Join the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business for live student presentations as part of the Spring 2021 Sustainable Business MBA Challenge.

The Challenge is organized by the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business with support from Eddie Stern, President of Hartz Capital.

Open to Stern MBA candidates in collaboration with other NYU graduate students, the Challenge harnesses the innovative thinking of mission-driven students to leverage the power of market-based solutions to build a better world.

Challenge Background

In its OneNYC 2050 strategic plan released in April 2019, the Office of the Mayor of New York City outlines goals to provide better access to healthy food food, including through nutritional programs and purchasing guidelines. There is an opportunity to strengthen the city’s efforts around local food production and access through multi-stakeholder collaboration and private sector financing. With its leverage and resources, the private sector can play a critical role in expediting and implementing scalable urban food system innovations, developing a new industry and job market to help drive NYC’s economic renewal.

In the Spring 2021 Sustainable Business MBA Challenge, fourteen teams comprised of 40+ students will address how to produce accessible, affordable, and healthy food in New York City using new and alternative technologies, production sites, and business models. On April 19, five teams will compete in the final round for a total prize pursue of $15,000.

Judging Panel

Yemi Amu, Founder and Director, Oko Farms
Louis Ferro, Managing Partner, Chobe Advisers; President & Chairman, Empire State Greenhouses
Jason Green, CEO and Co-Founder, Upward Farms
Jenny Osman, Director of FRESH and Food Policy, Assistant Vice President, New York City Economic Development Corporation
Larry Wieseneck (Stern ‘95), Managing Director and Co-President, Cowen and Company

About the Program

This Challenge is the second hosted by the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business with support from Eddie Stern. In the Fall 2019 , more than 50 NYU graduate students from Stern School of Business, Schack Institute of Real Estate, and Wagner School of Public Service proposed sustainable and community-oriented business and real estate development plans optimized for Opportunity Zone investment for a New Bedford seafood company. Read about the 2019 program here.

NYU Stern MBA Challenge: Food Insecurity and Urban Agriculture