Movers & Changers Mark Cuban opened Global Entrepreneurship Week 2011 by ringing the bell of the New York Stock Exchange. The serial entrepreneur and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks was in New York to participate in the Movers & Changers Forum, a featured event of Global Entrepreneurship Week. Cuban was joined by Charlie Chanaratsopon, CEO and founder of Charming Charlie; Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, co-founder and chief merchandising officer of Gilt Groupe; and the two finalists of the Movers & Changers competition. The two finalists were: Howard University students Edward Lyles and Alicia Glenn for MyCollegeHustle.com, a hub for students to discover, promote and monetize their talents; and University of Pennsylvania students Sushanth Bhaskarabhatla and Karishma Shah for SkillHub.com, a global platform for people of all backgrounds to exchange skills with a focus on students in need of tutoring services. Bill Griffeth, co-anchor of CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” moderated a panel discussion with Cuban, Chanaratsopon and Wilkis Wilson on the fundamental points in their business plan development, as well as their major
A World of Impact
influences, taking their ideas to the next level and the resources they used to achieve their dreams.
Your Big Year More than 60,000 contestants from 212 countries entered Your Big Year for a chance at the grand prize, a free trip around the world, hitting five continents, networking and building life experiences to help them unleash their ideas. During GEW, the pool of contestants was narrowed to 111 who would compete through a series of quizzes and tasks designed to identify 16 finalists to fly to Liverpool in March 2012 to compete in the final stage during the Global Entrepreneurship Congress. Competition organizer Smaller Earth recognized the following finalists: Leysan Abdullina, Russia; Marsya Kamrul Ariffin, Qatar; Sunita Basnet, Nepal; Charles Batte, Uganda; Bianca Benitez, Paraguay; Adam Butterfield, USA; Crystal Cha, Malaysia; Sara Davies, UK; Carlos Hincapie (Flaco), Colombia; Calvin Jodisi, Kenya; Toby Jordan, New Zealand; Sujit Lalwani, India; Cesar Orlando, Brazil; Barbara Rudolph, USA; Kayla Sarte, Philippines; and Marcelo Viera, Brazil.
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