Davos, January 22

The Coca-Cola Company today announced the 2015 winners of ‘Coca-Cola Shaping a Better Future Grant Challenge’ with this year’s grand prize winner from Kathmandu to receive a $20,000 grant for its ‘Nepal Earthquake Relief Project’.

In the aftermath of the devastating 2015 earthquake in Nepal, the rural area of Sindhupalchowk was left with only one functioning health post to serve an estimated 40,000 villagers in the region. The Global Shapers — young leaders aged between 20- and 30-years-old, who are organised into a network of nearly 500 city-based hubs — took swift action in organising a collaborative earthquake relief effort to rebuild this important community resource.

With their acceleration funding from Coca-Cola, the Sindhupalchowk Health Post will become the first fully operational health post in post-earthquake Nepal. Furthermore, they will install new medical equipment, train additional medical personnel, and implement clean water and sanitation community education programmes in the region.

“Three years ago we founded the ‘Coca-Cola Shaping a Better Future Grant Challenge’ because most powerful thing we can do for self-starting young people is to help bring their innovative, solutions oriented projects to scale,” said Clyde Tuggle, chief public affairs and communications officer, The Coca-Cola Company. “Being a change agent has no age limit, and we are proud to partner with Global Shapers Community.”

The challenge is a competition exclusively for members of World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Shapers Community. For the competition, Global Shapers launch projects that address the world’s most challenging issues, with opportunity to win seed money to expand their initiatives.

Adrian Monck, head of public engagement and foundations at the WEF, said, “Coca-Cola Company’s partnership with Global Shapers community is helping Global Shapers to make a lasting impact. The Global Shapers have passion, dynamism and an entrepreneurial spirit, and together, we hope to improve the state of the world.”