Campus Greensboro is an innovative program that tries to connect some of the region’s 50,000 college students with local employers and work opportunities. It is launching a program next week that hopes to showcase opportunities in the financial technology sector with a “Next in FinTech Community Challenge” program dangling $5,000 in prize money for participants.
Twenty-four teams of three to five students from colleges across North Carolina have formed to participate in the competition. Each team will pick one of two challenges to spend a week of data crunching and analysis before making a presentation to judges.
One challenge involves Cone Health and is related to COVID19 relief efforts and improving access to health care for underserved groups. The other involves Piedmont Business Capital, a local venture capital firm that works. It is posing a program related to providing access to capital and other resources for minority companies.
“It’s a way for students to solve some real-world issues and also meet some top employers,” says Lizzy Tahsuda, director of Campus Greensboro. “Our goal is to spark growth in interest in the Triad’s fintech community across the state.” She notes there is a big gap between the needs of Triad-area employers for skilled fintech workers and the number of students focused on the subject matter.
More than 70 community members are volunteering on the project, including 11 fintech experts at Volvo, Truist, Bank of America and other employers who will be available for consultation with the teams.
Two winning teams will each take home $1,500, with another $2,000 available if students participate in several webinars on fintech subjects that are scheduled for next week. The Greensboro Merchants Association is the main sponsor.
An awards ceremony is set for 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 19 to be televised on Campus Greensboro’s Facebook page. The group is affiliated with the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and receives funding from Joseph M. Bryan Foundation of Greater Greensboro, The Cemala Foundation, The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, Phillips Foundation, Cone Health Foundation, and Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation.