The USC Marshall Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Greif Blackstone Launchpad, and Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab (BSEL) co-hosted USC’s first Hult Prize Competition, a global competition challenging young minds to develop products and services that can change the world. Sara Technology, an AI platform that facilitates young learners for whom English is a second language, won the USC campus-level competition. The Hult Prize national competition will be held on March 21-22, 2025 in Boston, MA.
This year, teams were required to create a for-profit, world-changing business idea that aligns with at least one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Teams of at least two members (including at least one member from USC) submitted applications in December. Following an application process, a select group was invited to work with Greif Blackstone Launchpad Senior Student Engagement Advisor Amiah Sheppard and Greif Center Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurship Jessica Jackley, who provided coaching to help refine teams’ business ideas and pitch decks.
Six teams presented their final decks to students, alumni, and staff, as well as three guest judges, who are all USC Marshall alumni: Jessica Salinas ’18, co-president of New Media Ventures, Mark Spears ’80, co-founder USC Trojan Sustainability Network, and Carlos Gutierrez ’10, chief strategy officer for Larta Institute.
The event, which took place at the USC’s Popovich Hall on February 20, 2025, opened with a few words from Jackley, who is also the director of BSEL.
“I want to acknowledge something distinct and remarkable: You’ve chosen not to be part of the solution, but to create new solutions,” Jackley said. “This choice is how real, meaningful change happens in the world.”