by Vince Velilla
This year’s competition case, provided by Shell Philippines, focuses on corporate sustainability in an urban setting.
The Ateneo de Manila University’s premier business leadership organization, the Management Engineering Association (MEA), will host “ACCESS: Corporate Sustainability Competition,” a three-day event that exposes undergraduate students to MEA’s core advocacy of corporate sustainability.
Currently on its sixth year, ACCESS provides an avenue for undergraduate students to understand how corporate sustainability creates a lasting impact on the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit. It also teaches them how to utilize this knowledge as future game changers in the corporate world. With this, MEA has partnered with two renowned leaders in corporate sustainability, namely Shell Philippines and San Miguel Corporation (SMC). This year’s competition case focuses on creating sustainable cities and will be provided by Shell Philippines.
To build participants’ knowledge on sustainability, ACCESS includes a forum, mentorship session, and final case presentation. In the sustainability forum, participants learn from various talks and activities related to corporate sustainability, with their insights to be applied in a preliminary submission. The top eight teams move on to a mentorship session, involving further consultations with Shell Philippines representatives regarding the case. These teams then present their sustainable strategies to a panel of judges in the final round. Outstanding teams have a chance to win cash prizes up to Php 100,000.
Overall, ACCESS is a learning experience that challenges its participants to create lasting change through business and leadership. It shows that business can be used as a platform to improve the lives of many.
Although corporate sustainability is largely business related, applicants do not need to be business majors to join. They also do not have to be well-versed in corporate sustainability as the basics of corporate sustainability will be taught in the sustainability forum. Applicants must form a team of five and may be from different universities.
For the application form and more information about the event, please visit accessmea.org. The deadline for applications is on January 20, 2018. The list of accepted teams will be announced shortly after on the ACCESS Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MEA.ACCESS/).
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ACCESS 2018 is brought to you by Ateneo MEA and Shell Philippines, and is co-presented by San Miguel Corporation. This event is made possible in partnership with Century Tuna, El Molino Corporation, Young STAR, ANC, WhenInManila.com, and The Border Collective.
