Unilever in partnership with Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and Ashoka has announced the launch of the 2017 Unilever Sustainable Living Young Entrepreneurs (USLYE) Awards. The awards celebrates and supports people under the age of 35 years who are working on a unique product, service or application.
The USLYE Awards was launched in 2013 by Unilever to support those responding to the biggest global sustainability challenges facing us today. In 2016, 900 entries from 99 countries were received and seven finalists were selected. 29 year old Dr Sara Saeed won the USLYE Award.
Dr. Sara created a digital platform that connects qualified female doctors to patients who are unable to access affordable healthcare in Pakistan.
Here are the other finalists:
- Cynthia Ndubuisi from Nigeria: Cynthia Ndubuisi founded Kadosh Production Company (KPC) in 2014 to help women cassava farmers improve their livelihoods by making processing easier and the sale of finished products more profitable.
- Toby Norman from Bangladesh: Toby founded SIMPRINT, a non-profit tech start-up that has developed a mobile biometric scanner with associated open-source software that can be used by global researchers, NGOs and governments to accurately link people to their digital records.
- Liisa Petrykowska: Liisa Petrykowska is the founder of Ignitia, a social enterprise that has developed the world’s first accurate tropical weather forecasting model. Based in West Africa, forecasts are sent to small-scale farmers via SMS.
- Emily Stone: Founded in 2010 by Emily Stone, Uncommon Cacao is building the first end-to-end specialty cacao supply chain, from producing and processing to manufacturing.
- Oscar Andres Mendez Gerardino: Founded by Oscar Andres Mendez Gerardino in 2010, Conceptos Plasticos is a Colombian enterprise that aims to replace informal settlements with decent housing whilst reducing waste plastic.
- Dr. Gavin Armstrong: Lucky Iron Fish founded by Gavin Armstrong in 2012 is a social enterprise that aims to wipe out iron deficiency in the developing and developed world.
This year the awards categories were inspired by eight of the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development ‒ challenging entrepreneurs to come up with business ideas that can help make the world a better place.
Seven winning entrepreneurs will be provided with more than €200,000 in financial support and individually tailored mentoring from Unilever, the CISL and sustainability leaders. The overall winner will also receive the prestigious HRH The Prince of Wales Young Sustainability Entrepreneur Prize.
The next round of awards opens in May 2017. Interested individuals that wish to be part of the 2017 USLYE Awards should visit the application page to register.
