The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University in Durham, NC.
Benjamin Gottlieb
Purdue University
Activities/Clubs/Honors: Brother at the Zeta Beta Tau Alpha Alpha chapter, Member of Purdue’s Larsen Leaders Academy
Bio: Ben Gottlieb is an innovator who thrives when facing complex problems and seeking unique experiences to enhance his problem-solving skills. As a finance major at Purdue’s Daniels School of Business, he views finance as a skill he wants to develop rather than just a job title to chase, using it to drive innovation and strategy. Ben, alongside his peers, has made the most of Purdue’s resources, winning first place and $20,000 in the Soybean Innovation Competition with SoySilk, a sustainable and biodegradable baby wipe made from soybeans. He has also excelled in team case competitions, taking second place in the 2024 Daniels-Kelley Case Competition, winning the 2025 Wabash Larsen Leaders Case Competition, and will be part of a team representing Purdue against other schools this coming spring. Ben’s involvement in the Executive Forum and Larsen Leaders Academy has allowed him to build strong alumni and faculty relationships while broadening his strategic thinking. His leadership experiences include immersive trips to NASA and Gettysburg, where he has gained insights into risk management and leadership.
This summer, he will take on a finance internship at Blue Origin, contributing to advancements in private space exploration. With a passion for entrepreneurship, leadership, and impactful solutions, Ben is committed to pushing industries forward while empowering others to do the same.
New Ideas Submission: DebateX is a structured debate feature for X (formerly Twitter) that works to turn the platform into a modern-day digital public square, fostering calculated discourse rather than polarization and mindless arguing. Using the already built Grok AI as a moderator, DebateX would introduce structured debates with agreed-upon formats and ground rules, ensuring discussions remain focused, engaging, and solution-oriented, without the fear of content moderation. Participants, ranging from political figures to industry leaders and everyday users on their couches, could engage in live moderated debates, with audiences voting on arguments and engaging through X’s existing features. This initiative seeks to bring back constructive public conversations, drawing inspiration from the Lincoln-Douglas debates and the Founding Fathers’ use of newspapers to make change in our nation. By leveraging free speech and structured debate, DebateX aims to make social media a tool for unity and progress, rather than division. With a scalable business model that drives user engagement, audience retention, and X Premium subscriptions, DebateX offers both societal value and business growth opportunities for the evolving platform.
Alexandra Mihailopol
Mount Holyoke College
Activities/Clubs/Honors: Girls Who Invest, Forte Foundation, Co-President of Mount Holyoke Investment Club, President and Co-Founder of Mount Holyoke Consulting Club, Development Intern at International Women’s Forum
Bio: I am a junior double majoring in Economics and Data Science with a nexus in Global Business at Mount Holyoke College, originally from Romania. I am passionate about art, entrepreneurship, and strategic thinking. That is why I created my own small business in Romania where I used to sell personalized hand-painted clothing. This was my way of self-expression and spreading a positive message online.
At Mount Holyoke College I pursued my interests in entrepreneurship, finance, and consulting by taking part in internships and finance-related programs such as Girls Who Invest. I further started my own Consulting Club and currently serve as the President of the Investment Club where I created a community of students who actively promote financial literacy and investment careers. I also had the chance to study in DC for a semester and work on a research project related to financial illiteracy, while also interning at the International Women’s Forum as a Development Intern. This inspired me to think of ways of promoting accessible financial education through innovative projects worldwide. I further became the 2025 nominee for the Projects for Peace Fellowship by proposing a tangible project in partnership with a Romanian NGO that will create the first free educational platform for young women and minorities.
Beyond academics, I love reading, painting, writing short novels, and ice skating. I am also an avid coffee drinker and traveler. I have been to over 25 countries and I hope to continue exploring new cultures and perspectives, and learn new languages.
New Ideas Summary: My proposal envisions an organization that tackles financial illiteracy in the United States mainly through a centralized, free educational platform, social media advocacy, and professional workshops. It is targeted primarily towards women and victims of domestic abuse ensuring that they have the tools necessary to gain financial independence and security.
