Final Four 2011
The ChangeWorks Final Four
After thousands of site views, numerous amazing idea submissions, and almost two months of competition, the people will choose the top four ideas to compete for the thousands of dollars in cash as well as professional guidance from our sponsors. This year’s Final Four will be Help Ugandans Help Themselves, Duke TNT, Urban Acres, and Water Access in Nkokonjeru, Uganda.
On Tuesday, April 19th, we will host the LIVE ChangeWorks Final Four in Social Sciences 139 from 6:30-8:00PM. Each finalist will present a formal pitch for their idea in front of our four expert panelists and a live audience. After each pitch, the panelists will ask questions about the idea and the pitch. After all four pitches have been presented, our panelists will give feedback on each team and determine their votes. In addition, our live audience will act as a fifth “panelist” who will cast their votes for their favorite ideas. At the end of the deliberations and voting, the ChangeWorks team will tally up the votes of the panelists and the audience vote and we will determine our winners.
Our Panelists
| Collin Jones Associate – Macquarie Capital Advisors |
Collin Jones is an Associate in the Atlanta office of Macquarie Capital. As a member of the Restructuring and Special Situations Group, he has 3 years of experience advising companies, lenders and other key constituents along the distressed lifecycle. Prior transaction experience includes advisory mandates involving out-of-court workouts, M&A and capital raising / financing across building products, business services, consumer products, industrial distribution, manufacturing, metals, packaging and technology industries. He graduated from Duke University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, a Minor in Psychology and a Certificate in Markets & Management.
| Dr. Larry Moneta Vice President for Student Affairs |
Larry Moneta joined the Duke community in 2001 after nearly 10 years at the University of Pennsylvania, most recently as Associate Vice President for Campus Services. Larry has responsibility for a variety of services and programs that support undergraduate, graduate and professional students including housing, health care, career services, student activities and cultural centers. He has written numerous publications, presents frequently at professional meetings and serves on a number of corporate boards. He and his wife Judy live in Durham NC and are active in the local community in a number of civic agencies.
| Bob Walker COO – 8Rivers Capital |
Bob is a partner at 8 Rivers, managing the various teams and day-to-day operations of the company. He develops and implements strategies to keep projects on track to achieve optimal results. From years of professional work in Washington, Bob brings project management, relationship building, and strategic planning expertise to 8 Rivers. Bob received a J.D. degree magna cum laude from Duke University where he served as Managing Editor of Law & Contemporary Problems. He also earned a B.A. magna cum laude from Washington and Lee University majoring in Math and Economics. He and his wife Anna live in Durham.
| Carl Nordgren MMS Professor |
Carl is currently teaching the Markets and Managements Studies Capstone course at Duke University. Carl’s extensive experience in entrepreneurship includes cellular telecommunications, advertising, and marketing. He has helped many young start-up companies and entrepreneurs through mentoring and acting as interim CEO, in addition to founding and running his own companies. Carl has recently started a new consulting practice that claims the transformative power of Story as a CEO leadership tool and the most effective marketing practice, YourVeryBestStory.com .