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Dr. Robert Gailey~~For Private Use Only~~
No Unauthorized Distribution of Publication without permission of the author
Collaborations across Campus and across Town: Preparing College Students to Engage inSocial Innovation Careers
Robert Gailey, Ph.D.
Point Loma Nazarene University
Paper to be presented atInternational Social Innovation Research Conference 2010:
Partnerships, Hybrids and NetworksSid Business School, University of Oxford
13-15 September, 2010
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Abstract
Collaboration, especially at the university level, is not easy. It requires good planning, proper
execution, and careful follow-up. It also requires significant resourcesin time and moneyto
be successful and, perhaps more importantly, useful to students in their career development. This
paper explores some of the challenges, benefits, and opportunities of collaborations, across
campus and across town, which have helped to nurture student interest in careers in the social
innovation sector. Two case-studylike examples are described. The first example is an intra-
university, inter-disciplinary course collaboration. The second example describes an inter-
university, multi-sectoral partnership among educators and practitioners in the microfinancesector in San Diego, California, USA. The conclusion offers four short, biographical samples of
students involved in the social innovation sector who have participated in at least one of the
described case study examples.
Introduction
We live in an age of abundant information and rapid intellectual dissemination. Consumer
choices and tastes are increasingly driven by specific interests and particular demands. This has
led many jobs, indeed whole careers, to become more specialized. Educational institutions have
mirrored this specialization (Clark, 1987). In response to this increase in demand for
professionals with specific skills and knowledge, some academic disciplines are drifting further
toward a silo mentality (Kezar, 2005). Academics in these fields believe that in order to ensure
their graduates remain competitive in the global marketplace, their programs must dominate
students lives in terms of discipline-specific required courses. Often this weighting of
discipline-specific courses comes at the expense of offering a broader scope of courses to fulfill
degree requirements or allowing an eclectic breadth of electives. While there are signs that more
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universities and academic programs appreciate the value of an inter-disciplinary, broad liberal
arts education, there are many schools that still hold firm to course requirements that are
discipline-specific, especially at the upper division level (Deutsch, 2007).
This uni-discipline focus has consequences at the macro level. Within the competitive
nature of higher educationboth in terms of student recruitment and, more importantly,
acquiring coveted research dollarslittle incentive exists to encourage faculty members to
explore opportunities for collaboration and partnerships across disciplines in one university, let
alone partner with other, similar universities. There are faculty who believe the competitive
nature permeating much of todays higher education is an important nurturing mechanism to helpstudents develop the skills necessary to jump into a career in the for-profit world of corporate
finance or marketing. Such a drift toward specialization, however, does not bode well for
students interested in careers in the social innovation sector, a sector that requires a diverse set of
skills and knowledge to succeed.
The 21 st century has ushered in an increasingly sophisticated, dynamic, and complex
global society. Many citizens, particularly those in the younger generation, are interested in
tackling historically stubborn social problems with renewed vigor and creativity. While the lines
between nonprofit and for-profit functions continue to blur, it is clear that a multi-disciplinary
approach to problems is not only necessary but extremely fruitful.
This paper first explores sound principles and proposed benefits for helpful
collaborations found in the literature. The paper then focuses on two cases of collaborationone
intra-university and one inter-universityin which the author has been involved during his
teaching tenure. Based on verbal feedback from students and alumni, some of which is featured
in this paper, these collaborations appear to have had a positive influence on the career
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development of students graduating from the authors university (a private Christian, liberal arts
university in San Diego, California), as well as on students at other local universities.
What is Collaboration in the Social Innovation Sector?
In their often-cited paper on collaboration, Powell, Koput, and Smith-Doerr (1996) argue that in
complex, diverse, and expanding industries, networks of learning are more conducive to
generating innovation than individual organizations are. While these authors focused their
research and analysis on the rapid changes in the technological and for-profit sectors, an
argument can be made that todays social innovation sector mirrors much of what was happening
in the technology sector 15 years ago. The number of conferences, journal articles, neworganizational structures, and emerging funding mechanisms indicate that a sea change of rapid
innovation is taking place in the social entrepreneurship sector throughout the world. It is also
clear that this sector is gaining increased media and public policy attention. Nambisan (2009)
suggests that networks and collaborations offer a wider range of ideas, better use of resources,
and faster solutions than do traditional, monolithic entities (p. 46).
