First they wanted young people to rule the world, now they want them to save it. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (ICAO)’s Philanthropy Challenge is a call to Ontario high school and university students to come up with an innovative way to ‘save the world’ through a business or product idea. The contest is part of the ‘Rule the World’ recruitment campaign, which came about when the ICAO and Ogilvy discovered through focus groups that young people don’t know much about what CAs do, or that they’re often in leadership positions.

‘We thought it would be great to let them show their mettle and have a positive impact,’ says Jon French, associate director of career information at the ICAO. The Institute is spreading the ‘rule the world, save the world’ message through print materials and a website (guidetorulingtheworld.ca) created by Ogilvy, as well as campus events.

Students can enter the Philanthropy Challenge on the website, but they must first register with the ICAO’s Associate Student Program. The winners (a two-person high school team and an individual in university) will walk away with $10,000, half of which is to be used to implement their idea with the help of a CA mentor. The contest closes March 13.