From the Nominator

The University of Cambridge sits at the heart of one of the world’s most successful innovation ecosystems. The aim of the Enterprising Minds series is twofold. For an internal audience, it seeks to celebrate our enterprising culture and to show that people can participate in it in many ways. Externally, our aim is to champion the university’s success in entrepreneurship, to attract enterprising staff and students, and to encourage people (including alumni) and organizations to be part of the Cambridge innovation story. But promoting enterprise and innovation often defaults to talking about numbers: how much investment has been raised, how much impact achieved. We wanted to bring our successes to life by focusing on people who make things happen and exploring what makes them tick. We asked an expert to help us frame the profiles based on research into typical characteristics and behaviors of enterprising people. Together, we developed questions that explored these characteristics. We reached our audiences largely through LinkedIn, the principal channel for professionals, young entrepreneurs, and alumni. The series has also been promoted by other parts of the university, such as our technology transfer arm. Our aim was to inspire, and the comments received on LinkedIn demonstrate our success: “Jason Mellad, you are an inspiration!” “João, it's people like you who change the world and inspire new generations.”

From the Judges

Very interesting collection, with a range of interviews and covering a number of topics. Relevant and inspiring to their communities and demonstrates university connection to societal challenges. Clear throughline and has intended impact.