Wharton School of Business Executive Development Program and Knowledge Exchange

Application Deadline: January 31, 2015.

Today’s youth will be responsible for delivering the post-2015 development agenda, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when they expire at the end of 2015. The SDGs will be more ambitious than the MDGs, covering a broad range of interconnected issues, from sustainable economic growth, to social issues, to global public goods. To realize this vision, a just-as-ambitious plan for financing and implementation is needed.

Youth engagement throughout the design and implementation process is critical for success. The Ideas for Action (I4A) competition engages young people around the world to encourage them to develop and share their ideas for financing solutions to deliver the post-2015 development agenda.

Requirements:

Eligibility: Youth between the ages 18 and 35 from around the world can participate.

Team Composition: This is a team competition. Teams must be 2 to 5 people and may consist of multiple nationalities and individuals from different schools, institutions, companies, etc.

Awards:

Winners of the competition will be given an opportunity to influence the post-2015 financing discussions and its implementation, including:

• Present winning proposal at the IMF/World Bank Spring and/or Annual Meetings in April and October 2015, respectively.
• Engagement with experts from development organizations, academia, and business on finance for development post-2015.
• Participation in a boot camp, where the winners will visit a company, organization or university to take part in specific project implementation and get hands on experience.
• Participation in the Wharton School of Business Executive Development Program and Knowledge Exchange

Application:

Your proposal should include (but not be limited to) the following:

i.     Title of proposal

ii.     Team Name

iii.     Short Abstract (200 words)

iv.     Explanation of problem and context: (200-400 words)

v.     Explanation of Solution: (700-1,400 words)

         a.     ​Why is it relevant?

         b.     What is new about it?

         c.     By who, what, how and when would it be implemented?

         d.     What is the expected impact?

vi.     Are there similar examples that can be provided? If so, where and how? Please elaborate. (150-300 words)

vii.     What are challenges you might confront and how might they be addressed? (200-400 words)

viii.     Any additional information, as you see fit

Proposal should be between 1,500-3,000 words.

 Registration and Submission

Registration:

Please register your teams at this link before submitting your proposal to the I4A competition. To receive updates and information on the competition and post-2015 agenda you may also want to register all team members on the wider distribution list.

Submission:

Proposals should be submitted to the I4A email account ([email protected]) no later than 11:59 PM EST on January 31, 2015.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Ideas for Action Competition