UCLA Anderson Launches Inaugural TED Case Challenge

pan>)--Building on their recently announced partnership to advance ideas,
UCLA Anderson School of Management and globally-renowned nonprofit TED
will hold the first annual TED Case Challenge. The competition is
designed as a means of advancing the ideas generated from this years
TED and TED Active conferences with viable solutions that will move
ideas into impact.
“UCLA Anderson shares this aim, and together with TOMS, we are
working with the student competition that takes a look at idea impact in
a tangible and innovative way.”
The Case Challenge is a natural next step for UCLA Andersons
partnership with TED, said Judy Olian, Dean of UCLA Anderson School of
Management. Our students are passionate about engaging in societys big
issues of the day. This is a fabulous opportunity for them to translate
the ideas generated at the TED conferences into practical working
solutions.
UCLA Anderson will host the pilot competition, which will be open to all
current Anderson students. Teams are limited to a maximum of four
members, all of whom must be enrolled at UCLA Anderson School of
Management at the time of application.
The initial teams will be judged on how well they take the output from
the TED Active Giving Project, hosted by TOMS, on sustainable giving as
it applies to businesses and communities, and translate it into a
proposal that is actionable. The research and analysis coming out of the
competition will be shared with corporate sponsors and potentially other
key stakeholders.
TEDs central goal with the Case Challenge is to invest in smart,
active and engaged students to understand potential impact of purpose
driven business ideas said Ronda Carnegie, Head of Global Partnerships
at TED. UCLA Anderson shares this aim, and together with TOMS, we are
working with the student competition that takes a look at idea impact in
a tangible and innovative way.
UCLA Anderson and TED hope that the initial effort will evolve into a
greater program across top graduate schools for translating innovative
ideas into comprehensive campaigns and executable plans across the
breadth of important issues that TED confronts.
Each year, a different corporate sponsor will participate in the
competition. TOMS, widely popular among millennials for its stylish
shoes and sunglasses combined with its focus on giving, is a good place
to start. UCLA Anderson student club Net Impact, whose goal it is to
forward sustainable solutions in business worldwide, is part of the
organizing team. Other student club sponsors include: High Tech Business
Association; Management Consulting Association; Management Association;
and Retail Management Association.
UCLA Anderson is the perfect school for this competition because of our
ability to inspire collaboration, entrepreneurship, and social impact
within our student body, said Stuti Goswamy, an MBA candidate for the
year 2013 and Vice President of Marketing for the Net Impact club. The
teams who participate in this competition represent what makes Anderson
so unique and perfectly aligned to be partners with inspiring
organizations like TOMS and TED.
Final presentations are scheduled for Thursday May 31, 2012, when
students will pitch their solutions to a judging panel comprised of
executives from TED and TOMS, and UCLA Anderson faculty, students and
staff.
Winners will be announced the evening of May 31 and will receive an
internship with TED, a pair of shoes and sunglasses from TOMS, and
$10,000.
For more information on UCLA Andersons partnership with TED, go to http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/ted.
About UCLA Anderson School of Management:
UCLA Anderson School of Management is among the leading business schools
in the world. UCLA Anderson faculty members are globally renowned for
their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking.
Each year, UCLA Anderson provides a distinctive approach to management
education to more than 1,800 students enrolled in its MBA,
Fully-Employed MBA, Executive MBA, Global Executive MBA for Asia
Pacific, Global Executive MBA for the Americas, Master of Financial
Engineering, doctoral and executive education programs. Combining
selective admissions, varied and innovative learning programs, and a
world-wide network of 37,000 alumni, UCLA Anderson develops and prepares
global leaders.
Follow UCLA Anderson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/UCLAAnderson,
or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/uclaanderson
About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.
Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has
grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives.
The annual TED Conference invites the worlds leading thinkers and doers
to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com.
TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth
Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Long Beach,
California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs; the
annual TEDGlobal conference is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.
TEDs media initiatives include TED.com,
where new TEDTalks
are posted daily, the Open
Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive
transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by
volunteers worldwide, and TEDBooks,
short e-books by speakers that elaborate on a single idea originally
presented on TEDs stage. TED has established the annual TED
Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world
are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx,
which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized
events around the world, and the TED
Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the
globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify
the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.
Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks,
or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED
About TOMS:
In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in a
village in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet.
Wanting to help, he created TOMS, a company that would match every pair
of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need.
One for One. In 2011, TOMS evolved from a shoe company into the One for
One company, and is now addressing an entirely new need in addition to
shoes through eyewear helping save and restore sight to people in need.

Information Source: Business Wire