The team from Ateneo de Naga University won this year’s Benilde Prize, a mentoring and grant-giving national competition. The announcement was made on 9 March 2016 in Balay Indang, Cavite.

Entitled “Dreamweave”, the team’s winning social design proposed an online portal that aims at bridging the gap between employers and K to 12 graduates through competency-based hiring.

The team is composed of student leaders Mark Joseph Euste, Phoebe Bandoy, Kathleen Villena and alumna Kim Seng. Juan Carlos De Los Reyes, NSTP facilitator, and Rodolfo Virtus Jr., Director of Student Affairs, also served as mentors of the group.

Before winning the Benilde Prize, the ADNU team went through a three-phase elimination process. When their idea was shortlisted, the team went through Ideation Program. Here, they attended an open online course and a bootcamp in Ultrawinds Mountain Resort, Bukidnon, which mentored the team and helped the crafting of their idea into a project.

The team from ADNU, along with two others from Mindanao, entered the final stage, the Social Business Program. Here, they attended the second bootcamp in Balay Indang, Cavite where the prototype of their project was finalized. The program culminated in a pitch before a panel of a panel of social innovators.

The team won a P500,000 grant and Apple products. They also received a trophy especially created by multi-awarded designer Ann Pamintuan.

After winning the competition, the team will undergo Phase 3: Accelerator-Incubation Program where the team shall be receiving support tailor-fitted to the project. Hopefully after this, the project shall be launched using the seed funding and the help of a network of mentors and social entrepreneurs.