2024 SVPC Recap

The 2023 Social Venture Plan Competition showcase event

Clothing and Shelter Win Top Prizes at 2024 SVPC 

Seattle Pacific University held its 18th annual Social Venture Plan Competition (SVPC) Showcase on the afternoon of Thursday, April 18, 2024. Student teams developed solutions to a wide variety of social problems, both in the US and around the globe. From homelessness in Guatemala, to education in Laos, from sustainable phone chargers powered by movement, to holding politicians accountable through data science, these innovative ideas tackled the issues on the hearts and minds of college students today. The Showcase event, the finale of the SVPC, occurred in upper Gwinn Commons on the SPU Campus

Team Freya Maternity at winner circle

The top project was Freya Maternity, chosen as the $10,000 Herbert B. Jones Grand Prize winner by the combined votes of nearly 60 judges representing the business, nonprofit, academic, and professional communities. Deploy-A-Padcame in second, winning a $5,000 runner-up award. Over the course of the day, several hundred students, faculty, staff, and community members visited the Showcase and voted for their favorite project, and the Donald B. Summers People’s Choice award of $1,500 went to The Village.

Maternity wear is more likely to be disposed of and wind up in landfill since most users need it only temporarily. The team behind Freya Maternity birthed a fresh approach to maternity clothing, proposing an e-commerce rental service that provides pregnant women stylish and sustainable options as a convenient alternative to traditional one-time purchases. The Freya Maternity team included senior Business Administration majors Ava Dreon, Shawn Bowen, and Lauren Duisenberg; senior Business Administration and Accounting double major Canyon Farmer; junior Business Administration major Amelia Perez; and junior Global Development and Economics double major Haley Blain.

With climate change increasing the frequency of tsunamis, floods, and tropical storms, the need for temporary shelter has never been higher. Deploy-A-Pad seeks to offer a better form of temporary shelter after natural disasters. The team has developed a small, portable shelter that offers both electricity and water, and is designed for short to medium term use. The group proposes selling the product to FEMA and other government agencies but would also make it available to consumers with an interest in off-grid living. Deploy-A-Pad consisted of senior Thomas Morton, double majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Appropriate and Sustainable Engineering; senior Valentino Guevara, a senior Mechanical Engineering major; and Cynthia Nguyen, a senior triple majoring in Applied Mathematics, Financial Economics, and Honors Liberal Arts.

 

Team Deploy-A-Pad at booth

Three Honorable Mention prizes of $2,500 were also awarded:

Team Intentions at booth

Substance abuse is on the rise, and relapse rates for those in recovery hover around 50%, even for those with access to treatment. Intentions is developing a mobile app that will allow those recovering from substance abuse to receive tailored messages of encouragement, while also keeping them intentionally connected to their friends, family, and support systems. Intentions was the work of senior Computer Science major Houston Tu, and Arian Salehpour, a senior double majoring in Computer Science and Applied Math.

Dangerous opioids such as fentanyl can leave residue in public places such as classrooms, airports, and Metro buses; only a small dose can be lethal. OPIO has crafted a cleaning product that will neutralize opioid drug residue, making public transit, and other public spaces safer. OPIO was the work of senior Business Administration major Drew Swanson.

Team Opio at booth
The Village Team members

The Village recognizes that first-generation college students face barriers to accessing education, including information on processes, financial aid, role modeling, and employment. Through a dedicated web platform, peer mentoring, and jobs board, The Village hopes to increase the success rate of first-generation college students in the Seattle area – and beyond! The Village business plan was written and presented by Viktoriya Prozapas, a senior double majoring in Accounting and Business Administration; Johnny Lo, a junior Business Administration major; Xavier Smith, a junior Economics major; Madison Raines, a junior Social Justice and Cultural Studies major; and Emilio Tolomei, a first year Business Administration major.

This is the eighteenth year of SPU’s Social Venture Plan Competition. Eleven teams pitched their ideas at the Showcase event, comprising approximately 40 students. In the first round of the competition, 20 written business plans, representing nearly 80 students from four different schools, were reviewed and scored by community partners.

The Showcase Round was the finale of the Social Venture Plan Competition. In addition to the review of written business plans, earlier stages in the competition included a series of seminars on the basics of business plan writing as well as coaching sessions with knowledgeable businesspeople, nonprofit executives, and others. In all, over 100 community volunteers gave time as readers, instructors, coaches, and judges.

Scott Hardman, a local investment banker, and a long-time volunteer Judge for the SVPC, said “Freya Maternity was my top choice given the creativity of the plan and how well the team had thought through the business. I spread my votes out to include several others, but Freya was outstanding.”

Local businesswoman and returning Judge Joan O’Brien, commented: “It truly gives me faith that the future is in good hands when I talk to these smart, enthusiastic graduating seniors with so many wonderful ideas. I know they’ll make the world a better place!”

Financial sponsors of the SVPC include the Herbert B. Jones Foundation, the Scott and Kathleen Cummins Family Foundation, Tschetter Group, Northwest Center, Highland Private Wealth Management, Pioneer Human Services, and Skills Inc. The competition is organized by the Center for Applied Learning (CAL) in the School of Business, Government, and Economics (SBGE) at SPU.

Photos by John Godek