ESADE reaches final round of Hult Prize, top social entrepreneurship competition, for third consecutive year

For the third consecutive year, a team from ESADE will participate in the final round of the Hult Prize, the world’s most prestigious social entrepreneurship competition. This is the first time in the competition’s history that a business school has reached the final round three years in a row. The Hult Prize – which awards the winning team US$1 million to invest in their project – is organised by former US president Bill Clinton, who will present the award to the winning team after the final round in New York in September.

To reach the final round, the five students on the ESADE MBA team competed against more than 20,000 social entrepreneurs from all over the world. They must now compete against fellow finalists from Oxford, Tampa, Toronto and Shanghai.

Each year, the Hult Prize – the world’s most prestigious social entrepreneurship competition – presents participants with a different challenge. This year, candidates were asked to submit proposals that address the challenge of improving access to education for children living in the outlying slums of large cities. Is estimated that 70 million children around the world – 53% of whom are girls – are unable to attend school each day.

The ESADE team – consisting of MBA students from the United States, Indonesia, Germany, Mexico and Kyrgyzstan – presented a plan designed to improve access to education for children in the developing world.

Josep Franch, Dean of ESADE Business School, highlighted the international environment in which the competition has unfolded: "The choice of an ESADE team as a finalist in the largest global social entrepreneurship competition confirms that our students are prepared to work as a team, on equal footing with top international talent, with a firm commitment to implementing social improvements throughout the world."