The finals required participants to give elaborate online presentations on how their proposed projects could benefit target groups. Finalists also had to answer pointed queries on the feasibility of their projects from a panel of judges, including UNFPA China assistant representative Peng Jiong, partnerships specialist with UNICEF China Zhang Yan and senior adviser to China International Publishing Group David Ferguson.

Before they made it to the finals, Li and her team-comprising Xue Muhan, a Chinese high school student based in Ethiopia, and Xue's schoolmates Kal Melaku and Tesnim Ahmed-contacted the Ethiopia Office of China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, seeking advice and permission for field research in villages.