Northwestern Alumna Fosters Global Collaboration among University Students Advancing Climate Action
Sherry Xue graduated from Northwestern University’s School of Communication with a BA in Communication Studies in 2022. She now serves as Co-Director of the Climate Innovation Challenge, a program through which university students across the world collaborate virtually to develop innovative solutions for organizations seeking to create a more sustainable world.
Northwestern alumna Sherry Xue (School of Communication, ’22) serves as Co-Director of the Climate Innovation Challenge (CIC), a program built to foster international collaboration among students seeking to advance climate action. Today, the CIC has empowered four cohorts of 120 university students representing 54 educational institutions across 24 countries to co-develop innovative solutions to sustainability problems brought to the CIC by 14 leading climate organizations.
The Buffett Institute connected with Sherry to learn how her role at the CIC builds upon her global learning experiences at Northwestern. She and her CIC Co-Director Wahid Hossain also shared insights into how they are helping prepare tomorrow’s leaders to undertake global collaborations for climate action.
Describe your journey from being a student at Northwestern to leading the Climate Innovation Challenge.
Sherry Xue: As a Northwestern student, exposure to entrepreneurship was a big part of my life. I launched a startup through the Garage in the global volunteering space, which then became a part of the Global Engagement Coalition at the Northwestern’s Global Learning Office (GLO). The coalition is comprised of leaders of student-run organizations seeking to develop their capacity for ethical and effective global engagement.
I also studied abroad through GLO and worked with Northwestern’s Office of Global Safety and Security to undertake an expedition in Antarctica focused on climate action, which allowed me to meet people from 37 countries working in the climate space. Meeting people on the expedition—from students to executives—doing such great work in the climate space inspired me to dedicate my career and skills to climate change.
After graduating from Northwestern, I was accepted to the Watson Institute’s fellowship program, a social entrepreneurship incubator, where I connected with Wahid Hossain, a graduate student from Bangladesh, and found that we shared a passion for experiential learning and cross-cultural exchange. CIC was born from this collaboration, and Wahid and I now co-direct the CIC.
CIC co-director Wahid Hossain (middle) and CIC participants Saskia van Oosterhout (left) and Sarah Sabin Khan Toni Lehtonen (right) facilitated a dialogue between United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bangladesh and Arla Foods Bangladesh exploring how global organizations can collaborate with policymakers and multinational companies to build a more sustainable food ecosystem.
What does the Climate Innovation Challenge look like?
Sherry Xue: The Climate Innovation Challenge is a virtual program focusing on student collaboration across different countries. This program focuses on the Global South, and we prioritize collaboration between the United States and Bangladesh. We aim to work together to solve problems and challenges proposed by organizations in the climate space.
As an undergraduate, I greatly benefitted from learning opportunities that were both experiential and global, so I wanted to provide that to more students. Working as a facilitator in this same space truly comes full circle for me.
Wahid Hossain: So far, we've had four cohorts of participants, drumming up over a hundred applications for each round. We have also engaged more than a dozen leading climate organizations to provide mentorship and case studies for the program, thanks to the support of our partners like the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bangladesh.
CIC Cohort 4.0 is comprised of 30 university students representing 11 countries and 18 educational institutions. Over six weeks, they worked together in diverse teams under the guidance of four leading climate organizations to develop innovative solutions to their real-world business case studies.
What types of business case studies do students focus on for the Climate Innovation Challenge?
Sherry Xue: So far, we’ve worked closely with 14 startup organizations based all over the world—the United States, Germany, Bangladesh and Kenya—working in various aspects of climate, like carbon credits, agriculture, waste management and sustainable fashion.
Wahid Hossain: We ask our partner organizations to propose a meaningful challenge they currently face and pair up student participants in CIC to work on solutions. Our students have diverse backgrounds and skill sets, which we keep in mind when creating teams. Case studies provide our students with collaboration opportunities that mirror real-world cross-cultural experiences, when you may have to navigate different time zones and cultural backgrounds.
For example, we worked with a Bangladeshi organization working to innovate new technologies to improve coastal freshwater accessibility. While this organization is the technology expert, our students offered this organization the necessary background information by researching and providing an understanding of the geographical area, insight into important cultural points of view and whether there are enough technological and financial resources available to make this project a success.
CIC virtual business case study briefing
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs based on your experiences with the Climate Innovation Challenge?
Sherry Xue: The biggest takeaway I've learned is the power of networks. When we first envisioned CIC, it was seen as more of a collaboration between the U.S. and Bangladesh, but when we started our very first program, we reached students in a dozen countries just through word of mouth. We got over 100 applications and only had spots for 30 students, which shows the power of our networks thanks to the types of global experiences we had as students. In turn, the CIC helps foster these types of global networks for our participants.
I would also say that when you have an idea, don’t be afraid to act on it—the worst-case scenario is that it doesn't work out and you find a different way to do things. Students may have a harder time believing in themselves because they don't have as much experience as a later-career professional, but everyone can offer different skills and perspectives no matter what stage of their life or career they are in.
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