BR I D G E S T O BU S IN E S S IMP A C T ATHON
B2B Impactathon: Incubating Ideas to Change the World Excerpted from an article by Nagisa Smalheiser ‘21 Cotton farming releases 220 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. Manufacturing cotton fabrics uses 132 million metric tons of coal and nearly nine trillion liters of water. With climate change contributing to natural disasters, better options are urgently needed. A four-student team* from Soka University has a solution: replace cotton fiber with the stems of banana plants. Their idea, The Tooke Project, named for the Luganda word for banana, won top prize at this year’s Bridges to Business Impactathon, an entrepreneurial workshop and business pitch competition. Banana plants require less water, are grown without chemical fertilizers, and emit far less carbon dioxide. The group’s proposed project will employ widowed Ugandan women to create sustainable fabric. Uganda is the secondbiggest producer of banana fiber, after India. While some companies already make banana fiber textiles, The Tooke Project’s proposal would lower production costs. The fourth annual Impactathon was held online January 8th-10th, allowing participants and judges from around the world to connect. Hosted by Soka’s Bridges to Business program, Impactathon brought together nine teams, each including at least one SUA student or alumnus, to develop their ideas and business models.
their own projects. At the end of the weekend, participants pitched ideas to potential investors, advisors, and mentors who gave feedback and awarded cash prizes. Five judges with decades of shared experience in the entrepreneurial and private sectors evaluated the ideas based on problem identification, potential for social impact, and inclusivity. The Tooke Project hit all those marks, and the team members each brought a different perspective. Eduafo is passionate about alleviating environmental pollution and volunteers for LDG Ghana, a non-profit in his home country that seeks to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Growing up in Uganda, Mudanye has seen how women, particularly widows, are poorly treated, with little access to economic stability and financial literacy. Ghana native Ibrahim has also witnessed how widows are dehumanized after their husbands die and is motivated to fight this cruel inequity. Fiagbe, also from Ghana, loves fashion but wants to address that industry’s status as the second-largest global polluter. “Our team came up with a business plan that would make fast fashion sustainable,” Fiagbe said. “The Impactathon made me ask: How will I create actionable change doing something I love?”
The team won a $1,000 prize and, along with four of the other Impactathon teams, continued to develop their ideas through Soka B2B’s partnership with UC Irvine’s New Led by Neetal Parekh, founder and CEO of Innov8social, Venture competition, where teams can qualify to win up to the workshop pushed participants to map social problems, $20,000 of funding. See facing article for results. brainstorm impact-driven solutions, and design business plans. Participants also attended “impact talks” by successful social entrepreneurs in the areas of diversity, equity, and *Anthea Mudanye ’23, Anthony Eduafo ’23, inclusion (DEI) and public health in addition to working on Emmanuel Fiagbe ’24, and Hamza Ibrahim ’23
“Witnessing the personal and professional growth of these Soka students as they embraced 20
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