NDSU pharmacy and business students are part of the winning team at the regional Problems to Possibilities—Map the System competition hosted by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Family Business at NDSU. The team now advances to present their project at the global online semi-finals sponsored by the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University in Oxford, England.
Pharmacy student Elizabell Delgado and business administration student Heather Haarstick at NDSU, along with Grace Beauchamp, chemistry/psychology student at the University of Alabama comprise the team. Register at https://hopin.com/events/map-the-system-online-semi-finals/registration to see the team compete on Wednesday, May 10 at 8:40 a.m. Central Time.
The group’s topic: Childcare Crisis - A systematic analysis of how childcare impacts parents, workforce, and economic development in North Dakota.
Map the System challenges students to use systems-thinking to understand complex issues. Rather than a standard pitch competition, it is designed to foster the discovery process and encourage a learning-first approach.
The NDSU team is competing in the semi-final event with teams from University of Chicago, University of Haifa, Technologico de Monterre, Vanderbilt University, Wesleyan University, Universidad of Anahuac Mexico, Macalester College, among others.
The team is advised by Stefanie Meyer, director of accreditation and assistant professor of practice in Public Health at NDSU, and Onnolee Nordstrom, NDSU’s Ozbun Chair of Entrepreneurship and head of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Family Business.
The Map the System competition was brought to NDSU in 2022 by Nordstrom, The center seeks to expand the definition of entrepreneurship and engage students of any major who are interested in entrepreneurship and innovative thinking.
Systems-thinking can help drive change by highlighting the importance of collaboration for collective impact, according to Nordstrom.
The Skoll Centre at Oxford partners with universities and institutions around the world to organize the Map the System competition. Last year, a team that included NDSU Public Health student Leonela Nelson placed second in the final global competition in England and received an Audience Choice award for their presentation covering access to water in the Navajo Nation.
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