Every year, the Catherine B. Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship awards scholarships to as many as ten lucky sophomores, giving up to $50,000 in scholarships to each winner. To get the money, each student who applies must come up with a grand vision for change, an idea that can benefit society in some way and must demonstrate a certain relentlessness in pursuing his or her idea. An idea need not be in a particular stage of development to be considered. Indeed, an idea in its infancy can help a student win a scholarship. In fact, when NYU Local publisher Cody Brown won last year, Local was only an idea.

The program is open to sophomores from each undergraduate school. This year’s batch of finalists is an impressive one, with each finalist bringing a different idea to the table. From helping homeless teen mothers to aiding citizens of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, their ideas span the entire spectrum of social entrepreneurship. A list of the finalists and their ideas after the jump.

Who do you think deserves the scholarships? Let us know in the comments.

- Shane Crary-Ross (Silver School of Social Work): The Green Canteen, an on-campus sustainable lunch stand, using produce from local farmers; Sustainable Silver, a green initiative designed to help bring sustainable practices to the Silver School of Social Work.
- Amanda Raposo (Silver School of Social Work): Baby’s First Home, a supportive housing project for teen mothers in New York City; working with previous Reynolds winner, Jessica Mason.
- Anna Egorova (School of Nursing): Blood donation awareness through a series of educational presentations at colleges; also plans to improve the nursing profession in Russia by instituting extension courses for nurses in Russian hospitals.
- Genesis Briggs (Tisch): Open Sky Artworks, a label that “will produce, market and distribute poetry, paintings illustrations, music novels, films and any other artwork that is produced by the youth for the youth.” Currently working on a Hip-Hop Children’s Album, an education tool to be used in classrooms.
- Allen Tullos (Tisch): A production company that is run almost entirely by high school students. The business, for high school students interested in film, offers “an opportunity to gain practical knowledge, produce professional-looking short films at a young age, and earn a modest wage doing enjoyable work.”
- Nandan Rao (Tisch): A network to “link trained artists and students to young artists in underprivileged communities” to help young artists “create and distribute their art at a level competitive with the art community at large.” Also, specialized micro-universities in rural areas, dedicated to particular natural resources in the area; an organization that “publicly displays the environmental and social sustainability of consumer goods businesses; a cooperation that “binds together small businesses” with the same values, and “encourages labor-sharing between these businesses.”
- Eden R. Jeffries (Steinhardt): Plans to bring “action-oriented awareness through the arts on a national and global scale” for particular social problems. Wants to collaborate with “already established organizations and with peers to conduct arts for social change programs in various underprivileged communities.”
- Gabriela M. Tejedor (Steinhardt): Looking to “link together both education and artistic expression.” Envisions a program with a “cause and effect model,” with students researching global issues and creating an “active representation and reaction through different mediums of artistic expression.”
- Paola Mariselli (Stern): A tri-component one-year program focused on the three C’s: Career counseling, Community service, and Culture and the arts; program seeks to benefit “underprivileged, high-achieving high school students in the community by helping them become well-rounded individuals.”
- Tommy Head (Stern): A non-profit organization that benefits families afflicted with childhood cancer. The organization pays medical bills, and other bills brought on by the “financial strain of childhood cancer.”
- Maya Cohen (CAS): Plans to work on behalf of abused and neglected children and teenagers.
- Francesca Eick (CAS): Plans to continue her work with Keep A Child Alive, an HIV/AIDS non-profit organization, and develop additional women-centered programs focusing on health and economic empowerment.
- Anna Escobar (CAS): Plans to establish a network of students to engage in social issue advocacy and activism through the medium of documentary film; her first project will focus on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Erika Hval (CAS): Plans to launch a program that focuses on nutrition and health; also, the program will provide people with information on low-cost healthy food.
- Nicholas Jensen (CAS): Plans to start a youth-friendly voting organization to work toward making registration easier and lowering the voting age to 16.
- Lilly Padia (CAS): Plans to run an educational program for high school students that focuses on unconventional education, leadership and community.
- Stelios Phili (CAS): Plans to turn his fledgling website, popsense.com, into the next large-scale medium for the written word.
- Michelle Pomeroy (CAS): Plans to run an awareness-oriented media campaign along with a service organization that promotes constructive interfaith interaction.
- Nathaniel Reuter (CAS): Plans to develop an outdoor education program for young people that will instill appreciation for the environment and teach outdoor living and leadership skills.
- Patricia Schneidewind (CAS): Plans to continue her work as a founding member of a school for underprivileged girls and young mothers in Tanzania.
- Jessica Tsang (CAS): Plans to work to make urban planning environmentally conscious, especially in developing nations; also plans to implement a program of “green therapy” for urban youth.
- Ken Zhao (CAS): Plans to foster technological innovation through a new forum, sponsored by both academia and industries, which works with high school and college students who want to use their scientific skills to enact positive change.

* The finalists from Gallatin and the finalist from SCPS did not wish to give out their information.