2024 - Business Plan & Campus FGSIC Program

THE FOWLER GLOBAL SOCIAL INNOVATION CHALLENGE (FOWLER GSIC)

The Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge (Fowler GSIC) is a multi-round social venture competition that invites students to engage with one or more of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals by developing a sustainable social venture With a network of over 2,500 students from 17 countries over the world, the Challenge has distributed more than $745,000 to seed the most promising ventures global ventures Now a collaboration between the University of San Diego and St. Thomas, the final round of the Challenge is hosted on an alternating basis by both universities.

AWARDS

Cash & In-Kind Prizes

In addition to winning the first place cash prize, the winner will also receive a FREE Legal Formation Package from Gutwein Law Firm

Five finalist teams will pitch for the following prizes:

First

The two leading teams will advance as the Global Finalists to represent St Thomas at the June Finals event Global Finalists have the chance to compete for a selection of top prizes ranging from $10,000 to $25,000.

SCHEDULE

ST. THOMAS BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION

Open to both traditional businesses and social ventures, the St. Thomas Business Plan Competition provides seed funding to students and recent alumni with plans to start a new company or with a business that has been incorporated for less than 12 months The competition awards prizes totaling $38,000 to participants in two divisions – undergraduate and graduate/recent alumni. For Tommiepreneurs looking to take their venture to the next level, the annual competition is a robust training ground to secure funding and mentoring to move their idea or business forward.

AWARDS

Cash & In-Kind Prizes

In addition to winning the first place cash prize, the winner will also receive a FREE Legal Formation Kit from Gutwein Law Firm

Winners in each division will receive the following cash prizes:

First Place - $10,000 Second

- $5,000 Third Place - $2,500

Fourth Place - $1,000

Place - $500

SCHEDULE

PM

PM

PM

PITCH ORDER & ROOM ASSIGNMENTS

Venture

Time Time Time 12:35 PM 12:57 PM 1:19 PM 1:41 PM 2:03 PM 04 |

Judges

Terri Barreiro

Andre Creighton

Lisa Shol ‘18

Casey Shultz

BUSINESSPLAN

Door Code

BUSINESSPLAN

Venture

GrupCard

Undergraduate Division (SCH 120)

Grad/Recent 12:35 PM 12:57 PM 1:19 PM 1:41 PM 2:03 PM

Keith Elzia

Killian Rieder

Danielle Steer

Travis Veit ‘05

Alumni Division (SCH

Judges

Angie Conley ‘90

Phil Ebeling ‘99 MBA

Shari Mohabir ‘96

Tarps

FOWLER GSIC JUDGES

TERRIBARREIRO

Principal, Cogent Consulting PBC

Terri Barreiro is co-founder of and venture coach at Impact Hub MSP and consultant to nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. She is an adjunct instructor and fellowship advisor at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota and Principal at Cogent Consulting PBC. She is known for her expertise in systems change and a mission-driven venture advisor

She is co-author of Social Entrepreneurship: the Journey from Issue to Viable Venture and founder of the Donald McNeely Center for Entrepreneurship serving the College of Saint Benedict and Saint Johns’ University She brings to her work more than 30 years of experience as a nationally recognized nonprofit and philanthropy leader with extensive experience in United Way, corporate giving, and family foundation operations Ms Barreiro has enjoyed volunteering throughout her life, currently serving on the boards of Folk School Warroad, Market Access Fund, and Impact Hub MSP and was awarded the 2021 Entrepreneurship Teacher of the Year by the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and & Carlson School of Business, University of Minnesota.

ANDRECREIGHTON

Chief Financial Officer, TurnSignl

Andre Creighton possesses 10+ years of accounting, finance, and operational expertise During the early part of his career, he spent four years in Public Accounting, working in taxation for CPA firms, Lurie LLP, and a national conglomerate Baker Tilly LLP Thereafter, he worked for Cargill Inc in their corporate tax strategy department for 2 1/2 years as a Senior Tax Analyst. His final stint before co-founding TurnSignl was with SPIRE Credit Union as the lead Senior Financial Analyst, where he was helping build their Finance department He is an honoree of the CFO of the Year award from Minneapolis-Saint Paul Business Journal

Beyond his professional career, Mr Creighton is a community advocate He is the Head Football coach at Harding Senior High He sits on several non-profit boards of directors.

FOWLER GSIC JUDGES

Senior Manager, Target

Lisa Shol has spent her career at Target, spending some time in merchandising, packaging, and the last 10 years on the experiential marketing team. In her role on the experiential marketing team she is responsible for the strategy and execution of many large scale, consumer facing events across the country.

