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2022 Diamond Challenge Summit: Back in Person with Greater Impact

  The Diamond Challenge, an entrepreneurship competition for high school students from around the world, recently concluded its three-day Summit from April 21-23, 2022. The Summit marked the culmination of the Diamond Challenge’s year-long program, where students...

Convergent vs. Divergent Thinking

One of the most important aspects of being an entrepreneur is being able to solve problems. However, not all entrepreneurs understand the two facets of the idea generation process: convergent and divergent thinking. Check out this article from SAB member Sophia Oh learn more about these two forms of thinking and how you can apply them to your entrepreneurial ventures!

Alumnus Michael Wiciak Develops Eros Aerial

Ever since he was a kid, Michael Wiciak had always loved flying drones. However, when he realized how limited and expensive the drones he purchased were, he set out on a mission to create his own. Check out SAB Sophia Oh’s article on Michael’s amazing venture here!

SAB Story: SustainABLE Start – Distributing Care Packages to NYC’s Homeless

Here at the Diamond Challenge, we are always looking for inspiring stories of how teen entrepreneurs everywhere are changing the world for the better. Chloe Trujillo, one of our Social Innovation track semifinalists, has been hard at work managing her nonprofit with fellow teammates to build and distribute care packages to New York City’s homeless population. Check out SAB Sophia Oh’s article on Chloe’s amazing organization here!

SAB Story: Why Join Diamond Challenge?

In this stirring article, SAB member Toluwalase Oseni provides some great insight into what makes the Diamond Challenge a unique entrepreneurship competition, and the numerous advantages and resources that it provides for high-schoolers everywhere. Check out his article here to truly understand the answer to the big question: Why join Diamond Challenge?

SAB Story: Do I Need a Team, and Why?

As you prepare for your Diamond Challenge submission, you may be wondering why we require all participants to form teams. Check out this article by SAB member Sophia Oh to see what the benefits of working on a team are!

In Hindsight: The World Shaping Diamonds

This holiday season, our team has been highlighting our amazing student community and sharing stories of how they’re changing the world. But with the unprecedented twists and turns that 2020 has brought to us all, it's become clear that these experiences have also...

SAB Story: Financing Your Venture

Are you struggling with finding ways to finance your business or social venture? If so, you’re not alone. Though it may be challenging for high school entrepreneurs, SAB member Sophia Oh has some awesome tips on how to make your ideas a reality. Check out her article here!

Diamonds Change the World

________________________________________________________________________________________ This holiday season, our team is highlighting our amazing student community and sharing stories of how they’re changing the world. Diamond Challenge alums, partners and supporters...

Meet Jottle: A Platform for Enhanced Note-taking

With rates of online and hybrid schooling increasing worldwide, many students face accelerated challenges learning in a virtual environment. Student Advisory Board Member Sophia Oh introduces us to Jottle, a website-based platform that aids students in taking easy, interactive, and memorable notes.

Diamond Challenge is Ground Zero for Empowered Entrepreneurs

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, when was the first time you knew business or entrepreneurship was for you? For thousands of students around the world, Diamond Challenge serves as “ground zero” for their entrepreneurship journey. Check out SAB member Ashley Lin’s inspiring article on how the Diamond Challenge is empowering entrepreneurs everywhere!

Topical Prize Feature: The Gore Innovation Excellence Award

By: Grace Zhang | February 6, 2020 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Started as a concept in 2019, Topical Prize Awards recognize Diamond Challenge semifinalist teams that have...

Exploring New Territories: (Virtual) Summit 2020

At times like these, we find ourselves traversing new territory. When we realized that the writing was proverbially on the wall regarding our ability to host the 2020 Diamond Challenge Summit on the University of Delaware campus, our team never once questioned whether...

How Technology is Changing Marketing

Technology is rapidly changing just about every industry in the global economy. Since marketing is the string that connects each and every one of those industries, you can safely bet that technology will change marketing to the same, if not greater, extent.

Why Upcoming Entrepreneurs Should Learn to Code

You’ve heard it before and you’re about to hear it again: everybody should know how to code! Whether you’re working in agriculture, zoology, or anything in between, you need to know how to work with technology. As more software pops up across industries, that means knowing how to code!

Meet Vedavyas Jampanaboyana, An Entrepreneur Connecting Students Around The Globe!

