The Paul & Elizabeth Montle Prize for Entrepreneurial Achievement

Recipients of 2024 Montle Prize Announced

The Paul and Elizabeth Montle Prize for Entrepreneurial Achievement is awarded to three students who demonstrate outstanding entrepreneurial skills each year.

The Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts (DEC) awarded three undergraduate students the Paul and Elizabeth Montle Prize for Entrepreneurial Achievement in recognition of their commitment, passion, and ingenuity in pursuit of entrepreneurial achievement.

The annual prize includes three monetary awards: “The Senior Award,” “Most Progress in a New Venture,” and “Best Demonstration of Grit.” “The Senior Award” recognizes a graduating student who has shown strong personal growth in their entrepreneurial mindset and skill set since their freshman year, while the “Most Progress in a New Venture” and “Best Demonstration of Grit” awards recognize a commitment to progress in an entrepreneurial venture and overall entrepreneurial grit respectively.

This year’s winners are as follows:

“The Senior Award” ($15,000) – Sarah Jun, A25

Sarah Jun is always looking to help solve important problems through her work. Her past experience working with Diverso (a student-led nonprofit dedicated to empowering the next generation of POC storytellers in the film industry) and Potencia (a Tufts-founded nonprofit dedicated to providing accessible, flexible, and affordable English language learning) have culminated in the launch of her own venture: Freebites. Freebites is a mobile app that alerts students to free food opportunities near them, addressing food insecurity on college campuses and reducing food waste.

“Most Progress in a New Venture” ($10,000) – Duncan Johnson, E26

Duncan Johnson is no stranger to entrepreneurship, having won 1st Place in the 2024 Tufts New Ventures Competition Social Impact Track with Patch, a programming environment he launched to help students bridge the gap from block-based programming to text-based. Now, he is hard at work on building Verse, an AI-powered tool that will help educators produce high quality, engaging online learning content. Duncan and his co-founder Elliot competed in the 2024 Ideas Competition at Tufts with Verse and are continuing to pursue their latest venture.

“Best Demonstration of Grit ($10,000) – Neelofar Tamboli, E25

Neelofar Tamboli is committed to creating impact through her venture TalkMotion, a real-time translation app that enhances communication access for Deaf and hard-of-hearing users. Neelofar reached the 2024 Tufts New Ventures Competition Finals with TalkMotion and hasn’t let her foot off the gas ever since. She plans to use her Montle Prize award to continue growing TalkMotion and expanding its impact.

The Montle Prize for Entrepreneurial Achievement was established by the late Paul Montle, an alumnus of Tufts University’s Class of 1969, to support students as they become leaders in business and nonprofit sectors. The honor celebrates innovative thinking and expertise gained through entrepreneurship courses, co-curricular events, competitions, and working in a startup.

Recipients of the Montle Prize accept a future commitment to give back to Tufts University, with many going on to compete in the Tufts New Ventures Competition hosted by the Derby Entrepreneurship Center.

To learn more about The Paul and Elizabeth Montle Prize for Entrepreneurial Achievement, visit: https://derbyecenter.tufts.edu/competitions/montle-prize/