12 Babson Students Accepted to CGI U 2015
Twelve Babson students have been invited to attend the 2015 Clinton Global Initiative University, held from March 6-8 at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The meeting will bring together over 1,000 student leaders from more than 35 universities across the country who have pledged a Call to Action in one of CGI U’s five focus areas: Education, Environment and Climate Change, Peace and Human Rights, Poverty Alleviation, and Public Health.
With the goal of CGI U being to engage action in communities after the conference has ended, conversations and keynotes which take place there are focused on inspiring students to continue the calls to action and better the communities around them. Babson has sent students to the conference since becoming a University Network member in 2013, and the students involved have continually been recognized as change makers on campus. Here’s a look at the students and groups who have been selected for the 2015 meeting.
Brian Hickey ’15
Venture: Nourishing Education in Rural Africa
Focus: Education
Mission: Nourishing Education aims to provide nourishing lunches at disadvantaged rural schools through an establishment of a school/community garden, encouraging attendance and enabling students to increase their attention span and focus.
Michael Kliska ’15 and Adriana Contreras ’16
Venture: Believe in Baseball
Focus: Poverty Alleviation
Mission: Believe In Baseball is working to give people the opportunity to fund youth teams and organizations by donating used equipment/clothing through a platform that provides information on the recipients and tracks the progress of the projects.
Sam Melville ’17
Venture: Envoscrubs Global
Focus: Environmental and Climate Change
Mission: Envoscrubs is a biodegradable cleaning wipe with an all-organic cleaning solution safe to clean any surface, including dishes, without the use of water.
Emily Purdom ‘18
Venture: Kominote
Focus: Poverty Alleviation
Mission: Kominote partners with the International Institute’s base of refugee women in Lowell, MA, to give refugee women practical job training and stable employment by creating quality accessories out of unwanted textiles.
Yulkendy Valdez ‘17, Krystina Posada ’17, Josuel Plasencia ‘17
Venture: Ya Si!: Young Women Advocating for Change through Internships
Focus: Poverty Alleviation
Mission: Ya Si!: Young Women Advocating for Change through Internships will provide a 5-day intensive residential program for 20-30 high school girls to develop professional and personal skills they need to succeed, with a pipeline for internships and job-shadowing experiences.
Marvin Tarawally ’17, Karoline Aaen ‘17
Venture: The School Improvement Project
Focus: Education
Mission: The School Improvement Project aims to improve the performance of Liberian high schools by focusing on increased operational efficiency through action-based planning and creative problem solving.
Danielle Rubenfeld ‘18
Venture: Bouncing Back: Empowering Youth Through Resilience
Focus Area: Poverty Alleviation
Mission: Bouncing Back: Empowering Youth Through Resilience will organize a organize a relay race hosted by a team of undergraduates at Babson College to inspire and educate elementary school students on the concept of resilience and to give them a resiliency challenge. The program will culminate in a relay race/tailgate held at a sporting event to raise funds and awareness to fight hunger in the greater Boston area, with the goal of further expanding to other colleges.
Pooja Prasanna Kumar M‘16
Venture: Orora Global
Focus Area: Environmental and Climate Change
Mission: Orora Global aims to create an action plan that enables underprivileged women in remote villages of India that have limited access to electricity and resources, to develop greater technical and communication skills to reduce the levels of harmful kerosene oil used in their villages.