27 Teams Compete for Impact Prize
A total of 27 teams have been announced for the 2020 Impact Prize competition. The Blackstone LaunchPad & Techstars at Syracuse University Libraries coordinates the event for students working on ventures that create a social impact. The virtual competition on November 13 will feature $15,000 in prizes thanks to generous donations from Libraries’ donors Carl and Marcy Armani, in honor of Dr. Gay Culverhouse, and Dr. Gisela von Dran.
Teams were selected from applicants across campus to pitch products, services, or technologies that are practical, innovative, and sustainable solutions to societal problems anywhere around the globe. Examples of ventures include solutions that address energy, environment, employment, education and training, health and mental health, community and social networks, social inclusion, poverty and literacy, youth empowerment, food, sustainability, access, and important public policy goals.
Additionally, six teams from a new inclusive entrepreneurship program, jointly offered by VPA, InclusiveU and the LaunchPad will compete for a separate $1,000 prize package for innovations that offer solutions for persons with intellectual disabilities.
The “Sweet Sixteen” round includes:
Presenter, Team
Ryan Ondocin, Satellite
Dana Immerso, You’re Not Alone
Sardorek Askarov, Aphinity
Shawn Gaetano, Solace Vision
Russell Fearon, SugEx
Hanna Seraji, Multi Hue Magazine
Claire Chevalier, Cuapa Monde Conservation
Justin Diaz, EcoBamboo Living
Murray Lebovitz, Keep Coffee Casual
Charis Asante-Agyel, Yum Yum
Mario Garcia, Pairinc
Sam Hollander, FSCL
Jackson Ensley, Popcycle
Fardin Nasir, Field
Jack Adler, Three Dollar Challenge
Patrick Prioletti, Your Perfect Dose
Four teams will be selected by judges from “The Sweet Sixteen” to advance to the “Final Four” round.
In addition, there is a Wild Card room of other teams who are just starting their entrepreneurial journey at the LaunchPad.
Presenter, Team
Raul Hernandez Guardans, Sonder Films
Lauren Levin, vintageU
Ben Ford, Donation
Mashundra Maclin, Juggernaut
Calvin Atieku, Geck Strips
Neil Adams, NooCof
The six inclusive entrepreneurship teams include:
Presenter, Team
Hannah Woodruff, Inclusive dining
Madison Reece Worden, Accessible dating app
Gokul Rishwanth Beeda, Inclusive and accessible education platform
Justin Diaz, Adaptive Xbox controller
Ricardo Sanchez, InclusiveU mentorship program
James Richard Ruhlman, Inclusive interactive installation
Judges for the Impact Prize are alumni who have either launched ventures or are in innovation careers, and who have come through the LaunchPad program. They include:
- Amanda Chou, Kaiser Permanente
- Audrey Miller, Watson Institute
- Dylan Gans, Good Uncle
- Jack McCarthy, Prosek Partners
- Josh Jackson, Promptous
- Kate Beckman, Ripple Match
- Kennedy Patlan, Ashoka
- Phil McKnight, Promptous
- Ryan Williams, Good Life Foundation
This year’s competition includes a $10,000 Dr. Gay Culverhouse Impact Award prize package through a gift from SU Libraries Advisory Board Member Carl Armani and his wife Marcy, made in honor of Dr. Gay Culverhouse. David Seaman, Dean of SU Libraries and University Librarian said, “We are very pleased to be able to honor and memorialize Dr. Culverhouse in this fashion, which is very much in keeping with the work Dr. Culverhouse did with football players and brain injury. She was clearly someone focused on creating meaningful social impact and change, just as our students are, and I’m sure her story will resonate with them.”
The Impact Prize is also funded through a $5,000 gift to SU Libraries from Dr. Gisela M. von Dran, director emerita of the School of Information Studies’ (iSchool) Master of Science in Library and Information Science program, who has a special interest in social entrepreneurship. As a member of the iSchool faculty, she taught organization management courses at the graduate level. Before joining the iSchool, Dr. von Dran served as an assistant professor of management at the Whitman School of Management. She is the wife of Raymond von Dran, former dean of the iSchool from 1995 until his death in 2007. Von Dran was a longtime academic entrepreneur who started many innovative programs in higher education and supported student innovation and entrepreneurship at Syracuse University. Shortly after his death in 2007, Gisela von Dran established the Raymond F. von Dran Fund.