SKIP Team Beats Out Eight Finalists to Win $25,000 donation from J.P. Morgan

J.P. Morgan announced today that it will make a $25,000 donation to not-for-profit organization, Supporting Kids in Peru (SKIP), on behalf of the four graduate students who championed its cause and won the investment bank’s second annual Good Venture Graduate Competition.  The winning team, which represented students from universities around the world, included: Brent Latham, Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, Spain; Teresa Escardo Etchenique, Universidad Complutense in Pozuelo de Alarcon, Spain; Amanda Phillips, Hamline University in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Alfredo Vaghi, Instituto de Empresa in Morezi, Italy.

SKIP, the beneficiary organization of this year’s grand prize, works in impoverished communities surrounding Trujillo, Peru, providing disadvantaged Peruvian children with access to education. “Winning this competition was a huge moment for Supporting Kids in Peru,” said Latham, an advocate for SKIP and member of the winning team. “With a limited amount of resources, this support is a tremendous gesture and will go a long way in helping them achieve their goals.”

Launched in 2006, the Good Venture Competition challenges teams of graduate students to  make a business, cultural, and social case for why the non-profit of their choice should win the contest’s grand prize – a donation from JPMorgan.  This year’s competition, which extended globally, produced nine teams of finalists, from 77 teams, that faced off at J.P. Morgan’s headquarters in New York City, on December 6 and 7.  Each team presented to a panel of J.P. Morgan executives and a director from Teach For America, pitching programs from an after-school program in Chicago to a women’s initiative fostering entrepreneurship in Ghana.

“The Good Venture Competition has been a great way to engage our current and prospective employees as well as philanthropic organizations across the globe,” said Gayle Jennings- O’Byrne, Vice President, JPMorgan Chase Foundation.  “This year’s contest was extremely competitive with outstanding presentations that underscored the passion and commitment the students have for the not-for -profits they represented.”

Photos of the event are available at:  jpmorgan.com/goodventure. The Good Venture Competition for undergraduates will take place on January 17-18, 2008, in a similar format to the graduate event. 

Runner-up and Other Graduate Finalists for the 2007 J.P. Morgan Good Venture Competition:

• Runner-up: Seeding Labs
  Harvard University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences: Paul Cruickshank, Nina Dudnik
• America Scores
  University of Chicago:  Leif Sverre Elsmo, Kevin Paul Knapp, Erika Williams, Kamilah Williams-Kemp
• Humura
  Columbia University / New York University:  Jean-Baptiste Rudatsikira, David Russell, Hope Tumukunde
• Lend a Hand India
  Stanford University: Ellen Kim, Rajni Rao:
• Paper for All
  Harvard Business School: Emmanuel Cassimatis, Christine Raschke, Siddhart Shenai, Caroline Wang
• Rediscovery
  Harvard Business School: Adam Heltzer, Lauren Mehler, Arden O’Conner
• Riodan Programs
  Cornell University / University of Virginia: Pierre LeVeaux, Shaun Mathews, Susan Ngo
• Women in Progress
  Cornell University:  Kate Capossela, Nara Kim, Charles Polet, Bailey Stoler