The lack of financial education is not just an individual disadvantage; it is a systemic failure with profound social and political implications. Women face disproportionate financial illiteracy which leaves them vulnerable to economic dependency and domestic abuse, perpetuating cycles of poverty and exploitation. As I moved to the US and began to research the ramifications of financial education, I found a major gap: there are no widespread, accessible, and free resources for students, let alone for victims of domestic abuse who need guidance in order to regain their independence.
My project seeks to bridge this gap by providing tailored financial education, hands-on workshops, and digital resources to equip women with the knowledge and tools needed to gain independence, break free from financial control, and secure a more stable future. Through strategic partnerships with schools, shelters, and nonprofits, as well as advocacy for integrating financial literacy into education systems, the organization aims to create lasting change and economic empowerment for women nationwide.
Noel Ullom
Barnard College
Activities/Clubs/Honors: Laidlaw Research & Leadership Program, Columbia Policy Institute, Columbia Undergraduate Law Review, Studio 292, King’s Crown Shakespeare Troupe
Bio: My name is Noel Ullom, and I am a sophomore at Barnard College studying Political Science with a minor in Theatre! I am from Cleveland, OH, and I love going for nature walks, working on theatre productions and short films, and reading. Throughout high school, I was very passionate about protecting freedom of expression, working with groups like GLSEN, literary journals, and my school’s GSA to help contribute to safe spaces where individuals feel encouraged to celebrate their identities. My dedication to this work continued in college, where I delivered a TEDx talk about the danger of book bans and work with groups like the Columbia Policy Institute and the Columbia Undergraduate Law Review to analyze and suggest how policy and law can serve as a defense against discrimination.
New Ideas Summary: My proposal, Phoenix Social, is a new social media platform aimed at educating younger users (particularly preteens and teens) in media literacy. As social media continues to play a central role in shaping public opinion, misinformation becomes an increasingly dangerous threat to democracy, especially for young users who may lack the critical thinking skills to discern fact from falsehood. Phoenix Social addresses this issue by providing daily lessons, interactive exercises, and content verification tools to help users identify legitimate information and avoid misleading content, alongside promoting more positive and thoughtful interaction.
Finley Warren
Spelman College
Activities/Clubs/Honors: Phi Alpha Delta, Alpha Lambda Delta First Year Honor Society, Young Democrats of Georgia, Morehouse Spelman Pre-Law Society
Bio: Finley Warren is a political science student at Spelman College with a passion for global policy, social justice, and economic equity. Growing up with a strong sense of community, she has always been driven to create opportunities for others, whether through civic advocacy, policy research, or financial empowerment initiatives. She gained international experience as an intern at AkiDwA: Ireland’s Women Migrant Network, where she conducted immigration policy research and secured $10,000 in private funding. As a Global Management Intern at CIEE, she led outreach initiatives that increased program applications by 25%. A Greenwood Project Scholar, she is particularly interested in bridging the gap between policy and economic opportunity. At Spelman, she has taken on leadership roles, including Vice President of Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society and Programs Director for Spelman College Democrats, where she played a key role in mobilizing student voter turnout. She thrives in spaces where strategy meets impact, always looking for ways to create meaningful, lasting change.
New Ideas Summary: Finley’s proposal, Economic Empowerment for Migrant Women, presents a comprehensive plan to address the economic barriers faced by migrant women through targeted job training, language education, and entrepreneurial support. The initiative aims to integrate migrant women into the formal economy, enhancing their socio-economic status while fostering social cohesion. By partnering with local businesses, educational institutions, and community organizations, the program offers vocational training in high-demand sectors, financial literacy education, and access to microfinance opportunities. Language education is integrated into job training, ensuring practical application in the workforce. Additionally, mentorship and networking opportunities provide long-term support and professional development. The program is designed to be sustainable through a combination of grants, social enterprise models, and government contracts. By equipping migrant women with the necessary skills and resources, this initiative seeks to reduce societal polarization and promote economic independence, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive and equitable society.
