Tuck MBAs Win Global Challenge Contest

Can an MBA change the world?

Some MBA students certainly think so and five MBA candidates from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business have just won a 2012 video contest held by the Global Business School Network (GBSN) to prove the point.

The winning video, “$300 House Project,” describes the MBA students’ work applying business school skills in a real-world environment addressing the need for low-cost housing in Haiti. For 18 months, the students worked with Tuck faculty members, Haitian government leaders, industry veterans, investors, students, and local Haitians to provide low-income housing solutions in Haiti. The video captures their efforts and gives a view into the rationale for student involvement and their passion to make a difference.

The team wins the opportunity to send a representative on an all expenses paid trip to the GBSN Annual Conference June 12 – 14 in New Delhi, India to present their video and receive their award.

“I congratulate all the MBA students who worked hard on really interesting projects in developing countries, and commend the leadership of their business schools for offering such opportunities,” said Guy Pfeffermann, CEO and founder of GBSN, in a statement. “Tuck School of Business’ winning video demonstrates how MBA skills backed up by the formidable intellectual resources of a leading business school can change the way people approach intractable development issues such as low-cost housing in rural Haiti. All of our finalists show the real impact a team or an individual student can have where motivation, organization and skills are brought to bear.”

Coming in 2nd place was a team from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, led by Annie Evans, with their video “UNC Kenan-Flagler Impact” about their work in eastern Africa doing consulting projects that focused on sustainability.

Third place went to a Ilaha Eli Omar, a student at Thunderbird School of Global Management who submitted “An Afghan in Africa”, detailing her experience in a slum in Nairobi helping to improve drainage and helping to establish a sewing business for local women.