Master's student Melikabella Shenouda (Higher Education) and undergraduate students Angelica Shenouda (Gender and Sexuality Studies ), Jacina Stone-Alapai (Information Systems), and Coby Carner (Marketing) recently presented during the inaugural President's Innovation Challenge to UNLV President Keith E. Whitfield; Jason Gastwirth of Caesars Entertainment; Yong Li of the Troesh Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; and Jan Jones Blackhurst, chief executive in residence of Black Fire Innovation. They had been awarded a collective $5,500 in grant funding for progressing onto the final round of the Inaugural President's Innovation Challenge.
Their interdisciplinary team, "The Rebelutionaries," highlighted a model to diversify Nevada’s growing digital technology industry by creating employment and educational opportunities for local high school students, particularly those who exhibit marginalized identities and a low socioeconomic status. Throughout this challenge, The Rebelutionaries became familiar with concepts such as: intellectual property, scaling, value propositions, economic diversity, proofs of concept, workforce development, public speaking, and networking, among others.
The Rebelutionaries also received notable support from their faculty mentors, John Starkey, senior academic advisor at UNLV Lee Business School, and Jeremy Houska, director of educational effectiveness at University of La Verne.
