UChicago’s Emerging Social Entrepreneurs

Earlier this year, the Rustandy Center’s Social Venture Studio (SVS) at Chicago Booth brought together a second cohort of students from across the University of Chicago who are developing ventures to address social challenges. Many are continuing to refine their work this spring, including through the John Edwardson, ’72, Social New Venture Challenge (Edwardson SNVC). 

SVS provides a launchpad for social entrepreneurs to turn ideas into real-world impact. Backed by a team of experts, SVS is open to all University of Chicago students who want to explore, build, or launch a social venture, no matter the stage of development. 

Here, SVS members Keenan Leary and Hamza Tariq talk about their involvement with the program and the ventures they are developing. Leary, a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, shares how SVS has provided him with the structure, network, and tools to more effectively tackle systemic homelessness through affordable housing. Tariq, who is pursuing a masters degree in computational analysis and public policy at the Harris School of Public Policy and the Department of Computer Science, explains that SVS helped him define his business model and stress-test his venture, which targets structural injustices in Pakistan’s rice sector.

Why Join SVS?

Keenan: SVS has been super helpful with orienting me toward maximizing my time once I’m in the SNVC this spring. This has involved a lot of customer discovery and business plan–type calls with prospective investors before I actually get to the point of moving into a pitch competition. I also just recently had a kid, so the structure of SVS has helped me stay on track with my venture, Functional Housing, as my North Star.

Hamza: I joined SVS because I was building Haqqo, my venture, out of conviction, but I knew conviction alone wasn’t enough. I needed structure, accountability, and people who would challenge my thinking. As someone coming from public policy and data science, I deeply understand structural injustice and market failures, but turning that understanding into a scalable venture requires more than passion. SVS gave me a space where social impact and rigorous business thinking coexist. Most importantly, SVS made the journey less lonely. Being part of a cohort reminded me that I’m not the only one trying to build solutions to hard problems.

What Social Challenges Are You Interested in Addressing?

Keenan: Industrialized homelessness has only been a phenomenon since the 1980s, and has been critically increasing everywhere only since the mid-2010s. Homeless services is currently a $20 billion industry and likely to grow by 50 percent before 2030 as localities continue to pass local funding mechanisms to address their unique problems. 

At Functional Housing, we hope to drive change toward accountability and real results on homelessness that your everyday taxpayer can understand and rely on. We plan to do this by making existing housing accessible for people with low incomes through umbrella master leases and customized rent rates to maximize potential for self-sufficiency and income growth. In doing so, we hope to engage a new segment of real estate professionals in the affordable housing space, while outperforming the existing nonprofit housing sector.

Hamza: I am focused on correcting structural inefficiencies and power imbalances in agricultural markets, particularly in Pakistan’s rice sector. Rice farmers can lose up to 30 percent of crop value due to opaque pricing, fragmented supply chains, and exploitative intermediation. Many are forced to sell without transparent quality assessments or reliable information about timing and broader market conditions.

This is not just inefficiency. It is a structural injustice rooted in information asymmetry and weak bargaining power. Through Haqqo, we purchase directly from farmers at fair market value using transparent quality metrics. We have developed a proprietary decision model powered by a myriad of features—including weather signals, supply flows, foreign exchange movements, and policy shifts—to generate short-term price forecasts and timing recommendations. By combining direct procurement with data-driven market intelligence, we aim to restore value to producers and introduce transparency into agricultural markets.

How Has SVS Helped You Build Your Social Venture?

Keenan: The moment I walked into the Rustandy Center and met with Will [Colegrove, director of the Edwardson Social Entrepreneurship Program], I was introduced to two other professionals in my space and had two of the best conversations I had last year. It’s really helpful to have a vehicle to make new connections and explain my concept to new audiences who also speak the language of housing. At the same time, being at Booth has been good practice for me to simplify my language and step out of the research world (I’m still working on this!). The other ventures in the group are also interesting, and I know there will be more opportunities to network with other founders and collaborate on our concepts.

Hamza: SVS pushed me to move from idea to discipline. Before SVS, Haqqo was a strong concept with early traction. During SVS, I refined the operating model, clarified the dual structure of the venture, and stress-tested the unit economics.

The office hours were especially transformative. Mentors pushed me to answer hard questions. SVS also helped me translate my public policy background into a venture narrative that resonates with investors and operators. It strengthened my clarity around capital requirements, stakeholder management, and long-term strategy. By the end of the quarter, Haqqo was no longer just a mission-driven idea. It became a structured, investable social enterprise.

What Has Been the Most Rewarding Part of Joining the SVS Cohort?

Keenan: Providing structure and milestones around what it takes to bring a concept to market has been super helpful. Previously, I’ve wondered what the tangible steps are to build a business and what investors want to see. You can only get so far searching online. SVS provides a template to pursue that in tangible, weekly steps.

Hamza: The most rewarding part has been the people. Learning from MBA students, policy students, and technologists forced me to think more holistically about the problem I’m solving. It also normalized ambition. When you’re trying to challenge entrenched systems, it’s easy to doubt yourself. Being surrounded by peers building serious ventures made it feel possible. There’s something powerful about a room full of people who believe business can be used as a tool for justice and impact.

How Can We Keep Up with Your Venture and Continue to Support Your Mission?

Keenan: You can visit our website at functionalhousing.org and sign up for our newsletter there. You can also follow along on LinkedIn. If you’re interested in collaborating directly, you can shoot me an email.

Hamza: You can follow my journey and updates on LinkedIn, where I regularly share progress on Haqqo and our work in agricultural markets.