SU Credit Union Initiative Bags Top Prize at 2024 Harriet Stephenson Business Plan Competition

The Seattle University Credit Union Initiative (SUCUI) won the top prize at the 2024 Harriet Stephenson Business Plan Competition.  The non-profit financial cooperative is entirely run and operated by students. 

A post on SUCUI's LinkedIn page said, "We aim to not only provide tailored products and services to Seattle University and its surrounding communities, but also provide an elevated hands-on work experience for students." 

SUCUI was represented by Ana Giordano, '25 (Finance); Dora Becker, '26 (Management and Analytics); Emma Nguyen, '26 (Individualized Major; Entrepreneurship and Innovation minor), Ethan Sue, '24 (Computer Science); Jonathan Tran, '27 (Finance and Accounting); and Julian Ma, '25 (Finance). They were coached by Adjunct Professor and Mbanq Head of Credit Union Partnerships Cisco Malpartida Smith. 

The group took home the $20,000 grand prize from the competition. A donor has already committed an initial pledge of $250,000, a significant milestone in their goal to raise $1 million by the end of 2025.

The Sip & Snack, a community hub envisioned by Lyndsey Boyle, '24 LEMBA, won second prize. Sip & Snack is dedicated to fostering social connections among parents in a stress-free, judgment-free environment. The hub's objective is to remove the barriers of expensive babysitting, small space living, and stressful hosting so parents can enjoy focused adult interaction.

DecideGuide, a free-to-use website for video game players to receive tailored game recommendations, came in third. The brainchild of Mike Felice, '24 LEMBA, and Macie Taggart, DecideGuide surfaces why players enjoy the games they play in order to free them from endless research and frequent purchase regret caused by current review and recommendation solutions.

Taking fourth place was Groveyard, an end-of-life service that specializes in human composing and tree burial plots. Groveyard is a business idea formulated by Sarah Rauf, '26 (Marketing and Management; minors in Global Business and Entrepreneurship and Innovation) and Kevin Raphael, '24 (Marketing).

The judges for this year's Harriet Stephenson Business Plan Competition were John J. Ostlund, Chief Technology Officer of MetaTechX, '03 MBA and '86 (Engineering); Lindsey McGrew, Executive Director and Founder of The Madrone School, '19 MBA; Dave Parker, CEO and Board Member of the Entrepreneurs' Organization; Peggy Smith, Chief Innovation Officer of National Corporate Housing; and Kathleen Baxley, CFO of Mastersfund.

The Harriet Stephenson Business Plan Competition is organized every year by the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center.