Ms Shol is an active volunteer in the community She sits on the Volunteer Advisory Committee at the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery and is on the Board of a new local non-profit, Impact 100 Twin Cities.

Director of Community & Impact Investing, Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation

Casey Shultz, Director of Community and Impact Investing II, brings 15 years of leadership experience in the areas of technology, startups, entrepreneurship and venture capital to the Foundation Most recently, Ms. Schultz served as executive director of BETA.MN, a Twin Cities nonprofit that provides Minnesota-based founders of top local tech startups with the resources to grow their companies At BETA, she diversified the board of directors, acquired Tech.MN, a startup newsgathering website, and doubled the size of the BETA team Earlier, she gained experience at The Planning Group of the Northwest where her team was recognized by Barron’s as the top financial advising team in Alaska Ms Shultz also was an early employee of Silicon Valley startup CouchSurfing International – a precursor to Airbnb – helping the company raise its $7.9 million Series A-round Collectively, she has helped startups raise over $25 million Ms Shultz was recognized by Twin Cities Business magazine as a member of its TCB 100: The People to Know in 2021.

CASEYSHULTZ

LISASHOL‘18

UNDERGRADUATE DIVISION JUDGES

KEITHELZIA

CEO of Enterprise Content Solutions

Keith Elzia is CEO of Enterprise Content Solutions. Prior to joining ECS as President, Mr Elzia was the Enterprise Market Development Executive at Microsoft Corporate HQ This position was responsible for defining and executing against Microsoft’s .Net Enterprise Market Development and strategic alliance strategies Market Development focused on forging new business opportunities within existing global enterprises and then replicating these solutions through the specific industries (markets) worldwide Geographical responsibility included North America, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia

Before joining Microsoft, Mr Elzia was the VP & GM of Global Innovation at WamNet, Inc Here he provided executive leadership responsibilities for a high performance technology company responsible for the distribution of digital and print media throughout the US, UK and Europe He led the team that was responsible for securing the $4 0B Navy and Marine Corps Intranet Project (NMCI Project).

Mr Elzia spent 18 years at IBM holding a variety of positions in Engineering, Sales, Marketing and Global Services.

Marketing Partner, Novel Energy Solutions

Killian Rieder is a mother of two, a nationally acclaimed entrepreneur, a talented designer, a successful business owner, and a visionary She is the founder and designer at Killian Jewelry and is currently a consultant to different businesses Prior to her current role, Ms Rieder co-founded Chamilia, a jewelry company and was head designer for over a decade. Chamilia was sold to Swarovski Jewelry. In the year prior she won Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and was a judge in the same organization for three years In every consumer-based field she has played in, she has been disruptive in the market. Her talent, experience, and individuality set her apart from competitors and has led to a highly engaged and loyal customer following

KILLIANRIEDER

UNDERGRADUATE DIVISION JUDGES

Managing Partner, Tundra Ventures

Danielle Steer is a Managing Partner at Tundra Ventures and the founding Executive Director of Lunar Startups, Minneapolis-St. Paul’s first early-stage accelerator for founders identifying as Black, Indigenous, People of Color, LGBTQ, women, and non-binary Ms Steer has received numerous awards as a startup ecosystem builder and super-connector, including MinneInno's "On Fire" award, Minnesota Business Magazine (Real) Power 50 Award, and the Twin Cities Business 2021 100 People to Know award. She sits on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Board of Advisors for the Global Accelerator Network Ms Steer is a sought-after thought leader and public speaker on inclusive entrepreneurship and has been on the main stages of SXSW and Twin Cities Startup Week

Founding Partner & Production Mastermind, Imprint Engine

Travis Veit is the guy who started it all - An authority on all things marketing & promotions, a logistics whiz and an unmatched industry insider Imprint Engine helps brands build scalable marketing & logistics solutions Their clients include Uber, Microsoft, Red Bull, Stack Overflow, Postman, Salesforce, CBRE, Facebook, GitHub, Klarna, Opensea, Gopuff and many more From custom-made creative solutions, to connecting clients with the perfect partner, Mr Veit loves running point on any and every creative challenge.

