Student teams led by an NYU undergraduate can receive grants to bring socially valuable new ventures into existence.
The 7th annual NYU Reynolds Changemaker Challenge (CmC) is now under way: All New York University undergraduate students are invited to apply for up to $1,000 in seed capital to create an original organization, program, or business that will benefit the community and have a measurably positive social impact.
The seed capital is for teams of two or more people led by an NYU student, and which may consist of others who do not attend the university.
To be eligible, NYU students must submit – no later than Wednesday, November 9 – an Executive Summary of no fewer than 300 words that outlines the social venture idea; for guidelines on how to prepare the summary, please go to http://www.nyu.edu/reynolds/changemaker/ .
The teams must also submit a Business Plan. Teams that submit a plan by January 17 (please refer to the Reynolds website for the schedule of Business Plan preparation workshops during November and December) will be invited to pitch its social-venture project before a selection panel in early March. The selection panels will provide feedback on the proposals.
Recipients of seed grants of up to $1,000 will be announced the week of March 12.
The best teams will be invited to pitch their ideas a second time to a panel of expert judges for up to $10,000 in capital and the title of “The 2011-12 NYU Reynolds CmC Best Overall Venture,” which will be awarded in early April.
“This is truly a great example of NYU’s commitment to being a private university in the public service, and the role that the NYU Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship plays in that effort,” said Gabriel Brodbar, director of the NYU Reynolds Program. The program is located at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service (Puck Building, 295 Lafayette Street, 2nd Floor, New York, N.Y.). For more information, email reynolds.changemaker@nyu.edu.