Carla wins Global Entrepreneurship Award
Carla McDonnell becomes the first Irish winner of the Global Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge.
Since 2017, basis.point has invested over €1.5 million in the NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) programme, helping young people turn ideas into thriving businesses. Thanks to our patrons, many volunteering as judges and mentors, students across Ireland are gaining the confidence to dream big.
L-R basis.point patrons, Sinead Colreavy, Ronnie Griffith and John Weedle join Sean Campbell and Karen Hannify at the Foroige NFTE Finals
Carla’s Journey to the Global Stage
Carla McDonnell, a student at St Louis Secondary School in Drogheda, won the Innovation Category at the Foróige NFTE Awards in Croke Park, impressing a judging panel that included John Weedle of HSBC. This victory earned her the chance to represent Ireland at the World Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (WYEC) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
In a first for Ireland, Carla claimed overall first place in the Global Entrepreneurship Awards, much to the delight of her schoolteacher and father who had travelled with her to New York. She also secured a $5,000 bursary to grow her business idea.
Carla McDonnell demonstrating her Vax Chill prototype
Her Winning Idea: Vax Chill
Growing up on a farm, Carla saw firsthand the challenge of storing livestock vaccines. Spoiled vaccines mean financial loss and risk to animal health. Her solution, Vax Chill, is a compact, portable cooling system that keeps vaccines at the right temperature, helping farmers protect their herds and their livelihoods. It’s a simple innovation with a big impact on agricultural sustainability.
Why It Matters
Carla’s success shows the transformative power of NFTE and the generosity of basis.point patrons. By mentoring, judging, and funding these programmes, our community is helping young people unlock their potential and build brighter futures.
Thank you to everyone who played a part in this journey. In addition to John Weedle of HSBC, representatives from our Prestige and Premier Patrons, Amundi, Caceis, EY, Goldman Sachs, and Vanguard, each played their part in helping young people throughout the country grow in confidence and reach their potential. Thank you Ronan Burke, Salima Rabba, Anne Marie Maguire, Samantha Zomero and Sara Mahomed Ross, John Whitaker, Lisa Harlow and Jen Clarke.
In addition, at the WYEC gala dinner, Foróige was awarded the inaugural ‘Global Innovation Member of the Year Award’ recognising the organisation’s outstanding support for young people in terms of the development of entrepreneurship and employability skills. This is a partnership that works!
Listen in to Carla talk of her experience hereÂ
