RISE-Pakistan, Road to Innovative Social Entrepreneurship

The RISE - Pakistan competition is an invitation for college students across the world to design a social entrepreneurial project dedicated to flood relief efforts in Pakistan. Teams are encouraged to analyze the urgent social issues presented by the crisis in Pakistan and to come up with unique solutions that can be implemented with a $10,000 donation that we seek on attaining from potential sponsors. The RISE - Pakistan competition will play out in two stages. The RISE Challenge * In the first round, teams will have access to a thorough guide that details the current situation in Pakistan in the context of the recent tragedy. Participants will then be asked to formulate a social entrepreneurship idea that addresses current and emerging needs in the country. * The general evaluation criteria for the first round will be sent to registered participants as an annex of the competition guide. * A panel of judges will evaluate all of the proposals sent and select the ten best proposals. All submitted proposals will receive feedback from the judges, regardless of whether they are selected for the final round or not. Preliminary Round Guidelines To be considered as a participant of the preliminary round, your team’s proposal must be submitted by 11:59P.M. CST March 26, 2011. The RISE Conference Once the preliminary round is completed, 10 teams will be invited to the RISE - Pakistan conference, taking place at the University of Chicago during spring of 2011. The competition will be three days long and encompass a busy agenda including three challenges, speaker events, company events, and networking sessions. Two of the challenges are to be announced on- site during the competition and will test the ability of teams to work creatively under pressure. The Final Challenge The third and final challenge will ask teams to incorporate the feedback they received from the first round and what they learned from the two final round challenges to their original proposals in order to complete a final proposal. Each team will present its final proposal to a panel of judges consisting of company representatives, social entrepreneurs, and experts on Pakistan and international development work, and the panel will select the winner of this challenge. * Ten teams participating in the preliminary round will be selected by a panel of judges to participate in the final round. * Teams selected as finalists in the preliminary round are required to attend the finals at the University of Chicago during the spring of 2011. Each challenge in the final round has a specific point allocation, and the winner of the competition will be the team with the most points. The winning team’s proposal will be funded by a grant of US$10,000 and implemented in Pakistan by a non-profit organization partnering with RISE - Pakistan. Team Guidelines * Participating teams can consist of three to four members. * Every participant must be a student currently pursuing an undergraduate degree at a college or university. * Teams can only submit one proposal as their entry for the preliminary round. * No participant can be a member of more than one team. Our beneficiary organization is HDF, the Human Development Foundation, The Human Development Foundation, an internationally recognized non-profit organization seeking to develop and implement effective long-term solutions to underdevelopment in Pakistan, will serve as the beneficiary organization of the RISE-Pakistan competition, receiving the $10,000 grant to ensure the implementation of the winning venture.