NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

This much you may already know: We’re looking forward to bringing back the NextBillion Case Writing Competition in 2014 thanks to the sponsorship of Citi Foundation and the administrative guidance of GlobaLens.

Here’s what you may not know: The people you will need to impress with your cases.

I’m excited to announce the judges for next year’s case writing competition. As you’ll see from their backgrounds, this is a diverse group with expertise in impact assessment, investing, and international markets. We thank them in advance for dedicating their time, knowledge and expertise in reviewing what we hope will be another great batch of cases exploring business solutions to poverty. This year’s panel of judges are:

Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui is the co-founder and managing partner of IGNIA, based in Monterrey, Mexico. IGNIA is a base of the pyramid impact venture capital fund focused on commercial enterprises. Arregui is the ex-chairman and current vice chairman of the Board of Compartamos SAB de CV and Compartamos Banco. He formerly served as chairman of the board of ACCION International. He also served as chairman of the board of Unidos Somos Iguales. He is a board member of Harvard University’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (Advisory Board). He formerly served as CFO of Vitro, one of the largest glass manufacturers in the world. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). Check out a recent NextBillion post by Arregui here.

Hui Wen Chan is the impact analytics and planning officer at the Citi Foundation. She is responsible for measuring and tracking portfolio performance and impact to support the foundation’s grants planning process. Chan has prior work experience in both the private and nonprofit sectors. Before joining Citi Foundation, she advised clients across a variety of industries at Sagent Advisors, Inc. and Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman Group). She also served as a program officer for the William J. Clinton Foundation’s pediatric HIV/AIDS program in Beijing, China. Most recently, she was a Harvard Business School Leadership Fellow and associate director at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, focused on strategic planning and business development. Chan graduated with honors from Harvard College with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. She also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she focused her studies on social enterprise and impact investing. You can check out previous NextBillion posts by Chan here.

William N. Lanen is the associate dean of Global Initiatives, and KPMG Professor of Accounting at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Beginning in September, Lanen also will serve as the interim president of the William Davidson Institute, which manages the NextBillion network. Lanen studies cost management and performance measurement systems, including systems in transitional economies and systems for environmental performance. He also works on the analysis of financial disclosure issues and methodological issues in accounting research.

Paul Godfrey is a professor of Strategy at the Department of Organizational Leadership and Strategy within the Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management. Godfrey won an Honorable Mention for the case he submitted into the 2013 NextBillion Competition. Godfrey has also authored a teaching module on social entrepreneurship, which is available on GlobaLens.

As you can tell, we’re moving swiftly to get our ducks in a row for the next competition, which offers the prestige of having your case published and taught in universities around the globe. Next year’s competition also offers a decent chunk of change in prize money to the winning writers.

So, professors and students – why not take advantage of these hot, muggy dog days of summer to start building a new business case?