Imagine creating a business plan in 3 weeks that implements a lasting solution to the economic pitfalls of an imperiled village. This is the Race 4 Good.

Started by renowned global humanitarian, Linda Cruse, the Race 4 Good is a competition that revolutionizes the philanthropic gesture of a hand out by giving real-life “hand ups” to third world communities to promote profound and sustainable change to their lives and economy. How the competition works is by grouping together 6 teams comprised of 5 students from local universities and 5 business leaders as mentors. The teams have 21 days to research the most pressing challenges faced by their given community and come up with a 5 year business plan that aims to reconstruct the economy, revive the dignity and restore the future of the lives that need it the most – all with a virtual budget of $5,000. The winning team is flown to the third world community to make their business solution a reality, with the full support of Linda, her team and the villagers.

On March 11, 2017, the Race 4 Good took off in Southern California with unparalleled teams in place! Participating schools include Claremont University Consortium (CUC), California State University Los Angeles (CSULA), California State University Northridge (CSUN), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), University of Southern California (USC), and University of San Diego (USD). Each team is incredibly well-rounded and diverse, with students contributing unique areas of study and expertise. The business leaders and mentors are equally impressive, coming from industries ranging in film, technology, philanthropy, real estate, and beyond. You’ll even recognize a lot of the Beverly Hills Chamber members in the line up!

Meet the teams!

Team CUC

Business leaders:

• Matt Ball, Director of Public Affairs, LDS Church
• Elizabeth Crowell, Associate Relationship Manager, International Subsidiary Banking HSBC Bank
• Christine Krenos, Sotheby’s International Realty
• George Cunningham, COO, Rose Bowl
• Buzz Chatman, Director/Producer/Editor

Students:

• Pallavi Deshpande, Economics / Accounting
• Herrick Fang,  Mathematics / Engineering (Team Lead)
• Jacob Williams
• Darien Joso Engineering

Team CSULA

Business Leaders:

• Jeff Huening, VP, International Subsidiary Banking HSBC Bank
• John Hoye, Business Development Leader
• Molly Ann Mroczynski, Cheif Development Officer, New Directions for Veterans
• Todd Johnson, CEO, Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce
• Robert Egger, President and Founder of LA Kitchen

Students:

• Patrick Canod, Psychology & Social Behavior
• Brenda Sanchez, Mexican-American Social Work (Team Lead)
• Teryn Hara, Sociology & Asian American Studies
• Karina Servin Calderon, Social Work
• Priscilla Gonzales, Social Work

Team CSUN

Business Leaders:

• TJ Walker, Fashion Digital Instructor, LA Trade Tech College
• Emma Kong, Regional Resource Manager, HSBC Bank,
• Alex Racioppi, Entrepreneur/Investor
• Megan Roach, Marketing and Business Development
• Wayne Klatt, Financial Advisor, StockCross

 

Students:

• Ryan Robles, Business Management;  Sustainability minor (Team Lead)
• Apekshya Bajracharya,  Civil Engineering
• Vardan Kajberuni, Economics
• Silvina Hernandez, Economics
• Apekshya Khana, Computer Engineering

Team UCLA

Business Leaders:

• Dolly Singh, Director of Talent, Oculus VR/CEO and Founder of Thesis Couture
• Vanessa Kell, Boutique Manager, Jo Malone
• Peter Weinberger, Attorney
• David Freeman, Corporate Relationship Manager, HSBC Bank
• Rohan a’Beckett, Real Estate Developer, Wanda Group

Students:

• Ahmad Elayyan, Economics
• Alexandra “Alexa” Libro, Neuroscience (Team Lead)
• Kyle McEachron Evans, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Tassaya “Toffy” Charupatanapongse, Geography; Global Studies minor
• Dan Patel,  Environmental Science

Team USC

Business Leaders:

• Charles Black III, Executive VP, Marketing & Strategic Development, Hilton & Hyland
• Scott C Pendrey, Associate Relationship Manager, HSBC Bank
• Lawrence Wosskow, Commercial Property Development and Investment
• Dena Burton, Fashion Designer/Founder of The Dena Burton Collection
• Jeff Cooper, Independent Commercial Loan Broker

 

Students:

• Megan D’Souza, Business Administration and Computer Science
• Veerali Juthani, Pediatric Occupational Therapy (Team Lead)
• Wai-Chung Sarah Chan, Business Administration
• Hanqi Ni, Applied and Computational Mathematics
• Tsam “Sanny” Ning, Psychology

Team USD

Business Leaders:

• Caesar Morera, CEO, Lion Heart Lifestyle
• Rey III Viquez, CEO, Rey 3 Collection
• Shaun Lee, Associate Relationship Manager, HSBC Bank
• Carl Morandell, Sales Manager, Morandell Imports
• Morgan Fisher, Home & Business Energy Efficiency

Students:

• Tanner Wilkey, Political Science (Team Lead)
• Ayodeji Bandele, Industrial Engineering
• Ashley Brown, Philosophy/Political Science
• Janaye Lynn Perry, Sociology/International Business
• Zachary Farber, Philosophy

 

With the Race 4 Good in full throttle, the teams are hard at work coming up with innovative and tangible solutions for the villages in need. Only 2 more weeks left – who will take home the prize?

 

---

To find out more about the Race 4 Good and how you can get involved with Linda Cruse’s humanitarian work, please visit www.lindacruse.com/race4good/