J.P. Morgan announces Winner of 2007 Good Venture Undergraduate Competition

Gardens for Health International Awarded $25,000 donation from J.P. Morgan

New York, January 24, 2008 – J.P. Morgan announced today that it will make a $25,000 donation to not-for-profit organization, Gardens for Health International (GHI), on behalf of the four undergraduate students who championed its cause and won the investment bank’s second annual Good Venture Undergraduate Competition. The winning team included: Julie Carney (Yale ’08), Emma Clippinger (Brown ’09), Hae-in-Lim (Yale ’09), and Emily Morell (Yale ’09). Clippinger and Morell co-founded GHI in 2006 and currently serve as co-executive directors, making GHI the first student-run not-for-profit to win the competition.

Gardens for Health International, the beneficiary organization of this year’s grand prize, works to develop replicable and sustainable solutions through a network of community gardens in Rwanda, ultimately providing nutritional support and economic empowerment to HIV positive individuals. 

“Good Venture was an incredible opportunity for Gardens for Health International and we are thrilled with the outcome. J.P. Morgan's support will allow the organization to vastly increase the scope and impact of its work in Rwanda,” said Clippinger.  Morell added, “We will be working with 3,000 HIV positive people in Rwanda and opening an animal husbandry program for all of our 4,000 participants so it’s a really exciting time for us.”

Runner-up organizations in this year’s undergraduate competition are Vida Jovem (represented by a student from Stanford University), an organization dedicated to helping underprivileged children in Brazil and the Peter McVerry Trust (represented by students from University College Dublin), aimed at creating a safe haven for marginalized citizens in Ireland. The winner and runners-up earned spots in J.P. Morgan’s upcoming Give-It-Away campaign (jpmorgan.com/giveitaway), another socially responsible initiative created by J.P. Morgan. 

“The level of passion, commitment and initiative these students displayed in representing their not-for-profits and presenting to the panel of judges during the Good Venture Undergraduate Competition was truly outstanding,” said Gayle Jennings-O’Byrne, Vice President, JPMorgan Chase Foundation. “Good Venture continues to serve as a great way to connect our current employees with young influencers in communities and philanthropic organizations across the globe.”

Launched in 2006, the Good Venture Competition challenges teams of undergraduate students to  make a business, cultural, and social case for why the not-for-profit of their choice should win the contest’s grand prize – a donation of $25,000 from J.P. Morgan.  This year’s competition produced ten finalist teams, from 101 teams across the globe, which faced off at J.P. Morgan’s headquarters in New York City, on January 18.  Each team presented to a panel of J.P. Morgan executives from the Investment Bank and foundation and a director from Teach For America, pitching programs from a vital healthcare provider in Gambia to a rural development organization in India.

Photos and video of both events are available at:  jpmorgan.com/goodventure

Runners-up and Other Finalists for the 2008 J.P. Morgan Good Venture Undergraduate Competition:

Runner-up: Perry McVerry Trust- The UCD Good Adventurers
University College Dublin: Laurence Banville, Barry Colfer, Patrick Rath

Runner-up: Vida Jovem
Stanford University:  Araceli Ortiz

The Campus Kitchens Project
Washington & Lee University: Casidhe Horan, Caroline Mann, Kelly Will

Community Development Network
Mount Holyoke College: Getrude Chimhungwe, Susan Masaga

Comrades of Children Overseas (COCO)
Newcastle University, UK: Carla Bromhead, Joseph Duckworth, Jenny Lawton, Sarah Marriott

Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC)
Harvard University: Simy Kabaria, Angela Mayorga, Jessica Walters, Yangyang Yu

Girls For a Change
Harvard University/ London School of Economics/ Stanford University: Nwamaka Uzoh, Patricia Torres, Leah Karlins

Power to the People
Columbia University: Craig Danton, Nimit Mehta, Ramya Pratiwadi

Power Up Gambia
University of Pennsylvania: Bradley Baillargeon, Kathryn Cunningham, Jay Parekh, Beatrice Wong

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