By José Ángel de la Paz

Students from EGADE Business School at Tecnológico de Monterrey were honored with two 2020 Flourish Prizes for the positive business innovations stories they wrote about the companies Pixza, from Mexico, and Mamut, from Bolivia. 

Their works, “Pizzeria Making Social Change One Slice at a Time” and “A TIREless Effort for a Brighter Future” stand out this year among the honorees of the 17 Flourish Prizes, selected by a jury of business leaders and academics from the 824 stories published by students on the AIM2Flourish platform during 2019.

The annual international competition gives an award for each of the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals, to celebrate the role of companies in achieving each of the global goals for 2030. 

Congratulations to all of our 2020 Flourish Prize honorees! We are proud to be able to celebrate so many amazing organizations and the students and professors behind the AIM2Flourish stories written about them. https://t.co/wBo9awRMaT#FlourishPrizes2020#GlobalGoals pic.twitter.com/OVkIyMcuD7

— AIM2Flourish (@AIM2Flourish) June 12, 2020

The stories of the 17 honorees of the 2020 edition come from 13 business schools and universities in seven countries. The preliminary stage included 11 finalists from EGADE Business School, within a group of 76. 

The call for the Flourish Prizes is published on the AIM2Flourish platform, at the initiative of the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit and the Weatherhead School of Management - Case Western Reserve University. 

PIXZA: A SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT PLATFORM DISGUISED AS A PIZZERIA

“It is possible to be for-profit and for-impact”, assures Alejandro Souza, founder of Pixza, the protagonist of the work “Pizzeria Making Social Change One Slice at a Time”, the honoree in the category Global Goal #10: Reduced inequalities.

Its story was told by students Sandra Moreno Almaguer, Alicia Fernández Martínez and Mirelia Ríos Barreras, from the EGADE MBA, and Tanya Ramírez Guzmán, from the EGADE - UNC Charlotte MBA in Global Business & Strategy, under the direction of professor Consuelo García de la Torre. 

The 2020 Flourish Prize for Global Goal #10 honors @pixzamx and the story by Sandra Moreno, Tanya Ramirez Guzman, Alicia Fernández and Mirelia Rios from @egade under the direction of Consuelo Garcia-De-La-Torre. #FlourishPrizes2020 https://t.co/HnWwkGppzQ pic.twitter.com/d2PF4sXB1H

— AIM2Flourish (@AIM2Flourish) June 10, 2020

Pixza offers in its restaurants, located in Mexico City, the first and only blue corn pizza in the world made with 100 percent Mexican ingredients, and also operates a multidimensional social empowerment platform that targets young people aged 17 to 27 with a social abandonment profile, to help them hold a formal job, develop socio-emotional skills, and establish and implement a personal and professional life plan.

“With four years of operating and three restaurants, Pixza’s social empowerment platform has graduated 60 young adults whose lives have changed. Alejandro’s ultimate aim is for Pixza and its platform to exist anywhere in the world,” the students commented. 

MAMUT: BUILDING SUSTAINABLE CITIES BY TRANSFORMING WASTE TIRES INTO RUBBER FLOORING

"We don’t actually sell a product. We build sustainable cities and want to be a leader in Latin America selling and manufacturing products for sustainable construction,” said Antonio Laredo, about the inspiration that gave rise to his company Mamut, in the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Antonio and his brother Manuel saw the opportunity to achieve this by using waste tires as a key input in the production of rubber flooring for parks or sports and recreational spaces.

This is the story of “A TIREless Effort for a Brighter Future”, honoree in the category Global Goal #11: Sustainable cities and communities, written by students Joseline Galindo Delgado, Manuel Morales Ancira, Mauricio Rubio Martínez and Lucía García Garza, from the EGADE MBA, under the direction of professor Ezequiel Reficco.

The 2020 Flourish Prize for Global Goal #11 honors @PisosMamut in Bolivia and the story written by Joseline Galindo, Manuel Morales, Mauricio Rubio and Lucía García from @egade under the direction of Ezequiel Reficco. #GlobalGoals #FlourishPrizes2020https://t.co/r9pnQUj33q pic.twitter.com/ijmo4GqqpX

— AIM2Flourish (@AIM2Flourish) June 11, 2020

"I found the story of Mamut highly inspiring. These entrepreneurs, based in Bolivia, decided to make a difference against all odds. When faced with an environmental problem, they did not look the other way and decided instead to turn that challenge into a source of joy for youngsters. Their country lacked the required technology, so they simply created one. I commend this team of students for selecting this initiative. It shows that each of us can make a difference, if only we make that choice!," said professor Reficco.

Mamut has a wide-ranging impact: it reduces landfills; creates safe, inclusive spaces, such as parks and sports fields; strengthens the circular economy; foments a new wave of sustainable, innovative ideas in developing countries; and, also, reduces breeding grounds for mosquitos that spread zika, dengue, and other diseases. 

“To date, Mamut has reclaimed more than one thousand tons of rubber and has set itself the goal of increasing this amount by 26 percent in 2019, compared to the previous year. This figure represents over 172 thousand reused tires in the three countries in which Mamut operates,” the students explained.