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School of Public Service Impact Challenge 2024

About the Challenge

Develop a solution-oriented pitch to a community-articulated challenge using your SPS skills, knowledge, and resources.

This is a ‘reverse pitch’ competition, meaning you don’t have to bring your idea. Students will choose a problem provided by community partners and propose a solution as a new strategy to address the community challenge. Our community partners will identify their challenges and pose them as problem statements.

Participants refine their solutions through research, constituent discovery, and idea validation. Teams will pitch their ideas and compete for up to $1000 prize. Winners will also be awarded a “Golden Ticket” to compete in the Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge.  Other competitors can participate in the Venture College Incubator to take their ideas to the next step.

2024 Challenges

Housing for All

Housing is personal. Lack of housing can exacerbates social inequalities and affects the overall well-being of the community in a multitude of ways. Housing is also the key to our economy and ability to reduce financial burden, stimulate economic growth, and provide stable living conditions enabling the community to focus on work or education. As part of the theme “Housing for All,” teams of students mentored by faculty members will research, investigate and analyze a different challenge for each group representing all SPS programs.

Impact Challenge Winners

  • Julia Bennett winning Impact Challenge with Check

    Julia Bennett

    2024

    Julia’s winning pitch involved a co-op land trust housing model to address housing availability, a challenge presented by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

    Julia’s winning pitch involved a co-op land trust housing model to address housing availability, a challenge presented by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

  • Damien Peinitz giving speech at a podium

    Damien Peinitz

    2023

    Damien’s pitch centered around training the National Guard and other emergency response individuals with CDL licenses to utilize a bus fleet to evacuate residents.

    Damien’s pitch centered around training the National Guard and other emergency response individuals with CDL licenses to utilize a bus fleet to evacuate residents.

For Impact Challenge Participants

Resources

Our aim is to offer comprehensive resources that guide students in understanding the process of developing innovative solutions to large-scale challenges. In collaboration with our partners the Venture College we provide a structured framework to help students refine their ideas with precision and detail, along with access to accurate and relevant information to substantiate and support these concepts. Students will feel empowered with the knowledge and tools to navigate and succeed thinking through an entrepreneurial lens that many students may not be exposed to in their college career.

Resource Guide

Resource Handbook

Presentation Template

Slide Deck

Judge Rubric

Rubric

Logic Models for Beginners

Logic Models

Thank You, Venture College!

Thanks to our collaborative partners the Venture College.

Questions about the competition can be directed to Mike Stefancic at mikestefancic@boisestate.edu