Stacy Zhang
University of Washington
Activities/Clubs/Honors: Business Impact Group UW, Business Impact Magazine, Net Impact UW Undergraduate
Bio: My journey towards an impact-driven career is defined by an unwavering commitment to overcoming challenges and bettering the world around me. Although originally from Hefei, Anhui, I spent equal parts of my childhood in Yiwu, Zhejiang, and Fredericton, New Brunswick—from one of China’s booming industrial cities, to a small town on the Atlantic coast. I quickly became aware of the challenges brought upon by socioeconomic inequalities as I watched my parents run their two-person business, and struggled to learn English as the only person of color in any classroom. After moving to Toronto, Ontario, I attended an intensive arts high school for classical piano performance, an environment that demanded both creativity and ambition. Collectively, my experiences prompted my initial efforts to volunteer for local political ridings, youth-led charities, and student associations, ultimately culminating in my own non-profit’s creation and integration of educational materials on social issues into my high school’s curriculum in 2022.
Since my move to Seattle, Washington, my decision to pursue an impact-driven career has only solidified. Despite my quantitative academic pursuits at the University of Washington, Michael G. Foster School of Business, my perspective is inherently shaped by my diverse upbringing and creative background as a first-generation college student participating in the university’s Interdisciplinary Honors and Departmental Honors programs. As the incoming President of Business Impact Group, I lead the largest undergraduate consulting organization at UW in serving small businesses, non-profits, and start-ups across the United States. I continue to embrace my creativity as the Editor-in-Chief of Business Impact, the first and only student-led publication at the Foster School of Business, where I combine high quality narratives with actionable insights to inform the UW campus and local community. In addition, I am the Vice President of Net Impact, a sustainable business club at UW which promotes activism, education, and career development through speaker panels, career fairs, and case competitions.
After an impactful experience collaborating with Dr. Linda Chavers, Assistant Dean at Harvard University, in analyzing the roots of institutionalized injustice, I am currently pursuing research at the intersection of business and ESG issues with several professors at the Foster School of Business. In my spare time, I enjoy reading at cafés, experimenting with floral arrangements, and composing music as a classically trained pianist of 15 years.
New Ideas Summary: Leveraging my quantitative academic background and knowledge from working with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data in my extracurricular and professional experiences, I proposed Regenify, a metric-sharing and report-building platform driven by machine learning and natural language processing algorithms.
The scope of ESG metrics is large and undefined: the growing establishment of reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data is often held back by a lack of traceability in the supply chain, while qualitative data like social and governance indicators are underreported due to measurability challenges. The challenge that is withholding the development of the sustainability space is a lack of data. Specifically, data that is relevant for a given organization, data that is measurable or quantifiable, and data that is normalized for industry comparisons. Without the standardization of ESG metrics, there exists no foundational basis for diverse minds to solve this century’s biggest sustainability and socioeconomic challenges—and furthering the issue, an inability to reduce polarization.
Through a community-based framework co-creation process, my proposal suggests how inclusive and diverse parameters for the collection of ESG data across different geographic regions and industries can be established by collaborating with data providers and local communities. Based on this framework, data is collected, transformed, and standardized through an intensive training and testing process on Regenify’s machine learning models. My proposal recommends strategies to further refine Regenify’s capabilities and expand the model’s extract, transform, and load (ETL) capabilities, such as introducing multimodal data to improve natural language processing algorithms. Through its report-building function, Regenify also enables companies to become industry leaders in ESG reporting as they explore built-in metric disclosure compliance guidelines, generate customized reports from an extensive database, and track their sustainability goals intentionally.
By providing a common foundation of data, Regenify fosters collective problem-solving, empowering businesses and communities to work together toward a more sustainable and equitable future.
DON’T MISS: NUMBERS THAT MATTER: DIVERSITY METRICS IN P&Q’S RANKED BUSINESS PROGRAMS AND COMPETITION SEEKS ‘BUSINESS AS A FORCE FOR GOOD’ PROJECTS
