Application Due: October 4, 2019 by 5:00 p.m. CT
To view the sample Application and/or submit your Application, visit the Apply page.
Students must be registered with Enactus and have permissions granted by their Enactus faculty advisor to submit Project Accelerator Applications. See the Apply page for details.
Final Impact Report Due: March 6, 2020 by 5:00 p.m. CT
See the Final Impact Report page for detailed information.
Program Goals
Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan focuses on reducing their environmental footprint and increasing their positive social impact. This plan has three goals to achieve: Improving the health and well-being for more than 1 billion, Reducing environmental impact by half, and Enhancing livelihoods for millions.
Unilever sees the opportunity for Enactus United States teams to take action to assist in reaching one of those goals, Reducing Environmental impact by half.
The Unilever Bright Future Project Accelerator mobilizes Enactus United States teams to implement innovative projects that apply market-based solutions to reducing plastic waste from manufacturing, consumption, and office waste, as well as reduce and reuse packaging through the development of reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic packaging. Projects will promote the importance of four Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that align with these initiatives: Global Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, Global Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, Global Goal 14: Life Below Water, and Global Goal 15: Life on Land. Learn more about the SDGs mentioned above by visiting this link.
Review the following guidelines before designing your Bright Future project:
- Your project must meet the Enactus Judging Criterion.
- Review Unilever’s approach to sustainable waste & packaging. Where do you see opportunity to empower your community in these areas?
- Projects are required to impact the Reducing Waste initiative
- We’re looking for teams to apply business innovation to develop sustainable solutions that can be taken to scale* to impact additional communities.
- Check out the previous years’ winning projects by clicking this link.
- Consider collaborating with retailers to strengthen your project. Visit the retailer partnership page to learn more
- Check out Unilever’s Sustainable Living – waste & packaging page for inspiration.
*Scalable means that the project has potential to be effectively replicated to impact communities. We’re looking for team projects that have already scaled, can scale before the Final Impact Report Deadline in March 2020, or have the potential to scale. Scaling can be executed by the team replicating their own solutions or by another group, nonprofit, community leaders, etc. who have gained insights from the team to replicate the team’s work.
Success Metrics
As each Bright Future project is unique, tailored to address
the specific needs identified by your target audience, the outcomes will
vary. Review the Final Impact Report sample for a complete list of metrics. Possible outputs and outcomes include, but are not limited to:
- Amount of plastic waste reduced/diverted from landfills (in pounds)
- Amount of increased income
- Number of individuals educated on plastic waste reduction
- Amount of cost-savings
- Number of jobs created around reducing plastic waste
- Amount of packaging waste reduced/diverted (in pounds)
- Number of collaborative partners (e.g. retailers, local non-profits, etc.)
The Global Goals Ambassador Challenge
Enactus teams participating in the Unilever Bright Future Project Accelerator will be encouraged to become Global Goals ambassadors. In addition to their empowerment projects, participating teams are encouraged to implement an awareness campaign to promote the Global Goals and share how Bright Future projects are making tangible advancements towards Global Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, Global Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, Global Goal 14: Life Below Water, and Global Goal 15: Life on Land. Participating teams will have access to resources, such as press releases and social media tools, to implement their awareness campaigns. The top three most successful Global Goal Ambassador teams will be recognized at brightfuture.unilever.us. Examples of how participating teams can serve as Global Goals Ambassadors are listed below.
- Creating and launching social media awareness campaigns
- Sharing resources, articles, tools, and press releases relating to Global Goals 11, 12, 14 and 15, as well as Unilever’s Bright Future Project Accelerator
- Hosting campus and/or community events or forums to discuss the Global Goals and the team’s initiative to address them through their Unilever Bright Future Project
- Encouraging community members to join this campaign and support the team’s project
The Rewards
| GRANTS | Up to 10 teams will each receive a grant of $1,500 to implement their Bright Future project. |
| MENTORSHIP | Each team has the option to be paired with a Unilever mentor to receive additional guidance and inside knowledge into how Unilever makes sustainable living commonplace. Note that grant recipients will be required to meet with their mentor a minimum of one time throughout the life of the project. |
| RECRUITMENT | Participating students will have direct access to Unilever staff to learn about employment opportunities while building and demonstrating their skills throughout their Bright Future project implementation. |
| PRIZES | In addition to grant funding, the teams will the most successful projects will be awarded with cash prizes up to $7,500. See the Grand Prize Awards section below for details. |
| RECOGNITION | The Grand Prize Winners and top three Global Goal Ambassador teams will be recognized at brightfuture.unilever.us. |
Eligibility
Enrolled Enactus United States teams with projects meeting the program goals, criteria and reporting requirements are eligible to apply for the Unilever Bright Future Project Accelerator.
Projects must have outcomes completed between April 1, 2019 and March 6, 2020. Up to 10 Enactus United States teams will receive a $1,500 grant to complete their projects.
Requirements
Participating Enactus teams must:
- Submit a complete Application before October 4, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. CT
- Make Check Points with Enactus staff when requested*
- Teams will connect with a Unilever employee for mentorship at least once via email and/or phone/teleconference calls (connections will be facilitated by Enactus)
- Submit a complete Final Impact Report before March 6, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. CT
- Agree to all Bright Future Project Accelerator General Terms and Conditions (found on the sample Application)
- If chosen as one of the three finalist, the team will need to be present at the 2020 National Exposition
*Participating teams are required to make Check Points with designated Enactus staff via conference calls, emails, etc. to update Enactus staff on their Bright Future project. Check Points should be made with the team Project Lead, but may also include the team Advisor(s), Alternate Project Lead and other active students related to the project. Check Points may address, but are not limited to:
- Project details and necessary changes
- Successes and challenges
- Meeting the Enactus Judging Criterion
- Measurement tracking and Final Impact Report preparation
- Grant fund usage
- Project media
- Project partners
- Questions and concerns from Enactus team
See the Apply and Final Impact Report pages for Application and Report requirements and additional information.
National Grand Prize Awards
In addition to receiving project grants, participating teams will compete for the National Grand Prize awards, which recognize and reward the most successful projects. Final Impact Reports will be judged by Unilever Executives and/or representatives to determine the National Grand Prize winners of the Unilever Bright Future Project Accelerator. See the Final Impact Report page for the judging criteria.
Three teams will be selected as Grand Prize winners and will be announced at the 2020 Enactus United States National Exposition.
1st Place: $7,500
2nd Place: $5,000
3rd Place: $3,000
Up to three students from the 1st place team will also represent Unilever North America at the Unilever Future Leader’s Conference in London, April 2020 where they will compete in the case competition. For more information about the conference click here.
Questions
For questions on the Unilever Bright Future Project Accelerator in the United States:
Jenny Murphy
Manager, Program Operations
Enactus USA
417.575.3549
jmurphy@enactus.org