Many young entrepreneurs have a lot of big ideas, but struggle to find the right guidance to make them a reality. Once entrepreneur Vedavyas Jampanaboyana observed this prevalent problem within the youth, he knew he had to do something to help. Along with his co-founder Reuben Reeves, they created the Global Innovation and Youth Leaders Summit (GIYLS), a non-profit platform dedicated to creating opportunities and connecting youth around the globe to solve real world issues. Check out his feature here!

An International Student Climbing The Diamond Challenge Ladder

In terms of the Diamond Challenge, Levan Jaliashvili has done it all: from competitor to online judge to team advisor, he has truly expanded his horizons as an entrepreneur. But how did he first hear about our competition? And where did his passion for entrepreneurship first originate? Check out this Diamond Challenge feature by our Student Advisory Board member Ashley Lin to find out!

Diamond Challenge Top 20 Highlight: AloeAid

Burns are a common injury that can be quite painful, as well as expensive to treat. Co-founders Akshaj Jois and Siddhant Bhat immediately saw the need for a product that proved economically accessible while also serving as medical treatment. After combining their skills and inspirations, the idea for AloeAid, a novel bandage for burn victims, was born.

Diamond Challenge Top 20 Feature: Privasee

A simple action such as clicking on a website can extract so much data from one’s personal database, not to mention the constant surveillance and tracking patterns that feed into their databases. Privasee was developed specifically to combat these insecurities, with its design as a web-browser extension that provides features such as: privacy grades to help assess how private your information is on a certain website, tracker blocking, in-site data protection, and ad-blocking. The team entered Diamond Challenge 2019 with their noteworthy concept, ultimately finishing in the top 20 placing teams.

Diamond Challenge Feature: Sarah Lee

For many students, the summer signals a time of relaxation and growth where they have the chance to engage in a variety of educational opportunities to prepare them for upcoming school year. However, not all individuals have the means to participate in an enriching summer experience and can be burdened with a huge disadvantage compared to their peers. Sarah Lee, a former Diamond Challenge participant and Student Advisory Board member, is seeking to combat this inequality in her home country of South Korea through her non-profit, student-led high school organization “Bridge Publisher”. Read on to find out more about this amazing venture!

Diamond Challenge Feature: Meet the Diamond Challenge Coordinators!

The Diamond Challenge is the world’s largest entrepreneurship competition for high-schoolers that is an international feat of planning and organization. But have you ever wondered who is working tirelessly behind the scenes to make the Diamond Challenge a reality? Read on to find out!

10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About The Diamond Challenge

The Diamond Challenge has always been a catalyst that propels high school entrepreneurs to the next level through transformative feedback, meaningful connections and resources. Check out these 10 facts that you might not have known about the world’s top-rated global entrepreneurship competition for high school students!

Diamond Challenge Highlight: Gen2Gen

We caught up with Diamond Challenge 2019 finalist team, Gen2Gen. Learn about their business concept and how their experience with Diamond Challenge helped reaffirm their goals.

Diamond Challenge Highlight: SOBROS

We caught up with Diamond Challenge 2019 finalist team, SOBROS. Learn about their business concept and how their experience with Diamond Challenge helped reaffirm their goals.

Diamond Challenge Highlight: The Oil Magnet

We caught up with Diamond Challenge 2019 finalist team, The Oil Magnet. Learn about their business concept and how their experience with Diamond Challenge helped reaffirm their goals.

Diamond Challenge Highlight: Natrion

We caught up with Diamond Challenge 2019 finalist team, Natrion. Learn about their business concept and how their experience with Diamond Challenge helped reaffirm their goals.

Diamond Challenge Highlight: Optiglass

We caught up with Diamond Challenge 2019 finalist team, Optiglass. Learn about their business concept and how their experience with Diamond Challenge helped reaffirm their goals.

Diamond Challenge Highlight: MatchMeds

We caught up with Diamond Challenge 2019 finalist team, MatchMeds. Learn about their business concept and how their experience with Diamond Challenge helped reaffirm their goals.

Diamond Challenge Highlight: BACVision

We caught up with Diamond Challenge 2019 finalist team, BACVision. Learn about their business concept and how their experience with Diamond Challenge helped reaffirm their goals.

From Diamond Challenge to Venture for America

We caught up with Devon O’Dwyer, Diamond Challenge 2014 alumna and Georgetown graduate! Learn more about her post-graduation plans and how Diamond Challenge helped prepare her for a successful career.

