The NYU Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship and the nonprofit group Youth Venture announced the selection of NYU College of Arts and Science students Michelle Dugan and Ashley Seiver as joint recipients of the $10,000 Grand Prize Award in the 2009-2010 “Be a Changemaker” Challenge. Ms. Dugan and Ms. Seiver provided the “Best Overall Venture” among the hundreds of participating New York University undergraduates. The two honorees created “Cycles,” a bicycle-run delivery service for farmers markets located in urban areas. They plan to set up the initial phase of operation at the Union Square green market in Manhattan.
The NYU Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship and the nonprofit group Youth Venture announced the selection of NYU College of Arts and Science students Michelle Dugan and Ashley Seiver as joint recipients of the $10,000 Grand Prize Award in the 2009-2010 “Be a Changemaker” Challenge. Ms. Dugan and Ms. Seiver provided the “Best Overall Venture” among the hundreds of participating New York University undergraduates. The two honorees created “Cycles,” a bicycle-run delivery service for farmers markets located in urban areas. They plan to set up the initial phase of operation at the Union Square greenmarket in Manhattan.
Plans for the Union Square initiative came together after the students took their socially conscious, original, and entrepreneurial business concept to Greenmarket and established an alliance with the organization. Greenmarket runs 49 farmers markets in the five boroughs and is a program of the Council on the Environment of New York City.
Cycles will provide Greenmarket customers with a convenient and carbon emissions-free way to transport their purchases home. The goal of Cycles’ delivery service is to encourage new customers to shop at the markets and current customers to purchase more, thus increasing support for local organic farmers and their ethical and environmentally sustainable farming practices. Eventually, Ms. Dugan and Ms. Seiver intend to develop a sustainable business model that can be implemented in other cities.
The "Be a Changemaker" (BAC) Challenge is a partnership between NYU Reynolds and Youth Venture. Under it, NYU undergraduate students of the New York and Abu Dhabi campuses who want to change the world are annually invited to compete for $1,000 seed grants and the Grand Prize Award of up to $10,000.
For more information, visit NYU Reynolds.