ATLANTA—Georgia launched a competition for college students to create business ideas to solve social problems. The University System of Georgia (USG) hosted an event at Georgia Tech last week to announce the winners. Students from universities and colleges seized the opportunity to shine above the rest and display their skills while potentially helping others. Problems they tackled included: domestic violence, illiteracy, unemployment, and housing issues.
A total of 38 teams of students from 35 USG institutions and three private colleges participated, but one team stood out above the rest. Southern Polytechnic State University (Marietta) and its project, “Restoration Trust,” won first place. The winning team’s project focused on improving the lives of those who suffer from domestic violence. The group also focused on how to provide proper housing, employment, and education to survivors of domestic violence.
Another worthy idea focused on making adult literacy training more accessible than it is now. According to student Shalaya Morissette, a member of Georgia Gwinnett College’s team, quoted in a press release “It’s a simple idea, but there are adults who can’t perform simple tasks like reading prescription bottles or books to their children. With the right resources, they will.” She was drawn to the project because her mother came to adulthood unable to read.
After much effort, the students devised a simple plan. “Read4Life!” would provide a low-cost franchise that they projected could generate around 50,000 literate adults annually in Georgia. “This is a first step,” said USG Chancellor Hank Huckaby in a press release. “This conference is part of our plan to build stronger partnerships among educational agencies and institutions, and local and state government, business, and other entities to create potential new businesses and jobs while at the same time helping to address some pressing social issues.”
The competition was based on the ideas of Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, whose most recent book was “Building Social Business: the New Kind of Capitalism that Solves Humanity’s Most Pressing Needs.” Yunus addressed the students at the event, according to a statement from USG. He said “This is your age, this is your time, you are the most powerful generation in the entire history of mankind.”
