The Grand Global Challenges Competition is open to all University of Maryland students. It is the collaborative effort of two Smith School Centers of Excellence—the Center for Global Business (CGB) and the Center for Social Value Creation (CSVC). The inaugural installment of the contest happened on February 14, 2025, and marked the first time Smith has teamed up with UMD’s School of Public Health.
The competition attracts UMD students interested in how ethical and sustainable solutions can be applied to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Eight teams of three to five undergraduate and graduate students each gave a 15-minute virtual presentation, followed by a five-minute Q&A and feedback session. Three finalists were selected and later in the day, the winning team was chosen. The teams focused on topics that included corruption in the sand mining industry and greenwashing—when a company misleads consumers about the environmental benefits of its products or practices.
The multidisciplinary teams analyzed the legal, financial and ethical facets of the global issues they each chose to tackle. The competition encourages critical thinking about how businesses can navigate today’s complex ethical landscape while maintaining a sustainable financial strategy. “Rice to the Rescue: A Sustainable Solution to Bangladesh’s Sand Mining Crisis,” was the winning team’s topic. One of the judges praised their presentation, saying it made a compelling case for looking for alternatives to the sand mining industry, which adversely impacts the environment. The team advances to the International Business Ethics and Sustainability Case Competition at California’s Loyola Marymount University. That’s set to take place from April 9-12.
The students on the winning team are juniors Anna Craun, who’s majoring in accounting and information systems, Neha Veeragandham, a computer science major, computer science and mathematics major Clara Hong, economics major Olivia Kuznetsova, and information science major Zoie Luka.
The Smith School’s CGB and CSVA would like to thank the esteemed panel that judged the competition. Their feedback was so valuable in assisting the teams in refining their strategies. The judges included alumni Babafemi Adegbit, MBA ’17, Kate Balcerzak, MBA ’19, Laura Drew, PhD ’21, Chris Light ’93, Kaitlyn Moberly ’20, Sylvia Zulu, MBA ’06, Priya Parikh ’16 and Terry Thornton, BSOS ’06.
The Grand Global Challenges Competition is supported in part by CIBE, a Title VI grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.