The National Invitational Public Policy Challenge of the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania is a competition for graduate-student teams from invited universities across the country. Each team will present a comprehensive policy proposal and civic campaign to address an issue specific to its university community, with topics including education, the environment and health care. Nine schools will compete in the first round of competition on Saturday, March 16. The four highest scoring teams will each earn $5,000 for their proposals and advance to the final round on Sunday, March 17. 

The team representing Penn was selected from five at the fourth annual Penn Public Policy Challenge on Feb. 24. The 2013 Penn winning team is re:Mind, proposing a technology solution for improving health care.

Participating teams from across the nation are proposing the following ideas:

• Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington, program to encourage community service among youth.
• Fels Institute of Government, Penn, appointment-reminder system for mental-health patients to decrease preventable re-hospitalizations.
• Georgetown Public Policy Institute, Georgetown University, partnership model between universities and public schools.
• Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago, contracts to help homeowners afford energy-efficient retrofits of their homes.
• Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University, comprehensive, online GED-training.
• Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, mobile application displaying real-time information on transportation alternatives.
• Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, New York University (proposal pending).
• School of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia, online networking site to connect charitable organizations.
• School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, mapping platform to assist disaster relief-organizations during crises. 

The judges will be:

• Robert Bobb, president/ CEO, Robert Bobb Group LLC.
• John Carrow, president, Carrow Consulting. 
• John Gregg, attorney, BGD LLP.
• William A. Johnson, professor of public policy, Rochester Institute of Technology. 
• Tricia Leddy, administrator, Rhode Island Center for Child and Family Health, 2004.
• William Leighty, senior fellow, Governing Institute.
• Alexandra Meis, co-founder, Kinvolved.
• Beverly Stein, consultant, Public Strategies Group, and director of Oregon Solutions.
• Paul W. Taylor, Governing Media, chief content officer.

The National Invitational Public Policy Challenge winning team will receive a $10,000 prize to put its proposal into action. The competition is presented with Governing magazine and sponsored by the Knight Foundation and Deloitte Consulting Group.  Additional support has been provided by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation and Penn’s Graduate and Professional Student Assembly. More information is available at www.fels.upenn.edu.