DURHAM, N.H.—The winners of the University of New Hampshire’s seventh annual NH Social Venture Innovation Challenge (SVIC) were a team of students who created a digital platform to help educators use experiential education to improve students’ lives, and a Haitian micro-franchise.

Kendra Bostick ’23 and Bryn Lottig took home the top prize in the student track with Kikori, a digital platform designed to help educators improve their students' social, emotional, and academic outcomes with experiential education activities.

First place for the community track went to Haley Burns ’20. Her project, V'ice Haiti, delivers affordable vitamin supplementation to the people who need it most by employing Haitian youth and mothers as micro-franchisees.

Designed to be an idea accelerator, participants develop early-stage concepts for creative, financially sustainable solutions to society’s most pressing sustainability challenges. Entries this year included ideas to grow sharing economies and supportive communities, increase educational opportunities, produce and distribute healthy, local food, and support clean energy.

Lead sponsors of the SVIC include Impax Asset Management, Kennebunk Savings Bank, Nixon Peabody and Timberland. Additional supporters include AMI Graphics, CCA Global Partners, Cirtronics, Clean Energy NH, Cole Haan, Lonza, MegaFood, New Hampshire Business Review, NH Business Finance Authority, New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility, NH Charitable Foundation, NH Community Development Finance Authority, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Pete & Gerry’s Organic Eggs, Prime Buchholz, ReVision Energy and W.S. Badger.

Since its founding in 2013, in partnership with Nobel Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, the SVIC has seen participation from more than 1,200 contestants and provided over $300,000 in funding and resources to winners. The program is a collaborative, interdisciplinary event, organized at UNH by the Center for Social Innovation & Enterprise, a joint venture between the UNH Sustainability Institute, the Peter T. Paul College of Business & Economics, and the Carsey School of Public Policy.

A full list of winners in each track is below and all of the 2019 finalists videos can be viewed here.
 

Student Track

• First Prize: Transform Classrooms with Kikori, an easy-to-use digital platform that helps educators improve their students' social, emotional and academic outcomes with experiential education activities. Proposed by UNH doctoral student Kendra Bostick, education, 2023. 
• Second Prize: Ambrosia Fabrics, nontoxic and sustainable furniture fabrics made from hemp and bamboo. Proposed by UNH student Christian Hollis, undeclared, 2020.
• Third Prize: New Hampshire Toy Library Network, a college student-run initiative to support equitable access to toys. Proposed by UNH student Marisa Rafal, masters in public policy, 2020.
   

Community Track

• First Prize: V’Ice Haiti, delivering affordable vitamin supplementation to the people who need it most by employing Haitian youth and mothers as micro-franchisees. Proposed by UNH student Haley Burns of Durham, business entrepreneurship, 2020.
• Second Prize: Community Toy Chest, provides environmentally sustainable alternatives for toy consumption with community play and education space and toy rentals. Proposed by UNH alumni Hannah McBride ‘07, ‘13G of Concord and Jessica Forrest ‘19G of Concord.
• Third Prize: Wildcats Willing, a food repurposing initiative designed to transport UNH Dining food that is safe and edible to local NGOs. Proposed by UNH students Brennan Williams ‘19 of Manchester, anthropology and John DeAngelis ‘20 of Wells, Maine, anthropology.

The University of New Hampshire inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation and world. More than 16,000 students from all 50 states and 71 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top-ranked programs in business, engineering, law, health and human services, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. As one of the nation’s highest-performing research universities, UNH partners with NASA, NOAA, NSF and NIH, and receives more than $110 million in competitive external funding every year to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space.

Photo available for download:
https://www.unh.edu/unhtoday/sites/default/files/media/2019winners1.jpg
Caption: Winners of the 2019 NH Social Venture Innovation Challenge. Photo Credit: Perry Smith Photography