Melanie Davis, a Bachelor of Commerce student at Victoria University of Wellington, who led the award-winning international team of students, has accepted the Champion Team Award, which includes $1,000 for each team member, at the competition’s awards ceremony in Parliament.
The three-week contest sees teams of eight working on a business proposal that fosters decent work and economic growth, in line with Goal 8 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The teams are made up of 859 students from 102 universities in 51 countries, and the majority of the teams are led by Victoria University students.
The winning proposal was inspired by the issues Nigerian tertiary students face when accessing power, including the danger of exposure to harmful fumes from electricity generators, which are widely used in Nigeria. The team focused on tertiary students because this cohort relies heavily on technology to enhance their education, and is therefore highly impacted by the barriers to accessing safe electricity.
The international focus of the competition, Melanie says, gave her real-world experience and increased her understanding of cross-cultural global management—skills and knowledge that she plans to use in her career.
“The biggest thing this competition taught me is how to work with a variety of cultures, and communicate in such a way that everyone in my team could understand me and contribute.
“I never got the chance to do an overseas exchange, but this project was my opportunity to do so.”
Victoria University Bachelor of Commerce student Tejal Lad, who won the Champion Global Leader Award for her team’s proposal to create crafted tote bags from recycled sugar sacks in Fiji, says this was the most satisfying project she has ever worked on.
“It’s quite daunting not to know any of your teammates, but the sense of accomplishment the team had at the end makes it all worth it.
“This project taught me a lot about the world we live in, the realities of navigating differences in opinions and language barriers, and the importance of thinking outside the box and going with your gut feeling.”
GEE organiser Deb Gilbertson says the competition is committed to encouraging peer leadership, which sees all team members stepping up to take responsibility for the success of the team.
“It was thrilling to see team members realise they had the power to influence the other members of their team, and it was heart-warming to see the New-Zealand based leaders encourage leadership in their teammates. This is the key to groundswell movements of citizens tackling the world’s social issues.”
Melanie, who was approached during the awards ceremony by a potential investor, says the next step is to look at making her team’s proposal a reality.
“If you’re given an opportunity like this, you have to make it happen—someone obviously believes in you.”