From April to October, more than 2,000 students from 42 countries competed in the 2011 Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA), a global competition for high school, undergraduate and graduate students who own and operate businesses while attending college or university. An Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) program, GSEA supports early stage entrepreneurs who require much-needed mentorship, recognition and connections to take their businesses to the next level. This year, the GSEA Global Finals was held from 17-19 November in New York City, New York, USA during Global Entrepreneurship Week, where 30 students competed for their share in a US$500,000 prize pool and the title of Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year.

Earning that prestigious title for 2011 was the first ever sub-Saharan African Student, Ludwick Marishane. As a senior at the University of Capetown, Ludwick is the founder of Headboy Industries, LLC. Headboy is an invention-development and commercialization company that created DryBath, a revolutionary patent-pending personal care product. Runner –up was Garrett Gee, a sophomore at Brigham Young University and founder of Scan.me, a cutting-edge software solutions provider.

“Participating in GSEA was a game-changing experience for my personal and professional growth, and winning is proof that crazy high school dreams can go on to bring about real change in the world,” said Marishane. “I went for the competition, but came back with a global board of peer advisors and lifelong mentors through EO.”

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Emily Egan, with EO, contributed to this article.

tags: EO, GSEA, Ludwick Marishane, South Africa