USD Magazine Summer 2015

FURTHER D E T A I L S

CHANGEMAKER SUMMIT

Student s share ideas about col l aborat ion [ b r a i n t r u s t ] WORKING TOGETHER In mid-April, the first annual Changemaker Student Summit brought more than 50 student leaders from institutions across the country to USD, the majority from the Ashoka U campus net- work. The three-day event was designed to further develop

innovative and creative leader- ship skills to unlock individual and collective potential for making sustainable change. “I wish I would have had an opportunity like this when I was a student to get together with students from across the country to share ideas about how to promote social justice,” said Changemaker Hub Director Mike Williams. “These students know it takes more than one per- son working alone to make change. We have to work together.” The goal of the summit was to create a forum for experienced student leaders to share best practices related to student- centered initiatives and projects for Changemaking; promote stu- dent networking with like-mind- ed peers; and generate realistic ways for Changemakers to collab- orate. Presented by USD’s Associ- ated Students and the Change- maker HUB, sponsors included USD’s School of Leadership Sciences, The Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, the School of Business Administration, the Mulvaney Center for Community, Awareness and Social Action, and the College of Arts and Sciences.

NICK ABADILLA

Seniors Katinka Bosch, Britney Becker and Taylor Kilpatrick embody the university’s commitment to Changemaking.

TO BE A CHANGEMAKER MEANS TO BE PART OF A TEAM. That was the recurring message during April’s inaugural 2015 Changemaker Student Summit, which was primarily organized by USD students. “Without a lot of collaboration, the summit wouldn’t have happened,” said Changemaker Student Initiatives Director Katinka Bosch ’15. “No one person is the superhero, it’s all of us working together.” Organizer and Changemaker Scholarship recipient Taylor Kilpatrick ’15 said a key take-away of the summit was possibility: “We want to show college students that you can have a career that lets you make a difference. Following your passion can inform your career.” Summit attendee Britney Becker ’15 — who founded SmartyPants, a company that prom- ises that the sale of every pair of its harem pants supports one month of primary school for a girl in a developing country — says it all comes back to teamwork: “It’s collabora- tion that facilitates Changemaking. Ideas come to life when you’ve got a network of amazing people brainstorming, providing resources and even cheerleading.”

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