Grand prize winners and select panelists of New Ideas: A Dialogue Project competition, hosted by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
Shalin Bhatia wants to help people be heard, especially those who feel left out of civic decision-making. The Industrial Engineering student at Georgia Tech grew up in Atlanta where he saw deep divisions in wealth, infrastructure, and opportunity.
Bhatia proposed Civisight, a digital platform combined with physical mailboxes in underserved neighborhoods to help residents report issues and keep up with issues important to their communities. Even those without reliable internet access would be able to participate.
Shalin Bhatia
“Civisight ensures that all citizens – regardless of internet access – can voice concerns, report local issues, and stay informed,” Bhatia says. “The platform tackles government inefficiencies, fosters trust between residents and officials, and promotes a more inclusive approach to decision-making.”
Bhatia hopes to pilot his idea in Georgia House District 98 before expanding to other communities. It was one of 10 ideas chosen as a grand prize winner of the 2025 New Ideas Competition, a project hosted by Duke University’s The Dialogue Project. The competition and Bhatia’s idea speaks to a larger mission at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business: using business to bring people together rather than drive them apart.
“I believe real change happens when solutions are built with people in mind,” Bhatia says.
NEW IDEAS COMPETITION
Fuqua’s New Ideas competition invites students to propose innovative business ventures to reduce polarization and improve civic dialogue. It challenges undergraduate students to consider how business decisions affect democracy and public trust as well as how those same decisions can create more inclusive, connected communities.
Launched three years ago by Matt Clemons, director of admissions for Fuqua’s one-year specialized master’s programs, the competition invites first-, second-, and third-year undergraduates at U.S. colleges and universities to propose projects that use business as a force for good. Proposals that specifically aim to reduce polarization stand out.
Matt Clemons, assistant dean of admissions
Prior to joining Duke Fuqua, Clemons was director of admissions at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, working with students who he fondly describes as “do-gooders who want to save the world.” He was skeptical of wading into the business school world and wondered if he’d be working with a bunch of Gordon Gekkos who believed that greed was, in fact, good.
“What partially attracted me to Fuqua was the team-based approach. In any interaction or any consumption of information that I got from the school, people talked about wanting to do good for individuals, but also to do good for others,” he says.
“The whole philosophy of, if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.”
Clemons created the competition to connect with students across the United States while raising awareness about Fuqua’s mission, approach, and goals.
A WELCOMING WEEKEND AT FUQUA
More than 300 undergrads submitted ideas this year and 10 were selected as the grand prize winners. They were invited to Fuqua’s Durham, North Carolina, campus for a weekend of presentations, mock classes, workshops, and networking. Unlike traditional pitch competitions, the New Ideas finalists present their ideas to an advisory panel instead of judges.
“I want to provide a really welcoming, supportive environment,” Clemons says. “Some of these individuals may be entering competitions and doing things like this serially, but others may be their first time. I want it to be an environment where they feel supported.”
The panel includes business leaders affiliated with The Dialogue Project, current Fuqua and Duke students, and staff members. After presentations, students attended sessions on professional development, participated in a mock class on artificial intelligence, and heard from guest speakers across the university including Bob Feldman, founder of The Dialogue Project.
While on the Duke University campus, New Ideas grand prize winners made stops at iconic locations, including the Sarah P. Duke Gardens and Duke University Chapel.
They also toured Duke’s campus and quickly bonded, starting a group chat that has lasted even on their return home. Clemons credits some of that to a mentorship pairing. Each winner is matched with a participant from the previous year, which helps ease nerves and build momentum. Fuqua also hosted a pre-arrival webinar to break the ice.
SCHOLARSHIP FOR FUQUA MASTERS
Each of the 10 grand prize winners are also eligible for partial scholarship funding to one of Fuqua’s one-year specialized master’s programs – if they choose to apply and are admitted to the program.
Many of these degrees – like the Master of Management Studies and Master of Quantitative Management – are relatively new and not as well-known among domestic students.
While Fuqua is a highly-ranked business school for graduate students, it doesn’t offer an undergraduate business degree. Programs like the New Ideas competition gives Fuqua a chance to show off what if offers, while also promoting Fuqua’s values of societal leadership and working against polarization.
Applications for Fuqua’s New Ideas competition open in the fall with a January deadline. Winners are invited to pitch their ideas at Duke University in April. Watch for application details here.
You can read more about 2025’s grand prize winners and their ideas on the following pages.
