Passion and progress motivated the two UW-Madison students and a recent alum this fall selected by the Clinton Global Initiative – University (“CGI-U”) program to participate in the organization’s annual conference held at the University of Chicago. CGI-U hosts the annual meetup and invites nearly 1,300 students, university leaders, senior executives, and public figures from around the world to discuss and develop promising solutions to pressing social challenges.
This is the first year that UW-Madison has formally participated in the program. John Surdyk, Director of the Initiative for Studies in Transformational Entrepreneurship, and Suzanne Dove, Assistant Dean for Academic Innovations at the Wisconsin School of Business, helped to promote the opportunity and support the admitted students.
Participants included:
- Caroline Matkom (undergraduate, Community and Nonprofit Leadership) focused on educational access in Malawi for young women
- Shawn Michels (recent graduate, BBA/Integrated MS in Accounting) building a device to make insulin injections easier and more comfortable for Type II diabetics
- Aaron Olson (Ph.D. candidate, Engineering Mechanics) co-founded NovoMoto, a social enterprise bringing affordable solar power to rural communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo