Duke Senior Wins $25K Entrepreneurship Award

Duke University senior Michael Bernert has been selected as the first recipient of the ELI Social Entrepreneurship Year-To-Launch Award, an award designed to support student social entrepreneurship. Bernert was granted a $25,000 prize to launch his social venture, West African Ventures in Agriculture (WAVA LLC), is a company that makes investments in agricultural projects in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The Oregon native developed the idea after spending his sophomore summer participating in DukeEngage Sierra Leone.