Three recent alumni, all with competitive spirits and a soft spot in their hearts for children battling illness, are the winners of the recent School of Business’ Global Alumni Case Competition.

The competition was designed to help the non-profit Make-A-Wish Foundation of Connecticut to reach more children who could benefit from the services, more sharply communicate the organization’s purpose, and draw an expanded team of volunteers.

The winning team included Cara Tran ’22, a bioengineering and biomedical engineering major, who works as a PRISM sales engineer at Henkel in Connecticut; Prabhas KC ’22, an economics major and works in GTM strategy at ServiceNow in Boston; and Alexander Kim ’22, a finance major, working as a risk analyst at Barclays in New York.

Childrens’ Wishes Range from Tropical Vacations to New Pets

Since its inception in 1986, the Connecticut chapter of Make-A-Wish has granted 3,800 wishes to children, ranging from a trip to Hawaii, to getting a puppy, to spending a day as a firefighter.

The organization’s leadership had specific goals for the UConn alumni participants. One is to clear up a misperception that the organization only serves children with terminal illnesses. In fact, many of the Make-A-Wish beneficiaries recover from their health battles and lead long lives. The Make-A-Wish team also wants to reach more families in urban and rural areas, which traditionally have a lower participation rate, and to expand their volunteer base.

For Tran, who knows someone who benefitted from Make-A-Wish, the challenge was deeply personal.

“It was a great opportunity for all of us to work together, using our different backgrounds, to solve real-world problems,’’ she said. “It was impactful for us and, I hope for the organization as well.’’

The winning team offered many suggestions, including the adoption of a slogan “Together we’ll Wish’’; recommended using college student ambassadors to reach out to target audiences; proposed targeted social media usage; and recommended highlighting stories of children now doing well and also spotlighting volunteers.

Kim and his teammates, who won a Unilever case challenge as undergrads, gave up most of their Sundays to work on the project.

“I think it is great that UConn offers the opportunity for alumni to continue to be involved with events such as this case competition,’’ he said. “It’s been a pleasure getting to work with Prabhas and Cara over the past few weeks and I am excited to turn these ideas into action in partnership with Make-A-Wish.’’

“Although none of us had an abundance of spare time, we all had the heart for the case competition,’’ KC said. “Working for such a reputable organization made it easier to commit our time. Intellectually, the experience forced us to think about solving unique challenges and coming up with solutions quickly. We devoted a great deal of energy to thinking about the details of our proposal. We loved the real-world experience and learning something new.’’

After discovering so much about Make-A-Wish, KC said he is hoping to become a volunteer for the organization.

Event Creates a Mini UConn ‘Think Tank’

Make-A-Wish has access to a $30,000 grant that can be used to implement new strategic plans. Kristen Moran, director of marketing and communications at Make-A-Wish Connecticut, said the organization was grateful for the ideas from all the participating teams.

“We appreciated the time spent by the participants and the creativity with which they approached the case,’’ Moran said. “They did a lot of background research and presented carefully thought-out approaches to the issues, including interesting details and ideas. Each presentation addressed the issues differently, providing us with a range of actionable ideas.’’

This is the second year that the School of Business’ Office of External and Alumni Engagement has offered an alumni case competition and organizer Jillian Comolli said it remains a popular event.

“The Make-A-Wish Foundation’s goal to reach more families who could benefit from its services seemed to strike a powerful chord with our alumni,’’ Comolli said. “Not only is this an avenue for alumni to come together and demonstrate their skills, but also an opportunity to help a local non-profit in the process.

“This year we had increased interest from international alums and alums from different schools and colleges across UConn, with over a dozen teams registering for the competition,’’ she said. “We love the collective ‘think tank’ that our UConn alumni have created.’’