasure to be associated with this event and these outstanding students from all over the world!
-Cathy Farrar
---
Below are a few more photos of GSEC hosts and students:
Hosts Michael and Barbara went snowshoeing with their host student Makame and his teammate Naseef. Makame and Naseef are the members of LifeChair, which offers a cheaper, bamboo-based wheelchair to give medical mobility aid for physically disabled and financially challenged people residing in Bangladesh.
Homestay host Winky with Shivam and Aron, two of the members of team Saral Konnect from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, India. Saral Konnect leverages the efforts of social enterprises and other mission-driven setups to help them scale and sustain as they approach relatively 'foreign' rural landscapes.
Winky and Peter also shared the tradition of wishing on a wishbone with students Nitesh and Aron.
Jorsey Ashbel Farm (JAF), the grand prize winner of this year's GSEC, tells of how an unconventional livestock farm is pioneering a ground-breaking approach to tackling the poverty problem of Protein-Energy Malnutrition affecting millions of disadvantaged children and women. JAF produces Nigeria’s Cheapest Livestock Products using a new, scientifically-proven low-cost livestock feeds production technique combined with an innovative deployment strategy. Christina Dawson, who with her husband Mark has hosted for GSEC since 2009, sent the photo above of her with two of the members of team Jorsey Ashbel Farms, Mene (right) and Ashbel (left).
Thank you so much to all of our wonderful hosts who opened up their homes to welcome GSEC 2013 participants, and thank you to all the students who shared their experiences and plans for the future with hosts - it was a privilege to learn about your work.
For information on how to become a FIUTS homestay host for students and scholars visiting Seattle throughout the year, click here.