Register now for MGT4189 to participate in the 2024 Ideas to Serve program. This is a workshops-based course that meets on Mondays (5 – 7:45 pm, dinner included) and is open to all who are interested in understanding social/environmental issues.
Ideas to Serve

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 2023 season, student teams learned from and worked with our Atlanta area community partners and civic entrepreneurs. We are continuing the same approach in 2024. 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 MGT4189 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 15, where teams will present the outcome of their work to an audience of practitioners, community leaders, faculty, and students.
2024 Ideas to Serve
Now - January 8 | Register for the Social Impact course (MGT4189) |
January 8 | First Day of Class |
January 8 - April 22 | Workshops (as part of MGT4189) |
April 15 | I2S Showcase and Partner Celebration |
January 22 | Active Listening |
January 29 | Community Partner Presentations |
Febuary 5 | 5 WHYs |
Febuary 12 | Finding Data With Social Explorer |
Febuary 19 | Presenting Data For Storytelling/Data Visualization |
Febuary 26 | Asset Based Community Development |
March 4 | Mapping (Part 1): Introducing the Tool |
March 11 | Mapping (Part 2): Creating Your Map |
March 25 | Persuasive Presentations |
April 8 | Mapping (Part 3): Peer Feedback and Finalizing Your Map |
April 15 | I2S Showcase and Partner Celebration |
April 22 | Reflections and Team Awards |
We are honored to learn from and work with this diverse group of civic entrepreneurs. We thank them for their time, for sharing their expertise and knowledge, and for guiding our outstanding students in their problem discovery journey.
List of 2024 Partners will be announced in January
Mapping Tools:
- Canva: Create beautiful designs
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Infogram: Create engaging infographics and reports
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Kumu: A powerful data visualization platform that helps you organize complex information into interactive relationship maps
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MindMup: Create, share, and publish mind maps, hassle-free
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Piktochart: A simple, intuitive tool that helps you tell your story
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Plectica: Helping people visualize and connect information so they can get on the same page
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Venngage: Tell your stories and present your data with infographics
What is Systems – Thinking:
What to Consider When Conducting Stakeholder Interviews:
Map the System Submission Guidelines:
2024 Awards
We believe in equitable funding principles and are providing investments to all of our participating community partners. Their time, guidance, and lived experience are crucial for our students' learning journey.
Student Team Awards
- People's Choice Award
- Best Video Award
Supporters
- Center for Civic Innovation
- The Cecil B. Day Program for Business Ethics
- Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems
- Center for Serve - Learn - Sustain
- Denning Technology & Management Program
- Center for International Business Education and Research
- Design Bloc
- VentureLab
- Global Development Program @ Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
- Scheller College of Business
- Mosley Ventures
- Speechworks
- Ted Munchak Chair in Entrepreneurship
- The Woodall Servant Leadership Endowment