Innovative Changemaking on Display

On June 12, two University of San Diego student teams will pitch their socially-inspired entrepreneurial ideas at the global finals, hosted this year by the University of St. Thomas. Both teams — R-Viviendas and How ‘Bout Now (HBN) — will share their 90-second pitches in the hopes of taking home a portion of the $61,500 in seed funding.

R-Viviendas, the top finalist team from the campus’ finals event, aims to address housing insecurity in Puerto Rico — reclaiming abandoned properties and turning them into affordable housing.

For Edgar Gomez, MA, a 2021 alumnus from the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, the chance to pitch R-Viviendas to a global community is a unique opportunity to share his passion with a world-wide audience.

“Usually, you don’t have the ability to showcase to the world what you are working with, what you’re thinking about and what your perspective is on transforming the world and society,” says Gomez. “The [Fowler] Global Social Innovation Challenge is that. It is that space to create and to show the world that a different way of doing things is possible.”

HBN, a culturally conversational chatbot aimed at addressing mental health services in the Black community and other minority communities, came in second place at the campus event earlier this year.

For Jacqueline Puga, a member of the HBN team and a mechanical engineering student in the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the opportunity to work on this entrepreneurial project has been a continuation of her USD Changemaking journey.

"My main drive into this project was really ... that the project’s vision was well-aligned with my values," says Puga. "I felt that through this project, my mission to be a Changemaker at USD would be fulfilled."

For both teams, competing this Saturday is the culmination of months of hard work, trial and error, and a passion for socially-inspired innovative Changemaking that aims to positively impact the communities we live in.

Please join us in cheering on our two student teams this weekend. To register for the Global Finals, please visit the event registration page.

— Allyson Meyer '16 (BA), '21 (MBA)