Thanks to a multimillion-dollar gift, the University of San Diego is extending its Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge program to the University of St. Thomas.
The universities announced the partnership on Thursday, which will increase the scope and scale of the social entrepreneurship ecosystem by increasing the number of social entrepreneurs on their respective campuses.
Ron and Alexis Fowler pledged $2.6 million towards the program which encourages college students to solve pressing problems and challenges faced by humanity through social innovation and entrepreneurship.
“Our vision for the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge is to significantly increase the number of social entrepreneurs creatively tackling humanity’s biggest problems,” Ron Fowler said.
“USD and St. Thomas have both demonstrated their ability to successfully nurture and lead innovative students. Working together, sharing common ideals and practices, Alexis and I expect to see more ventures successfully transition to advanced stages of prototyping, financial sustainability and start-up.”
The program was first launched in 2011and subsequently went on to include local universities in San Diego and in the Tijuana region of Mexico. The program currently admits student teams from universities around the world. Winning teams have received over $377,000 in seed funding and other forms of support.
“By working together, the new USD-St. Thomas program will propel social innovation on both campuses, improve the quality and quantity of entrepreneurial opportunities, expand national and international reach, and build a global movement based on people, planet, prosperity, peace and, partnership,” Patricia Márquez, USD Kroc School dean, said.
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