“Bigger, you’re part of something way bigger.” Michelle Mbekeani listened to the Beyonce song on repeat as she waited to make her pitch at the finals of the 2023 John Edwardson ’72, Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC), the social impact track of the University of Chicago’s nationally ranked New Venture Challenge, jointly hosted by the Chicago Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation and UChicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
SNVC has helped jump-start more than 150 startups, which collectively raised more than $165 million. Mbekeani, a Neubauer Civic Scholar at Chicago Booth and a senior advisor to the Cook County State’s Attorney, was gearing up to present her venture Period, a startup that uses technology to advance social justice.
Period starts with a simple premise: An innocent person spends an average of 14 years in prison before being exonerated. What if you could reduce that time by making the appeals process more efficient?
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This story was first published by Chicago Booth.
