Want to participate in 2023?
Register for the MGT4803(E) Social Impact course for the spring semester. (Course meets on mondays, 5-7:45pm)
What is Ideas to Serve?
Ideas to Serve (I2S) focuses on community collaborations and promotes an in-depth understanding of social and environmental issues locally and globally. We take a comprehensive approach to social innovation, encouraging students to do the following:
- Be compassionate listeners
- Identify and build on the assets of the community
- Research the solution landscape to learn from both what works and what failed
- Take a systems approach to identify the root cause versus the symptoms of the issue
Students who aspire to work closely with and learn from a community partner/civic entrepreneur, those who want to affect change in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), and those who are wondering how they can make a real, lasting, and appropriate difference in other people’s lives are ideal candidates for I2S.
In the 2022 season, student teams learned from and worked with our Atlanta area community partners and civic entrepreneurs. We are continuing the same approach in 2023. A series of hands-on workshops and discussions, complemented by conversations with experts from the frontlines, will equip participants with broadly relevant problem discovery tools and skills that they can apply in any field and career. The weekly workshops (Mondays, 5:30 to 7:45 pm) are offered as part of the MGT4803 Social Impact course and they are open to any interested student and community partner, but please note that only students who register for the course will be placed in a team and paired with a community partner for I2S participation. Others are welcome to attend the workshops of their choice for their personal development, to learn about useful problem-discovery tools that they can apply in any field, and to get connected to leaders in the social impact space.
We also welcome those teams that are registered for the Global Development Capstone course (with Dr. Kumar’s advisement) to attend these workshops and present at the Showcase.
The deliverable for I2S is a stakeholder map of the social issue student teams explore with their community partner's guidance. The I2S Showcase will take place on April 17, where teams will present the outcome of their work to an audience of practitioners, community leaders, faculty, and students.
