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San Juan ‘Global Shapers’ hub wins Coca Cola challenge

Andrea Pérez, project lead, of the San Juan Hub of the Global Shapers Community during a trip to Haiti.

Andrea Pérez, project lead, of the San Juan Hub of the Global Shapers Community during a trip to Haiti.

A group of young leaders from San Juan were among the 2014 winners of The Coca-Cola Company’s “Shaping a Better Future Grant Challenge,” a competition exclusively for members of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers community.

Global Shapers are young leaders between 20 and 30 years old who are organized into a network of 400 city-based hubs.

The San Juan Hub of the Global Shapers Community received a $10,000 grant for its project, “I Give a Crap.” The funding from the “Shaping a Better Future Grant” will accelerate the Global Shapers’ efforts to re-shape the public’s perception of composting toilets.

Their sustainable ecological sanitation launched in Haiti, and addresses rural and urban farmer’s environmental, public health, while simultaneously improving agricultural outputs through custom-designed on-site composting systems.

“The San Juan Hub gives a crap about the ecological sanitation project in Haiti. We worked as a team to figure out a way to bring it to the Global Shapers Community without losing sight of the potential impact worldwide,” said Andrea Perez, a Global Shaper from the San Juan Hub. “Each Hub member brings a unique perspective and expertise to the table that allows for continued growth of the project.”

For the competition, Global Shapers launched programs that address the world’s most challenging societal issues, with the opportunity to win seed money to sustain and expand their initiatives. The results were outstanding, tackling issues including protection of the environment, civic activism, community investment and youth entrepreneurship. This year, we celebrate San Juan as 2014 winners.

“At Coca-Cola, we are committed to furthering sustainable investments that help communities thrive. The San Juan Hub is an inspiring example of teamwork,” said Alejandro Gómez, general manager, The Coca-Cola Company.

“We commend the Global Shaper winners from San Juan, who gave their time to better the Caribbean Region, especially for their supports towards Haiti. The Shaping a Better Future Grant will accelerate the phenomenal work done by these young leaders,” he said.

The members of Global Shapers Community self-select the Shaping a Better Future Challenge winners, and final scoring was done by leading individuals representing The Coca-Cola Company, the World Economic Forum, governments and other members of civil society.

Judging criteria included the severity of issues addressed, the number of lives impacted, overall return on investment and the ability of the project to be scaled more broadly.

The Global Shapers Community is a network of Hubs developed and led by young people who are exceptional in their drive to make a contribution to their communities. Today, there are more than 4,500 Global Shapers in more than 400 hubs in more than 160 countries.

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This story was written by our staff based on a press release.
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