Hillman Student Entrepreneurs Shine at World Bank Athgothon

The successes of the Hillman students continue to resonate even as they prepare to transfer to the University of Maryland!
On August 12-14, 15 Hillman students from the Hillman Entrepreneurs Program at Montgomery College, Prince George’s Community College, and the University of Maryland met at the World Bank for a start-up marathon sponsored by Athgo. Athgo is an organization devoted to supporting aspiring entrepreneurs with mentorship, advice, and phenomenal networking opportunities with powerful movers and shakers of innovative, successful corporations and organizations. As part of its mission, Athgo holds this annual global innovation forum known as “Athgothon,” alternating between the UN in New York and the World Bank in DC. This was the sixth year of this great event and students from such schools as Duke, Cornell, George Washington University, and many others attended along with our students.
As if meeting the CEO of Panda Express, the president and CEO of the UN Foundation, CIO and VP of IT Solutions for the World Bank, chief economist for the Small Business Administration and senior writers for Forbes, Reuters, and Bloomberg were not enough, the students also got first-hand mentoring from a slew of successful entrepreneurs in developing a successful start-up. Then, they presented their ideas to a panel of these very prestigious executives and leaders.
All of the students did a wonderful job representing their schools and the Hillman program and making connections with the speakers and other students. Best of all, two of the three winning teams (out of 18 teams presenting their business ideas) were represented by none other than Hillman entrepreneurs!