TRAVISVEIT‘05

DANIELLESTEER

GRADUATE/RECENT ALUMNI DIVISION JUDGES

ANGIECONLEY‘90

Medical Device Leader

Angie Conley is an award-winning medical device leader with expertise in innovative product development and launch, strategic marketing, global business development, cross-functional team leadership, business start-up and operations, portfolio management, and passionate about building new technologies to improve patient lives

Recognized as a foresight leader and strategist with proven success in securing investments and developing business partnerships to revolutionize the medical industry, Ms. Conley has held leadership and product management roles with Exoskeletons at Abilitech and Magic Arms; Peripheral and Neurovascular Atherectomy devices at ev3/Covidien; Heart Valves, Instruments, Telemonitoring equipment, External and Implantable Pacemakers and Defibrillators at Medtronic, creating millions of dollars in revenue

Ms Conley was the founder and CEO of Abilitech Medical, Inc , where she set out to solve an unmet need: there are millions of people who live without use of their arms who are impacted by neuromuscular weakness or injury

PHILEBELING‘99MBA

COO, Inspire Medical Systems

Phil Ebeling has served as Chief Operating Officer since June 2020

Prior to joining Inspire, he worked for Abbott Laboratories as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer in the Cardiovascular and Neuromodulation Division from January 2017 to March 2018 From January 2016 to January 2017, Mr Ebeling was Chief Technology Officer of St Jude Medical, Inc , a medical device company that was acquired by Abbott Laboratories in January 2017 Prior to that, Mr Ebeling served in various other roles at St. Jude Medical, Inc., including Senior Vice President, Research and Development in the Cardiovascular and Electrophysiology Division from 2012 to January 2016 and Vice President of Research and Development for the Cardiovascular Division from 2008 to 2011 Before joining St Jude Medical in 2008, Mr Ebeling spent 12 years at Boston Scientific Corporation where he held numerous positions including Director of Program Management Risk Management.

He is a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers as well as the Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers (MSPE), an accredited Project Management Professional (PMP) through the Project Management Institute (PMI) and holds several domestic and foreign patents on medical device design and technology

GRADUATE/RECENT ALUMNI DIVISION JUDGES

SHARIMOHABIR‘96

VP, Healthcare, RGP

Shari Mohabir ‘96 is VP of Healthcare at RGP. She has spent the majority of her career living and working globally in the professional services and consulting industry developing new business, managing client engagements and building an extensive network of diverse stakeholder relationships She also has experience working in media, health care, consumer product and higher education She is currently starting MohKsha, a consumer product organization.

Ms Mohabir is a current member of Women's Health Leadership Trust and on the Diversity & Inclusion Council for Financial Executives International

JAYTRUMBOWER‘95MBA

CEO, Barton, Walter & Krier, P.C.

Jay Trumbower is the CEO at Barton, Walter & Krier, P C , a full-service, multi- industry CPA firm. Trumbower leads a team of client-focused CPAs and Consultants that provide premier attest, tax, bookkeeping, and consulting services to mid-size and small businesses in the Twin Cities metro and Upper Midwest.

As the former COO and CFO at Boulay, one of the largest CPA firms in the Twin Cities, Mr. Trumbower led the growth initiatives, process development and talent management and recruitment strategies

Prior to joining Boulay, Mr. Trumbower served as COO, CFO, VP, Corporate Development, and Board Member in publicly-traded, privately-held, family investment office owned, private equity group owned companies and professional services organizations. Specific industries include engineering, automotive services, business services, data services, banking, CPA firms, financial services, information technology, litigation support services, media, and retail companies.

CULTURED

Smriti Datta ’27 (Entrepreneurship)

Amelia Ehlers ’27 (Entrepreneurship)

CulturEd redefines DEI training for K-12 educators, offering a gamified and engaging simulation that ensures every student, regardless of culture, learning background, or gender identity, feels welcome in the classroom

KALLISTOPADS

MENTORME

Maria Magambo ’26 (Computer Science)

Kallisto Pads is a Tanzanian brand of biodegradable and flushable menstrual products that allows women and girls to be more liberated during their period

By eliminating the need to burn or dispose of plastic sanitary pads, Kallisto pads will improve the menstrual waste management system and eventually lessen air and land pollution in the environment

Junior Agbenowossi ’24 (Marketing)

Arsenio Black ’24 (Entrepreneurship)

Mentor me is an app that provides low-income students with mentorship

MEET THE

CAFETEMPCONTROLSTICK

Dhruv Bhinde ’27 (Entrepreneurship)

Liam Honl ’27 (Entrepreneurship)

Introducing the CaféTemp Control Stick, the game-changer for every coffee enthusiast! This sleek, portable stick, designed by CaféTech Innovations, allows you to heat or cool your coffee with a simple twist Powered by an innovative thermoheatium core, it ensures your coffee is always at the perfect temperature, eliminating the need for reheating or waiting for it to cool

OPENDOORCODE

SAFENETAI

SOULSHOES

Maria Johnson ’24 (Entrepreneurship)

Open Door Code is an introductory coding tool that empowers young creators by making learning fun, interactive, and accessible By bringing the world of coding from the screen to their hands, Open Door Code gives middle school students a tactile alternative to traditional beginner coding software.

