On Friday, April 12th, the College will host the first annual Changemaker Challenge. The event is an opportunity for students to share what they have learned about a social justice problem and/or solutions they have developed. There is $5,000 in prize money to be won.
There are two options to enter, and students can enter just one or both. The first is a poster session where they will use the Impact Gaps Canvas to demonstrate their understanding of the landscape of a problem. There are three parts – Problem Landscape, Solution Landscape and Gaps. Information about the Impact Gaps Canvas can be found below. The second part is an elevator pitch of their solutions to a social justice problem.
Students can tackle any social justice problem – locally or globally. Students can enter both parts of the competition, or just one. Students can enter as a team or on their own. It is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. Entries can come from class projects, personal research or even club projects. Judges will consist of members of the Board of Trustees and the Advisory Board to the Sustainability Literacy Institute, as well as a few additional community members.
To help students learn and use the Impact Gaps canvas, they can review two different websites. One is www.tacklingheropreneurship.com and the other is http://mapthesystem.sbs.ox.ac.uk/. The latter is a global competition, to which we hope to be able to send our winners. The site has video of pitches and copies of submitted documents for the finalists from the last three years. It also has a section with many resources for how to create an Impact Gaps Canvas.
In addition, the college is running some workshops to help students with the canvas. Students can find out more and register by going to http://go.cofc.edu/changemaker. Workshops are not required for entry into the Challenge.
Students interested in taking part are strongly encouraged to complete the Intent to Compete form, which is also at http://go.cofc.edu/changemaker. The purpose of this is to get in contact with students to help them prepare (and for us to have a better idea of how many students are entering). Completing the form is not required, but strongly encouraged, to compete in the Challenge.
Any questions can be sent to Dr. Dave Hansen. His office hours are open-door – no appointment necessary – T/Th from 12-1 and W from 12-3. Or contact Dr. Hansen by email: hansend@cofc.edu.