Among those in attendance were former Sharks players Joe Thornton and Devin Setoguchi, who spent time with students and guests during the event. When asked about the significance of hosting an innovation competition in the Bay Area, Thornton pointed to the region\u2019s longstanding culture of creativity. \u201cInnovation is a big part of Silicon Valley and everything spreads from here. There\u2019s a lot of bright minds here, and this is where you want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The competition embodied the spirit of innovation, challenging students to reimagine how hockey can create stronger, healthier, and more inclusive communities. \u201cThis competition demonstrated what becomes possible when we create space for young people to bring forward bold ideas rooted in real-world needs,\u201d said Kevin Brown, Executive Director of the Sharks Foundation and Head of Community Impact for Sharks Sports & Entertainment. \u201cEach finalist challenged us to think differently about how hockey can foster greater access, belonging, and wellness. We are proud to have helped bring this opportunity to the Bay Area and excited by the potential of these ideas to create meaningful change through the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The competition also reflected the broader commitment of SAP and the Sharks Foundation to create opportunities for young people who reside in San Jose, Oakland, Fremont, or Gilroy \u2013 communities that Sharks Sports & Entertainment directly supports through its ice facilities and other resources. Part of a three-year, $1 million commitment to address education equity, seven students will receive need-based \u201cFinnovation\u201d scholarships in the amount of $30,000 each to support their higher education journeys, made possible through a partnership with nonprofit 10,000 Degrees<\/a>. Prior to announcing the inaugural San Jose Innovation Competition winners, the Sharks Foundation and SAP presented a $230,000 Community Assist grant to 10,000 Degrees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Among those in attendance were former Sharks players Joe Thornton and Devin Setoguchi, who spent time with students…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[88,90,89],"class_list":["post-365506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}