Alumni Impact
Learn about some of the amazing projects that our alumni have sprouted and cultivated through the Nudge Global Impact Challenge
Michaela Barnett
USA
Bio
Michaela was born in the USA. She was raised in a conservative family so her interest in sustainability was not an obvious path. Nevertheless, she quickly became interested in environmental issues and already as a teenager performed as a sustainability leader on many occasions. Michaela graduated from Furman University in South Carolina with a degree in Sustainability Science and currently she is pursuing her PhD at the University of Virginia. She participated in the Nudge Global Impact Challenge in 2020 as a Wild Card participant.
Impact Plan
Title: KnoxFill, a zero-waste local store
Mission: To help solve the plastic pollution crisis on the community level.
Results: During the Challenge, Michaela set up a local (based in Tenessee), zero waste and carbon-negative enterprise that eliminates single-use packaging of everyday hygiene products. Her project not only reduces plastic waste but also promotes the use of locally produced cosmetics, hence supports the local community. In only the first month of operation, KnoxFill gathered 50 customers eager to become more sustainable consumers.
James Thuch Madhier
Canada/South Sudan
Bio
James was born in South Sudan. In 2014 he became a student at the University of Toronto through the World University Service of Canada’s Refugee Sponsorship Program. He took part in the Nudge Global Impact Challenge as a Wild Card participant in 2015. Since then, he has obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Peace, Conflict and Justice, and has been very involved in social justice work, most notably with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Alliance of Civilization (UNAOC), and the European Union.
Impact Plan
Title: Solar Light Project
Mission: To create a solar light project for school children in South Sudan, integrating the idea of community cohesion and community engagement.
Results: James changed the direction of his impact plan during the learning experience of the Challenge. His focus, however, remained on creating a business environment that enables our planet to endure and renew itself. In 2017, formed from his impact plan, James founded The Rainmaker Enterprise, a non-profit social enterprise that transforms lives in conflict-affected regions through solar-powered water infrastructure for food-secure, stable, and self-sufficient communities.
Juliette Schraauwers
The Netherlands
Bio
Juliette graduated in 2012 from the Design Academy Eindhoven and has more than 10 years of experience in sustainable and social brand strategy and design. She is the founder of Brand it Forward, a branding agency that offers branding strategy and design for businesses and organisations, branding retreats, online courses, branding workshops, and change-maker schools. She participated in the Challenge in 2018 and currently divides her time between working in the Netherlands and on the road in her homemade camper office. She is also in the process of building a small sustainable home.
Impact Plan
Title: Education for Sustainability / NOW school
Mission: To educate children about sustainability through (1) a global network of future-ready schools that helps/supports new and existing schools, and (2) the establishment of the first ‘green school’ in the Netherlands.
Results: Besides working with Brand it Forward, she is also the founder of NOW school. With education for sustainability at its core, NOW school aims to empower children of today to be the change makers of tomorrow. The school is situated in Utrecht and aims to open its doors for the first time in September 2020, making her impact plan a reality.
Nguyễn Hữu Hoàng
Vietnam
Bio
Nguyễn participated in the Challenge 2017 as a young professional from Heineken Vietnam where he is a Public Affairs Executive.
Impact Plan
Title: Recycle Crown Cork to Support Communities
Mission: To collect used iron crown cork (bottle caps) from Tiger Beer and recycle them to produce iron roofs through a partnership with the brand marketing team of Heineken and a local sheet steel company. The aim was to promote circular economy ideas while assisting rural communities.
Results: Instead of creating iron roofs, the bottle caps were instead used to build a bridge which connects Tam Hiep Commune, Tan Ly Dong Commune of Chau Thanh district, and Tan Lap 1 of Tan Phuoc district, making the commute between the two communities much easier for the local population. The bridge consists of more than 520,000 Tiger Beer bottle caps and has developed into a campaign that will now spread across Vietnam, with more bridges being built nation-wide.
