Over the years, Washington University in St. Louis students and alumni have created ventures that change the societal landscape. To support the WashU community, alum Suren Dutia and his wife Jas K. Grewal founded the Global Impact Award to invest in individuals and high-growth entrepreneurial Ventures that are developing for-profit/nonprofit solutions to spur economic growth and catalyze social change. The program is open to ventures with at least one team member who is either a current WashU student, resident, postdoctoral researcher, or alumnus who graduated within the last ten years. Applications for the 2020-2021 GIA Cycle are open now until November 30, 2020, at 5 p.m. Apply for GIA for the chance to win up to $50,000 in awards!
Since its founding in 2013, the Global Impact Award has been given to nine WashU ventures that have shaped society and grown the WashU entrepreneurial community. GIA provides applicants with financial resources, mentorship, and relationships to accelerate the growth of their ventures.
Jas K. Grewal and Suren Dutia with 2018 GIA Winner Markey Culver (MBA '17)
“Winning the Global Impact Award provided a massive boost for our business. The prize money helped us support our partner restaurants during the pandemic, and set us up for long term success. Since the Global Impact Award competition, we have provided over 100,000 meals to those in need, putting us at over half a million meals provided to date.” – Andrew Glantz (AB ’17), CEO of GiftAMeal, 2020 GIA Winner
“Wabbani started two years ago in a cluster of indigenous villages in Guyana as a project to explore whether and how traditional crafts might be preserved, jobs created, and habitat protected, by developing scalable contemporary home decor products. Since then we have grown slowly but steadily in participants and capacity, to the point where the need for a purpose-built headquarters became apparent. Our 2020 GIA award has funded this building, which is rising slowly due to COVID protocols. The new building will house office space, crafting studios, and a gift shop serving guests at our ecolodge, Caiman House, another social enterprise. This 4-minute video featuring wildlife presenter Steve Backshall shows our products and their impact: https://youtu.be/aaH21S0YDxw.” – Paul Dinkins (MBA ’18), Co-Founder and COO of Wabbani, 2020 GIA Winner
GIA applications close at the end of this month, but we encourage you to apply early! Throughout November, those who apply early will have a chance to meet with Skandalaris Experts on Call. The Skandalaris Center team is here to help if you have any questions about your application. To assist our Assistant Director of Venture Development, Cyril Loum, is offering office hours every Wednesday from 2-4 p.m.