One of the best examples of educational collaboration in the social innovation sector is
the collaboration between Stanford University and Harvard University. This inter-university
collaboration, described in detail by Gordon Bloom in Nicholls (2006), is called the Social
Entrepreneurship Collaboratory (SE Lab). The SE Lab leverages the reputation and resources of
each university to facilitate intellectual creativity in launching new social enterprises. Bloom
describes how the SE Lab provides students with an opportunity to discover and focus their
intelligence, energy, and passion on identifying and confronting social problems of their choice;
provides them with curriculum that integrates theory and practice; introduces them to a broad set
of resources supportive of social entrepreneurship within and outside the university; and invites
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them to co-create a collaborative environment that mentors them in designing and developing
solutions and the social change organizations to implement them (p. 273). The SE Lab
facilitates a multiplier effect on both research and practice. For instance, Jones, Wuchty, and
Uzzi (2008) found that collaboration among Tier 1 academic universities not only increases the
volume of research, but that such collaborations lead to a greater number of citations, one sign of
intellectual innovation, than what occurs in intra-university and solo publications. Their research,
in fact, indicates that collaboration between Tier 1 universities and lower-level schools are of
great benefit to the lower-tier universities in terms of scholarship dissemination.
What Are Some Principles for Good Collaboration in the Social Innovation Sector?Elliot Maxwell (2010) recently declared, Collaboration is not new to colleges and universities
it is in their DNA (p. 159). While it is true that collaboration is foundational to the academy,
market pressures and technological transformations related to how people learn and acquire
information are impacting collegiality in ways that suggest some disciplines will struggle with
these changes more than others. Consider some of the sciences. As more research schools partner
with commercial interests to develop medical or biological patents, researchers will have less
time and energy (indeed permission) to devote to cross-university research partnerships. One
sector that has proven well adapted to encouraging collaboration, however, is the social
innovation sector. No doubt this is due, in part, to the multi-disciplinary nature of this growing
field. Already there are at least two examples of established academic research networks: The
Social Enterprise Knowledge Network (SEKN) and the EMES group in Europe (Nicholls, 2006,
p. 8).
While there are good collaborations already taking place in the social innovation sector,
Anderson and Dees (2006) argue that the social entrepreneurship field must embrace researchers
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from various perspectives and disciplines: The mix should reflect the diversity of social issues,
the range of strategies for social change, the various organizational structures that could be used,
and the multiple stakeholders involved (p. 158). The authors advocate an expansion of
management research by pairing business faculty with researchers in the social sectors.
Another important strategy for establishing collaboration in the social innovation sector,
particularly among educational institutions, is to wed theory to practical applications. As noted,
Gordon Bloom (2006) outlines the work at both Stanford and Harvard related to student
organizations and conferences and how these events and activities help connect students to
practical applications of the theories they are learning at the university. As students engage inexperiential learning of theoretical ideas, they develop skills that are relevant to organizations
operating in the real world of, say, poverty alleviation or environmental protection.
Which Factors Make Collaborations Succeed?
Collaborations geared toward knowledge creation can take on various forms. Examples include
partnerships between universities and nonprofits (Cohen, Phillips, Chierchio, 2001), between
corporations and nonprofits (Dahan, et. al. 2010), between corporations and universities (Godin
and Gingras, 2000; Dunowski, Schultz, et al., 2010), and among research universities (Nicholls,
2006; Cummings and Kiesler, 2007; Jones, et al., 2008). Yet, some authors suggest, more than
fifty percent of collaborations fail (Kezar, 2005). What, then, makes a collaboration likely to
succeed?
Kezar (2005) outlines three steps for successful collaboration: First, build commitment :
through external pressure, establishing values, fostering learning and establishing networks.
Second, commit : There must be a sense of priority, firming up a mission, and building networks.
