Minneapolis Students Win National Entrepreneurship Competition

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leading youth empowerment health and wellness nonprofit GENYOUth and SAP (NYSE: SAP) today announced the winning student team of the SAP Social Innovation Series Teen Innovator award. Three students from Cedar Riverside Community School in Minneapolis received the award for their health and wellness project "Sports - Check It Out."

The winning student project was selected from 12 finalists out of more than 160 total pitches by young entrepreneurs around the country. In addition to winning $10,000 to be used for their project implementation, the students will also receive an all-expense paid trip to Super Bowl LI in Houston.

"The Social Innovation Series is about empowering the next generation of leaders and problem-solvers," said Scott Jones, head of General Business for SAP North America. "The reality is that entrepreneurial activity has yet to climb back to its pre-recession level, so it's of the utmost importance that we think creatively today about how we can inspire tomorrow's startups and small businesses. This series is a way for us to encourage and foster entrepreneurship among young people while enabling them to leave a lasting impact in their local community."

The "Sports - Check It Out" project is a library system within the Cedar Riverside Community School for students to check out sports equipment, sports safety gear and quality winter clothing. The $10,000 will help to organize equipment donations, fill gaps in additional equipment needs and purchase technology to keep an inventory of items and manage the check-out system.

The winning team of Charly, Hamsa and Sayed are eighth graders on the school's student council and first- and second-generation immigrants who cite an interest in helping their fellow students become active outside and experience new sports. They recognize that in many cases the families of students in their community are unable to divert budget from essential needs to purchase sports equipment and clothing, especially for the cold Minnesota winters.

"We had an idea to help give other students access to sports equipment and clothing to be more active outside instead of in their apartments playing video games, watching TV and eating junk food," said Charly, one of three students who created the project. "The Social Innovation Series event in Minneapolis really empowered our team to think about how we could make our idea a reality and bring positive change to our school and community."

Starting this past October, SAP teamed up with GENYOUth to present the 2016 SAP Social Innovation Series, powered by AdVenture Capital. The events were held across six different cities with over 300 student entrepreneurs from 69 different schools. Each event included design workshops and culminated in a Shark Tank-like "pitch tank" where students shared their ideas to promote school health and wellness with a panel of judges. At each event, 10 winning teams were awarded $1,000 each to implement their projects. Finalists from each city were then nominated for a national online voting contest with the winning project being decided by more than 8,000 voters.

"Students have amazing ideas and a very powerful voice in creating change, enabling them to have the greatest impact on their schools and communities. The SAP Social Innovation Series is the perfect way to nurture those ideas and connect students to business leaders who can help them become even bigger agents of change," said Alexis Glick, CEO of GENYOUth. "The student project from Charly, Hamsa and Sayed puts much needed athletic equipment and warm sports clothes into the hands of those who can benefit from them the most, which is vital to getting more kids active and to lead a healthy lifestyle."

The SAP Social Innovation Series is run through AdVenture Capital (AdCap), GENYOUth's social entrepreneurship program for curious, brave and bold student entrepreneurs ages 13-17.  For more information about AdVenture Capital, the opportunities offered to students, and the SAP Social Innovation Series visit www.AdCapYOUth.org.

About SAPAs market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 335,000 business and public sector customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

About GENYOUthGENYOUth empowers students to create a healthier future for themselves and their peers by convening a network of private and public partners to raise funds for youth wellness initiatives that bolster healthy, high-achieving students, schools and communities nationwide. We believe that all students are change-agents, who deserve the opportunity to identify and lead innovative solutions that positively impact nutrition, physical activity, and student success. For more information about GENYOUth, visit www.genyouthnow.org.

About AdVenture CapitalAdVenture Capital ("AdCap") is a social entrepreneurship program of GENYOUth, which provides funding, mentoring and experiences to 13+ students with ideas for improving health and wellness in their schools and communities. To learn more, visit the digital platform at www.AdCapYOUth.org.

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SOURCE GENYOUth