Nearly 300 organizations from 33 nations submitted detailed entries for the Lipman Family Prize. Now, only three organizations remain.
These Finalists are: iDE, KOMAZA and MedShare.
In its first year, the Lipman Family Prize spotlights the efforts of global organizations to create sustainable solutions to significant social and economic challenges and to transfer these solutions to others. This year’s applicants spanned such areas such as economic development, education, environmental sustainability, health care, human rights, poverty and safe water. A Student Selection Committee, guided by staff, and a Prize Committee comprised of University of Pennsylvania staff and faculty picked the three finalists.
The 29-year-old international nonprofit organization iDE operates in rural areas in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It focuses on market-based approaches to increasing agricultural production, building local businesses, and developing innovative drinking water and sanitation technologies, among other challenges.
For the past four years in rural Kenya, Komaza has pioneered forestry social enterprise to unlock the economic potential of tree farming and provide unprecedented income for local families.
MedShare redistributes the world’s surplus medical supplies to qualified healthcare facilities in need in 88 developing countries. The nonprofit organization has been in operation for more than 13 years.
Barry R. Lipman, W’70
One of these finalists will be named as the winner of the prize at the Lipman Family Prize Conference to be held in Philadelphia from April 12 to 13. The winner will receive a cash award of $100,000. All three finalists will be able to engage in an ongoing relationship with Wharton and the Penn, including collaboration with Wharton Executive Education, partnerships with faculty researchers, internships with graduate students, and development of course content.
“The Barry and Marie Lipman Family Prize creates a dynamic, long-term collaboration between the Wharton faculty and student body and leading organizations in the field of social impact,” says Thomas S. Robertson, dean of the Wharton School. “With the exchange of our specific knowledge, practice and research in business, the Lipman Family Prize allows for the valuable transfer of this knowledge throughout the world.”
All of this was made possible through the generosity of Barry R. Lipman, W’70, and his wife Marie, who donated $6.5 million in January 2011 to establish the Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize.
“We are very grateful to Barry Lipman for his visionary generosity, which allows us to honor organizations that are committed to innovative, transferable means of creating global social impact,” Penn President Amy Gutmann says. “The Lipman Family Prize reflects Penn’s dedication to the discovery of new knowledge that can improve the world.”
Editor’s note: Visit the Lipman Family Prize website for complete details.