Third, sustain : through integrating structures, offering rewards, and continuing to expand
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networks. Bloom (2006) outlines what he believes made the SE Lab collaboration successful at
Stanford: [T]ap into peoples passions, fieldwork, action research, peer support and learning,
and the participation of domain experts and social entrepreneurship practitioners with
foundational frameworks (p. 299).
Collaboration is important because social innovation is truly about transforming
societya group of people, not just individuals. As Thekaekara and Thekaekara (2010) note:
[S]ocial entrepreneurship cannot be about the individual it is about the outcome of communities or groups of marginalized people. Entrepreneurial characteristics in anindividual who works in the social sector can be termed social entrepreneurship onlywhen this has led to bringing about a lasting change in society a change with clearly
perceivable social value. (p. 10)For this author, and in relation to the title of this paper, one important measure of success
regarding collaboration is how many students are influenced to consider careers in the social
innovation sector as a result of collaboration. Collaborations can link students to a greater
perspective of what is possible. Exposure to different fields of research and different programs
offer students an opportunity to be challenged with a variety of viewpoints and perspectives
while building connections to a cadre of good people who can serve as a support network for
future endeavors. Again, the tie-back is to social relationships, and the value those relationships
hold in the present and may hold in the future.
Additional Influences on Student Career Interests
The next section details two examples from the authors university that have, according to
students responses, helped shape student interest in social innovation careers. Of course, there
are other important activities and events happening at the university that play a role in
influencing student career interest in the social innovation sector. It is important to briefly
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mention these before presenting the detailed examples so readers can better understand the
broader context.
For one, the university has a long history in encouraging and facilitating student
involvement in study abroad programs. For its size, the university is nationally ranked in the top
10 for having students participate in study abroad programs. In addition, there is a student
microfinance club that is very active in the community. Each semester, the club hosts Kiva
lending nights to allow students to participate in lending money to borrowers around the world.
For the past two years, the student club has hosted a $2 Challenge, encouraging students to sign
up to live on less than $2 a day for several days, sleeping outside and limiting their use of waterand electricity. While students attempt to get a small taste of what living in poverty is like,
they also raise money for microfinance initiatives around the world. In 2010, the students raised
money to help rebuild the microfinance efforts in earthquake-damaged Haiti.
The university also hosts summer service trips for students. Each year, roughly 6 to 7
percent of the student body travels on trips to one of 8 to 10 different countries. Most of the
countries visited are countries where a significant portion of the population lives in economic
poverty. For three weeks, the groups perform various activities in the local community, often
under the direction of local leaders. Many students indicate that these trips are transformational
in their lives and career choices. In addition, the university supports an international
development studies major and minor as well as a nonprofit minor, all under the school of
business. The school also supports a Center for International Development, which provides
student and faculty scholarships to participate in social innovation conferences and helps
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facilitate student internships and job opportunities related to careers in the social innovation
sector. 1
Numerous factors work together to shape college students lives in terms of what careers
they choose to pursue. Arnett (2004) argues that emerging adulthood is a time when many young
people solidify a worldview that will impact the kind of person they become as adults. In many
cases, a continuum, or series, of events engage students in ways that shape them into people
lured by the potential of how the social innovation sector can radically transform the lives of
poor people around the world. While the examples that follow focus on collaboration, it is
important to recognize that the factors mentioned in this section both contribute to and areinfluenced by the examples below in terms of encouraging student career interest in the social
innovation sector.
The two case studies below briefly touch on key highlights of the collaborations. The
headlines under each case study offer guidance on what the narrative is describing. The first
section highlights a key principle of collaboration that the example represents and indicates how
the principle applies to nurturing student interest in social innovation careers. The two sections
that follow highlight challenges and benefits of the collaboration that students have reported via
evaluations and communication with the professor. The second case study includes a section on
results, which highlights direct actions taken by students in response to their engagement in the
collaboration.
Case Study #1
The Principle of Collaboration Fostering Student Career Interest in Social Innovation
1 A few of the conferences faculty and students have attended include Skoll World Forums, Clinton Global InitiativeUniversity, Global Microcredit Summit Campaign, Social Venture Capital/Social Enterprise Conference in Miami,and Harvards Social Enterprise Conference.
