Winners of the Undergraduate Program’s First-Year Seminar Case Competition Announced

Undergraduate students at Georgetown McDonough completed their semester-long First-Year Seminar Social Impact Consulting Project and Case Competition – a pivotal feature of the school’s selective First Year Seminar program. 

Each cohort has the opportunity to work with a local or international nonprofit to address a real-world business challenge facing the organization. This year the program partnered with So Others Might Eat (SOME), a nonprofit that provides material aid and comfort to vulnerable neighbors in Washington D.C., helping them break the cycle of poverty and homelessness through programs and services. 

The First Year Seminar students were split into teams and assigned a faculty member or advanced undergraduate coach to provide mentorship during the competition. The selected finalists then presented their strategic recommendations to executives from SOME.

“This experience reiterated how a business education goes beyond the private sector and can equip you with the tools to seek solutions to problems surrounding our near communities. Having the opportunity to pitch our proposals to SOME allowed us to understand the impact our ideas can have beyond the classroom,” said Ana Gomez Garces (B’25).

The integrated nature of the case competition into the curriculum is a unique feature of Georgetown’s program.

“Our hope was that this project gives students a taste of consulting, what it means to work with teams toward a common goal, to learn/improve their presentation skills, to work with/interact with a live client, and to raise awareness of the nonprofit sector and their contributions to the larger community,” said Monija Amani, senior assistant dean and director of global programs and partnerships.

Each fall, first-year students in the Undergraduate Program have the opportunity to sign up for one of 12 courses each designed to provide an introduction to the principles and skills needed to succeed in business school. Each seminar focuses on a different topic, including the evolution of business enterprise, leadership in sustainable cities,  patterns of global commerce, and entrepreneurship and the Jesuit tradition, among others.The classes are limited to 20 students to facilitate relationship building within their cohort and provide more opportunities for mentorship with faculty.

The winners of the First Year Seminar Social Impact Consulting Project 2021 are:

SOME Solutions (Winner)

Faculty: Richardo Ernst, Baratta Chair in Global Business and professor of operations and global logistics

Students: Jacob Finard, Francis Gannon, Ana Gomez Garces, Diky Izmirlian, Yewon Jeong

Non-Prophets (Runner Up)

Faculty: Fr. Quentin Dupont, assistant professor of strategy

Students: Jake Fellows, Jessie Law, Holt Matheis, Gabe McClure, Yoon Yati Oo

Vol Connect (2nd Runner Up)

Faculty: Charles Skuba, professor of practice in marketing and international business

Students: Michael Anderson, Alex de Castro, Elizabeth Ledwith, Alessandra Selassie, Josh Wiesenfeld

C.A.B.S Consultants (3rd Runner Up)

Faculty: Kirsten Anderson, professor of accounting

Students: Bella Avelino, Andrew Bulgarino, Shayna Ellis, Charlie Suh