On April 18, 2015, the Second Annual SFU Beedie Net Impact Sustainability Challenge was held at the Segal Graduate School in downtown Vancouver. This competition is the only one of its kind on the West Coast, challenging future leaders to look at a business challenge within the context of sustainability.
Eleven exceptional teams from the University of British Columbia, University of Alberta, University of Victoria, Vancouver Island University, McGill, Queens, Pinchot University, and Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business competed for over $4,500 in cash prizes. The competition was also honoured to host a respected panel of industry judges that included Tod Maffin, Tim Hargrave, Stephanie Bertels, Christie Stephenson, Ned Georgy, and Colin Stansfield.
Excited volunteers on SFU’s Net Impact Executive Team welcomed teams and judges to the Segal building for an exhilarating competition complete with a live Twitter feed. All teams gave thoughtful, high quality presentations and made the judging decisions very difficult.
Four of eleven teams advanced to the final round, where Team ‘Slime Mold’ from Pinchot University took home the top prize, followed by ‘Impact Incorporated’ from UBC in second place, and ‘Sustainastars’ from our very own SFU Beedie in third place. Congratulations to these outstanding teams for excelling in an incredibly challenging competition!
After the event, teams gathered for informal networking at Steamworks Brew Pub in downtown Vancouver to let off steam and spend time meeting other MBAs.
This second annual event was a huge success, thanks to the quality of teams and judges and the many people involved in organizing the event. The competition would not have been possible without the generous contributions, supportive faculty and staff and of our sponsors: SFU Beedie School of Business, Radius Social Innovation Lab, Renewal Funds, FortisBC, MNP, Graduate Student Society at SFU, SFU CMA Centre for Innovation and the SFU Graduate Business Student Association.
Margaret Ross is a full time MBA candidate at the Beedie School of Business. She is involved with student engagement as the VP Social of the Graduate Business Student Association, the VP Communications of the Net Impact Segal Chapter and as a Beedie Student Ambassador. Margaret is a marketing, communications and event planning professional with experience in the tourism industry in British Columbia. Outside of school Margaret can be found on the ski slopes, hiking with her dog or exploring a new country. Connect with Margaret on https://ca.linkedin.com/in/margaretcatherineross