Melissa Rajamanuvel ’25 (Data Analytics)

SafeNetAI is a cybersecurity startup that offers an AI-powered Virtual Private Network (VPN) service The company’s innovative approach predicts and prevents cyberattacks based on user behavior, providing a more secure and personalized internet experience for small startup businesses and individual users

Noah MacDonald ’26 (Financial Management & Economics)

Natalie Larson ’26 (Financial Management & Economics)

Soul Shoes, our forward-thinking startup in the footwear industry, introduces a revolutionary business concept We propose to diversify the shoe market by pioneering a unique innovation, introducing interchangeable soles and upper parts crafted from recycled materials that serves the purpose of increasing longevity and creating a design appeal that would attract our target audience

WASTECOMPO

Beamlak Petros ’26 (Entrepreneurship)

What sets our project apart as truly unique is its pioneering approach to largescale waste collection in Ethiopia, breaking away from traditional perceptions about waste collection jobs This innovative initiative offers a dual benefit that goes beyond waste reduction – it actively addresses the pressing issues of hunger and the shortage of fertilizer.

MEET THE 2024 COHORT

BLUNESTCONNECT

GRUPCARD

Israel Tolu (Executive MBA ’24)

At Blunestconnect, we address the critical issue of the growing digital divide among seniors, who are at increased risk of social isolation and tech scams. We provide specialized tech support and educational services tailored for older adults, helping them safely and confidently use technology Our mission is to empower seniors to stay connected and protected in the digital age, ensuring they have the necessary skills and support to thrive in a tech-centric world

Abenezer Ayana ’21 (Computer Science)

GrupCard is a fintech platform that allows users to issue shared virtual cards that make group payments frictionless, flexible, and rewarding.

SAFE6:CYSTICFIBROSISAPP &SMARTTAG

Bethaney Kaye, Kerry Brockman, Ky McCracken, Crystal Brown, Nicole Giordano (Healthcare MBA ’25)

Introducing Safe6: A unique social distancing app that transforms safety, wellbeing, and community support for individuals living with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) In the CF community adhering to the gold standard of care means keeping a 6-feet distance between individuals living with CF Leveraging cutting-edge geolocation technology, Safe6 notifies a person living with CF when they come into high-risk proximity with others living with CF.

SHADOWHEALTH

Austin Murr ’21 (English)

ShadowHealth makes it easy to explore healthcare careers by connecting you with practicing clinicians to shadow

TARPSOFFJERSEYRENTAL

Noah Beer ’20 (Computer Science)

Tarps Off Jersey Rental offers single-game jersey rental services tailored for fans attending Minnesota Wild hockey games

2024 MENTORS & ONLINE REVIEWERS

Gafar Amuda Gafar Amuda

Asher Anderson Asher Anderson

Kyle Andrews Kyle Andrews

Christina Brandt Christina Brandt

Ashley Brown Ashley Brown

Collin Brunet Collin Brunet

John Dengan John Dengan

Matthew Jennings Matthew Jennings

Kelsey Joson Kelsey Joson

Katie Kalkman Katie Kalkman

Emily Kist Emily Kist

Frank Klisanich Frank Klisanich

Torrey Lau Torrey Lau

Mike Lewis Mike Lewis

Grace Northamer Grace Northamer

Eddie Olson Eddie Olson

Diane Peterson Diane Peterson

Jill Puttman Jill Puttman

Jeffrey Reisinger Jeffrey Reisinger

Rachael Rinehart Rachael Rinehart

John Sable John Sable

Christopher Emerson

Christopher Emerson

Stephanie Malon-Rufi Stephanie Malon-Rufi

Ryan Schacht Ryan Schacht

Charlotte Epee-Willsun

Charlotte Epee-Willsun

Braden Ericson Braden Ericson

Judd Fenlon Judd Fenlon

Grant Gibson Grant Gibson

Delila Gonyea Delila Gonyea

Mike Happe Mike Happe

Kevin Jansen Kevin Jansen

Sue Marshall Sue Marshall

Jeff Mattson Jeff Mattson

Dave Meyer Dave Meyer

Matt Michalski Matt Michalski

Chris Muske Chris Muske

Kelli Nelson Kelli Nelson

Bruce Nordin Bruce Nordin

Tiffany Serbus-Gustaveson Tiffany Serbus-Gustaveson

Signe Steiner Signe

Graeme Thickins Graeme Thickins

David Turnham David Turnham

Tyler Vogel Tyler Vogel

Heather Walch Heather Walch

Timothy Yocum Timothy Yocum