Annika Villareal ’29 Captures Top Prize in Northeastern’s Global Innovation Challenge

Annika Villareal ’29

Villareal, an International Business and Economics major from Chantilly, Virginia, was part of the winning team in Northeastern University’s inaugural Global Innovation Challenge. Launched this spring, the competition brought together nearly 90 students from 12 campuses across Northeastern’s global network, who were divided into four-person teams. Each was challenged to develop a solution to help the international law firm Dentons prepare its employees to navigate the cultures, business practices, and client expectations in the more than 80 countries where it operates, enabling the firm to deliver seamless, locally relevant legal services.

Villareal and her team—which included master’s students from Northeastern’s London and Portland campuses and a fellow undergraduate from the Boston campus—spent months refining their proposal. “Initially, my team considered approaching this through an AI-focused lens, but we realized that many other teams would likely take that same path,” she said.

Instead, they researched how Dentons’ Swiss Verein structure—a legal framework that allows member firms in different countries to operate under a shared global brand while remaining financially and legally independent—shapes collaboration across its international network. Based on their findings, they developed the Dentons Global Learners Initiative, a secondment program modeled after a study-abroad experience for trainee lawyers.

“This allows trainees to rotate through different global offices, fostering organic, trusting relationships and strengthening the firm’s overall legal structure,” Villareal said.

Though the team worked virtually across multiple time zones, which proved challenging at times, Villareal said it was ultimately a fulfilling experience that allowed them to play to each other’s strengths. “I usually prefer working independently, but this project showed me that collaboration is both possible and incredibly rewarding,” she said. “We formed genuine friendships despite never having met before the finals. This experience really highlighted the importance of being open to other perspectives and leaning on the strengths of others.”

The team was one of three groups to make it to the finals, held at Northeastern’s Roux Institute in Portland, during Startup Maine Week, an annual initiative that brings founders, investors, partners, and community leaders together to champion Maine’s startup ecosystem.

Villareal said she was motivated to sign up for the competition because she had been seeking opportunities to push herself and expand her professional experience. But it isn’t the first time she’s participated in an initiative of this sort. She previously took part in a global case challenge through DECA, an international organization that prepares students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. Villareal was president of her high school’s club, an experience that sparked her interest in business, by showing how individuals could come together as a team, “and allow our creative minds to flow and create solutions that could be implemented in the real world.” She plans to earn both an MBA and a JD before pursuing a career in consulting or corporate law.

All told, she said she is taking away two lasting lessons from Northeastern’s challenge. The first is to never count yourself out and to simply try new things. The second, she added, is that “it doesn’t matter if you feel like the least experienced person in the room; the fact that you are in the room is what counts.”

“I was one of only two undergraduate students on my team and among the youngest competitors in the finals, competing against a sea of master’s students with deep expertise in fields like AI and computer science,” she said. “Coming out with a win taught me that if you put in the work and stay committed to your ideas, things will fall into place.”

Published: June 26, 2026