Helena and The Boston Consulting Group are collaborating on the first edition of the Helena Prize. The prize is open to those under the age of 30 developing for-profit technology that reduces radiative forcing, linked to climate change. The winner will gain access to BCG expertise and become a Helena member, alongside a range of other benefits.
Helena is a non-profit organisation that brings together 30 "leaders" operating in different sectors and fields. Each year the organisation, founded last year by young entrepreneurs Henry Elkus and Zachary Bohn, selects 30 different accomplished leaders, including Nobel Laureates and Fortune 500 executives, who meet privately throughout the year to discuss a range of topics of key interest to humanity and its “progress”.
The organisation seeks to bridge the gap between generations – there is no hierarchy to the members – by stipulating that 15 of the selected members must be under the age of 25. The organisation, a merit-based mixture of a think tank and a networking organisation, taps expertise from the Brain Trust, a US-based network of accomplished experts across varying fields.
One of the initiatives launched this year by Helena, in collaboration with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), is the Helena Prize. The worldwide competition for the prize is aimed at encouraging or rewarding entrepreneurship that develops a novel way to combat climate change. The prize will be awarded to someone under the age of thirty whose idea, contained within a for-profit venture, reduces environmental harm.” BCG will support Helena appraise the technologies submitted for the prize. The application for the Helena Prize is open until the end of January 2017.
The winner of the prize will also gain access to a wide range of resources, including management consultancy support from BCG to support the development of their product; full membership to Helena; access to the Sierra Energy’s Area 52 business incubation space at the University of California Davis; and climate scientists and clean-tech entrepreneur mentorship.
Jeff Hill, a BCG senior partner and the head of the firm’s Los Angeles office, says, “We’re delighted to partner with Helena and assist in launching this prize. Helena is a dynamic organisation that shares our mission of ‘shaping the future, together.’ We look forward to lending our expertise to ensure that both the non-profit and the award have lasting impact.”
Helena founder Henry Elkus, who outside of Helena serves as the Social Entrepreneur in Residence of the Boston Consulting Group, says, “This relationship is about applying BCG’s brainpower to some of our most promising ideas right at their inception. It’s invaluable to have access to such expertise.”
Other partnerships BCG has include an alliance with MassChallenge, a global startup accelerator, a with Hello Tomorrow, another startup incubator, and with The TENT Foundation, a non-profit that support refugees.