Four SF State MBA students—Ashly Collins, Cassie Fairfield, Elizabeth Hamm and Tanvi Pradhan—took first place in the Net Impact PG&E Ideation Lab April 10, 2015, winning a $2500 grant for Net Impact at SF State. The competition comprised an all-day workshop applying design thinking tools to a real-world challenge that PG&E is currently facing regarding the engagement of small- and medium-business (SMB) customers. Collins, Fairfield, Hamm, and Pradhan came up with an innovative solution that involved building a community of trust within PG&E's local divisions through personal touch points, both from PG&E employees and from SMB customers. Final presentations consisted of a five-minute executive overview with the use of no visuals set in front of a panel of judges. The team competed against Net Impact members from other MBA programs in the area including Stanford, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and Presidio. Congratulations to all!
For information on the Net Impact PG&E Ideation Lab, see http://netimpact.org/impact-programs/net-impact-and-pge-energy-ideation-lab.