University Partnerships

Be A Changemaker

The Youth Venture “Be A Changemaker” university partnership consists of three stages: a university wide call to action across the undergraduate community; an intensive period of social venture creation with in-person workshops and the aid of a user-driven online learning platform; and ongoing post-launch support and fellowship.

This training program for young innovators (ideally ages 17-21) helps them avoid the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make when they start out: namely, not understanding the social problems they’ve identified, not knowing their customers/beneficiaries, and not having a feasible business model. A business plan is useless if those key components are not sufficiently developed. The modules in this program are designed to achieve three key outcomes:

• Participants leave with a plan and tools to profile their customers more accurately
• Participants have a clear understanding of their business model, its strengths and weaknesses, and can articulate it well
• Participants have a clear, concise and powerful pitch for their venture
• Participants develop changemaker skills of problem solving, leadership, teamwork, and empathy.

Be A Changemaker Impact

• Identify a cohort of self-driven, socially-minded students to further engage in existing on-campus initiatives and programs and possibly spearhead subsequent years of Be A Changemaker delivery on campus.
• Meet and increase student demand for social entrepreneurship programming
• Strengthen and connect existing campus social entrepreneurship initiatives
• Outsource student social innovation support to Ashoka Youth Venture, reputable external partner with over a decade of experience in youth social innovation support
• Provide your students with connections to a larger network of opportunities and social innovators globally
• Corporate engagement elements and career service opportunities for students