FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2020 COMPETITION ROUND 1 COMPLETED
Nairobi, 22nd July 2020: 19 remarkable ideas have been selected in the first round of judging in the 2020 #MyLittleBigThing SDGs Innovation Challenge. These ideas make up the top 15 entries, including 3 ties, out of a total of 133 entries into this year’s competition. This announcement was made by Mr. Austin Nyawara, who is the Chief Judge of a judging panel consisting of 9 SDGs enthusiasts and professionals from Kenya and South Africa. Mr. Nyawara, who is also the Regional Manager for South African Airways, reported that the 19 young people were selected out of a total of 133 entries in the competition.
“We were impressed by the quality of ideas presented which have improved from last year in terms of their alignment with the SDGs. We see the potential that these ideas represent and wish the students all the best as they move on to the next stage of the competition. #MyLittleBigThing Founder, Muthoni Kanyana congratulated the university students and acknowledged the tireless efforts of the judges who have been reviewing the entries for over a week. “This is the first year we are conducting the judging online,” said Muthoni.
“The restrictions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, have made us re-engineer the competition to accommodate a lot more online engagement. In March, we launched a series of webinars focusing on SDGs 6 – 11 which are the focus of this year’s competition. We also began aggressively promoting online learning through our digital platform learning.mylittlebigthing.com.”
The 19 students now proceed to the next round, which includes an online Design Thinking workshop, community testing, and the final selection, scheduled for August and September 2020 respectively. Audit firm, PKF East Africa, is moderating the judging process.