Tessa Duste
The Netherlands
Bio
Tessa graduated in 2013 with a Master’s in Integrated Product Design from the Delft University of Technology. She is now a social entrepreneur and in 2013, she co-founded Moss, a green architectural firm. Furthermore, in 2017, Tessa co-founded Hrbs, a sustainable herb company. She participated in the Challenge 2018.
Impact Plan
Title: The first steps towards sustainable and profitable Urban Agriculture
Mission: One part of the project was to initiate a program course for Urban Agriculture in order to unite international companies with already-existing start-ups and to educate young people interested in this topic. Another part was to open an indoor farm in Amsterdam to grow the products of Hrbs in-house, rather than purchase them.
Results: Tessa was one of the winners of the Nudge Global Impact Awards 2019. In her pitch during the Awards evening, she revealed that Hrbs would be opening its own office and production location of 3000 square meters together with their production partner, PlantLab, in October 2019.
What is the impact you want to create?
Daniel Harris
United Kingdom
Bio
Daniel is a practical ethicist and experienced interdisciplinary research professional with a Master of Philosophy focused on Political Theory from the University of Oxford. He was a Challenge participant in 2016 and in 2018, he founded his own social enterprise, Nourish Our World (NOW).
Impact Plan
Title: Climate Leadership Programme
Mission: The project aimed to organize a one-week interdisciplinary and interactive programme for both practitioners and research students to discuss the challenges of – and potential solutions to – the complex and global problem of climate change.
Results: Daniel has maintained his focus on education but has changed his target group from practitioners and research students to secondary school students. At Nourish Our World, to demonstrate the interconnectedness of climate change with the food system and inspire action, they co-create edible gardens and facilitate interactive workshops about food security with young people in secondary schools.
Anacelle Bautista
The Philippines
Bio
Anacelle has worked with women empowerment and entrepreneurship projects, investment banking, and been a TEDx Speaker in the Netherlands. She joined the Nudge Global Impact Challenge in 2017 as a Wild Card participant. Following the Challenge, she focused her energy on the impact-driven start-up, PeoplePods, which she founded together with her husband, Dan, in 2018.
Impact Plan
Title: PeoplePods
Mission: To provide dignified and affordable housing communities for bottom-of-the-pyramid workers in the Philippines.
Results: Today, PeoplePods offers dignified and affordable dormitory communities for female factory workers that are safer, cleaner, greener, and have more amenities. Sustainability is incorporated in its construction and operation and they go beyond just housing, for example, they also provide solar energy and distance education.
Pedro Boot
Brazil
Bio
Pedro graduated with a MSc in Global Business and Sustainability from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, in 2012. In 2017, he founded Akredito, through which he helps the financially excluded defaulters in Brazil by refinancing debts and providing education on how to better manage finances.
Impact Plan
Title: Akredito in Brazil
Mission: To grow the already founded company Akredito to reach 50-100 clients and to further develop the financial education material being used.
Results: Pedro found his main takeaways from the Challenge to be all the connections he made and the inspiration he gained from fellow participants and speakers. This, he said, gave him the energy to keep going with Akredito. The company’s website testifies the many people’s lives that has been turned around with the help of Pedro and his team.
Marta Mazza
Italy
Bio
Marta is Editor-in-Chief at Mondadori Children’s books and participated in the Challenge in 2017. She was also one of three recipients of the Nudge Global Impact Challenge Award 2018. Marta is currently working on the project ‘Dream Warriors: True Stories of Children and Teenagers who Are Changing the World’ – a book of 12 extraordinary stories on the topics of sustainability.
Impact Plan
Title: Dream Warriors: True Stories of Children and Teenagers who Are Changing the World
Mission: The project was only an ambitious idea when Marta entered the Challenge. The aim was to increase awareness and encourage young people to create sustainable change.
Results: Today ‘Dream Warriors’ is published and translated into several languages. Marta’s aim is now to be able to invite some of the young people, whose stories are shared in the book, to Italy, and further inspire the Italian readers to create their own impact.