The Diamond Challenge is seeking mentors to guide its participants for the 2018 competition season. Created in 2012 by the University of Delaware’s Horn Entrepreneurship, and sponsored by Capital One, the Diamond Challenge is an entrepreneurship competition for high school students that allows teens to learn about entrepreneurship while putting their ideas into action.
“I’m a big believer in the potential of high schoolers,” said Diamond Challenge mentor, and Executive Director of the University of California, Irvine ANTrepreneurship, David Ochi. “High school students have a tremendous amount of capability and just because they’re not adults yet doesn’t mean they can’t go and change the world.”
The competition is broken up into a business concept track, which focuses on the development and validation of new business models for generating revenue and profit, and a social innovation track, which focuses on the development of new, social impact models.
As a mentor, Ochi will assist attendees by hosting mentoring office hours during the annual summit, which occurs in conjunction with the Diamond Challenge. Ochi will also be paired with a semifinalist team and conduct at least two video calls to help prepare them for the competition.
“I’m looking forward to the energy and boundless optimism that they will bring. The world is their oyster,” said Ochi.
In order to become a Diamond Challenge mentor, applicants must be a founder or team member of a startup or have entrepreneurial expertise. Mentors will base their office hour discussions on their specific areas of expertise.
“I started my first company when I was 13 and it has been the best experience of my life; going through being an entrepreneur and determining my own path,” said Ochi. “I don’t think of entrepreneurship as just starting a company, I think of entrepreneurship as a tool for deciding your own life.”
Having reached over 4,000 students worldwide from over 39 countries and 27 states, the Diamond Challenge was ranked one of the top 29 best international business plan competitions by Alpha Gamma, a business portal for millennials.
“The Diamond Challenge is really good at tapping into the opportunity to not just see that making a change is possible, but that high schoolers anywhere can do it,” said Ochi.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor for the 2018 competition, email Diamond Challenge Program Coordinator Rachel Strauss at rstrauss@udel.edu with the subject head “MENTOR INTEREST”. To learn more about the competition and other ways to get involved, visit the Diamond Challenge website.
About Horn Entrepreneurship
Horn Entrepreneurship serves as the University of Delaware’s creative engine for entrepreneurship education and advancement. Built and actively supported by successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders, Horn Entrepreneurship empowers aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs as they pursue new ideas for a better world.
