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ISAP Members Winning the Global Solutions Sustainability Challenge

    Congratulations to International Student Ambassador Program (ISAP) members who landed 2nd place and 4th runner-up at this year’s Global Solutions Sustainability Challenge.  ISAP is the hallmark student program at the University of San Francisco’s Center for Business Studies and Innovation in the Asia-Pacific.

    Under the Stevens Initiative, the Global Solutions Sustainability Challenge, implemented by IREX, is a virtual business competition that connects college students in the United States, Jordan, and Iraq on binational teams to collaborate virtually on a sustainable solution to local challenges related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Bi-national teams engage during an eight-week period through the design thinking process to ideate a sustainable solution to real needs in their local communities. Global Solutions uses virtual exchange to improve mutual understanding and problem-solving skills among students. Throughout the challenge, participants develop workforce skills and network with industry professionals. At the conclusion, bi-national teams submit a business concept and video pitch to the Virtual Global Business Fair. The top five teams present their pitch live at the culminating event, the Virtual Global Business Expo, where the top three finalists are selected by a panel of judges to receive a small grant to further develop their concepts.

    Explore the business concepts and pitch videos created by the winning bi-national teams!

    • 2nd place – winning $1,500.00. Team 3 – Team Black Iris (University of San Francisco, USA and Khawarizmi University Technical College, Jordan); created Relife En-Go, an app and smart trash bin that supports people in Amman and San Francisco who want to keep their city streets clean by incentivizing proper trash disposal and participating in community beautification initiatives. Explore their video pitch and business concept. USF Team members: Valerie Lam, Alen Muratyan, Andrew Chayra, Mrugasha Tasgaonbar, Xinmiao Zhao, and Haitao Sun.
    • 4th runner up – Team 12 – Team Resilient (University of San Francisco, USA and Soran University, Iraq), created the Green Roofer. This app supports sustainability-focused individuals and companies who want to counter the generational effects of global warming by facilitating the creation of rooftop gardens that will promote local consumption and combat excess CO2 emissions. Explore their video pitch and business concept. USF Team Members: Samantha Fong, Shuting Peng, Catarina Montez, Kai Yang, Yunling Chen, Keilye Rivera and Saint Roger Bountsebe Eboueme,

    These two teams were supervised by Professor Vivian Faustino and Professor Susan Stryker, the faculty supervising team deployed by the Center of Business Studies and Innovation in Asia-Pacific for GSSC.  The Center is very proud of being part of GSSC.

    The other facilitators were Dr. Sawsan Al-Najjar of KUTC, Jordan and Dr. Sarwan Sdiq Hasan of Soran University, Iraq.

    The [Global Solutions Sustainability Challenge or Global Solutions Conversations program] is implemented by IREX and is supported by the Stevens Initiative, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government, and is administered by the Aspen Institute. The Stevens Initiative is also supported by the Bezos Family Foundation and the governments of Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.