Diamond Challenge Highlight: Tara Balu

We caught up with Diamond Challenge 2018 semifinalist, Tara Balu, to hear about her latest venture, current successes, and how the Diamond Challenge has prepared her for the future.

Diamond Challenge Highlight: Raylin Xu

We caught up with Diamond Challenge 2014 winner, Raylin Xu, to hear about her latest venture, current successes, and how the Diamond Challenge has prepared her for the future.

Diamond Challenge Highlight: Noel McDonald

We caught up with Diamond Challenge 2018 finalist, Noel McDonald, to hear about his latest venture, current successes, and how the Diamond Challenge has prepared him for the future.

Diamond Challenge Highlight: Ishan Kasat

We caught up with Diamond Challenge 2018 winner, Ishan Kasat, to hear about his latest venture, current successes, and how the Diamond Challenge has prepared him for the future.

Diamond Challenge Highlight: Nicole Birkner

We caught up with Diamond Challenge 2016 finalist, Nicole Birkner, to hear about her latest venture, current successes, and how the Diamond Challenge has prepared her for the future.

Diamond Challenge Pakistan Winners: 2016

Our partners in Diamond Challenge Pakistan hosted their preliminary rounds at the Girls High School “Hala” in February. Nine teams from 9th and 10th grades competed.

Why You Can’t Say No to YES!

The Inspiration. We are hosting two incredible keynote speakers, Haile Thomas and Justin Lafazan. Thomas, 16, is a Jamaican-American youth health activist, motivational speaker, teen vegan chef and the youngest certified health coach.

Virtual Track Semifinalist Teams Announced!

We are excited to announce the semifinalist teams for this year’s Business Concept and Social Venture Virtual Tracks! These teams are invited travel to the University of Delaware to pitch in this year’s semifinal round on April 6.

4 Insanely Cool Entrepreneurs Under 18

We love a good success story. In celebration of young entrepreneurs, we’ve regularly shared incredible startup stories on Facebook and Instagram. Here’s a roundup of four of the most impressive people in business.

Meet the 2017 Student Ambassadors!

17 students from all over the world join this year’s lineup The Diamond Challenge team is excited to introduce the 2017 Diamond Challenge Student Ambassador team!

Registration for DC 2017 Open

Registration is open for the 2017 Diamond Challenge! “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”-Wayne Gretzky, NHL Hall of Famer is right. Now’s your chance to take your shot! Dream big. Work hard. Have fun.

Diamond Challenge Moldova: 2016 Winners!

The winners of Diamond Challenge Moldova have been selected! Congratulations to Healthy Spray, ARTA Gallery, and Inside Math for taking the top three spots in last month’s round of judging. Inside Math, a team comprised of three students, won third place. They pitched...

Diamond Challenge in Georgia: A 2016 Success

This year, 39 students making up 12 teams took part in the preliminary rounds of Diamond Challenge Georgia 2016! Congratulations to the business concept team, Tushurai, who has been selected to move on and pitch at the semi-final round of the Business Concept...

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting for: Social Venture Finalists

Diamond Challenge is thrilled to announce our Social Venture Finalists! From February 17-24, we held public voting to see who you all thought was most worthy of taking their concept to the next step. The votes were combined with the team's written concept and video...

Submission Guidelines for 2016 Teams

The best preliminary round business concept submissions will tell a compelling story that provides a number of key components that are highlighted through the Ideas to Action and Venturing for Good  curriculum videos. Below you will find a list of the components to...

Example Project Timeline-5 Week Schedule

Happy Holidays to our wonderful entrepreneurial community! We have a special gift for this year's Diamond Challenge teams: an example timeline that your team could use to stay on schedule! Don't forget that submissions are due January 18th! Enjoy and break some new...

Catapult Incubator Partnership

More big news from Diamond Challenge HQ! Today we’re announcing our partnership with Catapult Incubator, a business and social venture development program designed for high school students. They have decided to donate a total of $10,000 in scholarship money to be...

Welcome to Mentoring 2.0!

Big news! We're very excited to announce our new online mentoring program for Diamond Challenge 2016 participants. Our new platform works to connect teams with entrepreneurs and entrepreneurially-minded professionals from around the world. What you will gain from our...

Jefferson Awards Foundation Partnership

The Diamond Challenge is excited to announce our new partnership with the Jefferson Awards Foundation, America’s most prestigious and long-standing organization dedicated to cultivating and celebrating public service! JAF was founded in 1972 by Sam Beard, Jacqueline...