CCESL and Social Entrepreneurship
In her presentation during our last day in class CCESL's Associate Director Cara Dienno shared about two opportunities that inspired me to think about more concrete ways to pursue social entruprenusrship now while in college, and in this stage of my life. The first is the organization Echoing Green, and the second is CCESL itself.
Echoing Green
Echoing Green is an organization that funds social entrepreneurship ideas, projects, and education. EchoingGreen's Work On Purpose curriculum and corresponding workshop which was mentioned briefly in Cara's presentation is definitely something that I can see myself being interested in after doing some of my own research. Whether this would look like actually participating in one of their workshops, or maybe reaching out to them to learn more about how they encourage young adults to create change based on their skill sets, region etc.
THINK BIG, BE BOLD, DRIVE CHANGE. (Work On Purpose's mission statement)
Echoing Green focuses on providing life and work lessons in the context of social entrepreneurship to provide inspiration for young people seeking to make the world a better place by contributing in the way that fits their passions. Form what I gather on their website Work On Purpose is part of a an even larger initiative in a way. This initiative is characterized by the 10 guiding principles below:
1. Heart + head = hustle, 2. Know what you've got - know what you need, 3. Mine your past, 4. (Fill in the blank)__ is what matters, 5. Act on moments of obligation, 6. Take perspective…someone else’s, 7. Immerse yourself boldly, 8. Fear means go, 9. Have the gall to think big, 10. Think like an entrepreneur
I particularly liked the 10th principle which encourages people to think like an entrepreneur. I think that this could be interpreted multiple ways, but what I am personally drawing from this idea is that we ought to move through your lives and careers with an entrepreneurial spirit, and apply the focus, energy, and positivity to founding a life and career that is also socially impactful. The same level of focus that you would apply to founding a new business or organization that is.
CCESL and DUSC
Both DU's Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning (CCESL) and DU Service and Change (DUSC) have a slew of awesome opportunities that I wasn't aware of! While I would love to get involved in some short (maybe even just one day) volunteer projects, but I am also really interested in jumping onto or starting my own "Project Depth". DUSC puts long term and committed projects where volunteers involved discuss and learn about public issues while exploring their root causes and looking for better solutions under their Project Depth category. I hope to look into the opportunities that DUSC is offering for next quarter, but something that I would really love to do eventually is to organize a longer term project/initiative around both a social issue that I am passionate about and communication through the arts.
I need time to formulate my ideas, but I would love to approach DUSC and a CCESL rep as Cara Dienno suggested about working with an EDP or art Department faculty member on a project that would impact and address a social problem or topic in the Denver community through art. Cara also mentioned that the Science Shop may have funding available which would be fantastic. While I don't yet know what this would look like, it could be anything from art installations, to workshops to engage the community in conversation around difficult subject matter through art, to using the arts as therapy.
