BanglaShield Wins the 2025 Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge
- Sustainable Investing Challenge brings together future leaders addressing critical sustainability issues through innovative financial solutions
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Oxford University team awarded top prize for proposal to provide affordable flood resilience financing for low-income households in
Bangladesh - Second- and third-place prizes awarded to students from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and York University’s Schulich School of Business
The graduate students from Oxford University were awarded the top prize of
“The Sustainable Investing Challenge showcases the creativity and innovation of the next generation of sustainable finance leaders,” said Jessica Alsford, Morgan Stanley’s Chief Sustainability Officer and Chair of the Institute for Sustainable Investing. “We’re inspired by the bold ideas presented this year, which demonstrate the potential of financial solutions to drive real, lasting impact across industries and communities.”
The finalists pitched a wide variety of ideas, addressing social and environmental issues around the world including the sustainable aviation transition in
The second- and third-place prizes of
The Sustainable Agri-aqua Investment Fund team, including Debdeep Bhattacharjee, Karuna Chauhan, Apurva P and Shagun Sharma, presented a plan to address groundwater depletion in Punjab by aligning micro-irrigation financing with pooled carbon credits and government-backed repayments linked to energy savings. The Pharoah Brick Fund proposal aims to repurpose Egypt’s waste from demolition and rice straw into low-carbon bricks, thereby reducing pollution and landfill waste while promoting sustainable construction. The team consisted of Sara Amin, Aayush Rathore and Sadanand Shenoy.
“Each year, this competition reaffirms what we already know—the talent, drive and fresh thinking of today’s graduate students will be the key to tackling our most challenging global problems,” said Dave Chen, Professor of Finance at Kellogg Management School, CEO of Equilibrium Capital and the founder of the Sustainable Investing Challenge. “This year’s winners and finalists aren’t just developing solutions for tomorrow; they’re demonstrating what is possible today.”
The three prize-winning teams were selected by a panel of sustainable finance experts and senior practitioners across the industry to advance to the final round, pitching to judges at Morgan Stanley in
More information on this year’s teams and their projects can be found here.
About Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in 42 countries, the Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.
About The Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing
The Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing (The Institute) builds scalable finance solutions that seek to deliver competitive financial returns while driving positive environmental and social impact. The Institute creates innovative financial products, thoughtful insights and capacity building programs that help maximize capital to create a more sustainable future. For more information about the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, visit www.morganstanley.com/sustainableinvesting.
About Kellogg School of Management
The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University develops brave leaders who inspire growth in people, organizations and markets. Based just outside of
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