“Your Big Year,” an international talent program run by Smaller Earth had eight women among sixteen finalists this year. The program invites young and aspiring social entrepreneurs from around the world for a competition with a chance to win a coveted placement for a year. The competition is run by Chris Arnold, an entrepreneur based in Liverpool, UK and this year it was sponsored by Mazaars.

The competition received more than 60,000 entries this year from 221 countries. Sixteen finalists chose from fourteen countries were flown to England where they participated in a week-long program that included media, business and social enterprise challenges. The competition included pitching to eminent personalities such as Sir Terry Leahy, Sir Richard Branson and Martha Lane Fox.

The final winner of the program was Uganda’s Charles Batte, a 24-year old social entrepreneur. Charles will now get the opportunity to undergo a life changing experience for a year that will see him take up the role of an international ambassador for social entrepreneurship. Charles, at the young age of 20, set up a farm in Uganda that produces beans and maize. The farm now provides food to thousands of people and employs 50 people.

The third position in the competition went to Barbra Rudolph, a 21-year old social entrepreneur from New York. Barbra is the co-founder of MAP_Collective, a social enterprise that pools talent and creativity from various sectors in order to promote awareness and raise funds to address key social issues facing the world today. Barbra has traveled extensively across South America and got involved in humanitarian efforts there.

Barbra says: "I'm a student at NYU and earlier this year I co-founded MAP_Collective. Inspired by the energy and potential of my peers, I felt that our collaborative efforts could really make a tangible difference. It strikes me that the Many is more powerful than the One. Each member of the Collective brings to the table their own interests, background, and skills set: key factors in our collaborative mindset. We are minds unscarred by the paralyzing fear of failure inherited by those who have been told they cannot do. What makes us different? We are naive enough to believe we can; bold enough to try.”

Source: The Next Women

Photo Credit: duchesssa