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Cross-discipline knowledge. Students gain a greater appreciation for the different frameworks in
which to view the world and solutions to perplexing problems.
Description
One of the courses the author teaches each spring semester is called Theories of Economic
Development. It is an upper-division economics course. Approximately 25 to 30 students take
the class each year. Most are students in the school of business, where at least one course in
upper-division economics is required for all graduates. Roughly half of the students in the class
are international development studies (IDS) majors or IDS minors and are taking the course
because of their interest in learning more about poverty alleviation efforts from an economicstandpoint. Members of the other half of the class admit freely at the beginning of the semester
that they are taking the course primarily because it fulfills an upper-division requirement and
works well with their schedules.
Every other year, the author, who teaches in the school of business, collaborates with a
colleague in the sociology and social work department who is trained as an anthropologist. In
alternating years, the anthropologist teaches a spring semester entitled Globalization and Culture.
His course considers the impact of global economic forces from the perspective of the people
who are impacted the most from these forces. His interest is in listening to their voices and
considering their experiences in light of the global forces at work and how these forces impact
the lives of the most vulnerable people.
Both professors teach their regular course content throughout the semester, occasionally
sitting in on each others classes and/or guest lecturing to the other class. The collaboration
comes through designing a group course project, worth 30 percent of each courses grade, as a
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key feature in both classes. The professors select a specific course project in which every student
in both classes must participate. 2
The students are divided into small groups to work on sections of the project. Each small
group has students from each class. Students are asked to list their top three choices for groups
and are assigned, as much as possible, to one of their preferred groups. Usually every semester of
the collaboration at least one student takes both courses. She/he is assigned one group but given
a double portion of the workload to be graded by her/his peers accordingly. The overarching
topic is divided into six or seven smaller pieces and each small group is given one piece to
research and present on to the wider class. Students meet throughout the semester to work ontheir group projects. At the end of the semester, weekly class time is canceled in exchange for
requiring all students to attend a combined class meeting on Saturday, where the groups do their
presentations to the other groups in the class.
In 2006, the first time this collaboration was done, the focus of the group project was to
consider a fair trade initiative that would involve the campus selling common-use products in the
United States that were made in other countries by people earning a fair wage. The business idea
revolved around students from the universitys summer service trips (described in an earlier
section) bringing back items from the countries they visited that would then be sold in the United
States. The class project involved the initial research for this idea. The seven small groups were
divided into these topics of research and presentation:
- Scope of poverty San Diego, South Africa, Kenya, Armenia, Brazil, Philippines
- Profiles of for-profit businesses that market international products
- Profiles of nonprofits that market international products
2 One year the universitys center for teaching and learning selected this cross-course collaboration as an example tobe shared with other faculty across campus during a faculty enrichment seminar.
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- Import/export laws/regulations, practices
- Fair trade products: opportunities and challenges
- The strengths and weakness of cooperatives (craft, agricultural, financial) with a
particular focus on our target world areas
- Socially responsible business practices
In 2008, the second year of the collaboration, the focus of the group project was on important
global poverty issues, and the students were required to develop and implement a creative
awareness campaign on campus that would educate their peers about specific issues. The topics
the small groups researched and presented on were the following:- We Are What We Eat: Global hunger, local food insecurity and the globalization of the
food supply
- New World Water: Lack of access to clean drinking water and sanitation
- Maquilopolis: Global inequalities of labor and labor markets
- Planet of Slums: Urbanization and the global growth of informal settlements
- Pathologies of Power: The unequal distribution of global health care to those who can
pay for it
- Free the Slaves: Human trafficking (the contemporary global slave trade)
In 2010, the third year of the collaboration, the entire group project was focused on human
trafficking, a growing concern among the students on the university campus. The small groups
focused their research and presentation on one of the following topics/organizations and theirengagement in responding to human trafficking:
- Legislation and Enforcement
- The Church
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- The Victims
- The Media/Arts
- Case Study: San Diego/Tijuana
- Educational Institutions
- Non-Profits
Challenges
In general, student groups do well working across disciplines. There are challenges, however,
that the cross-course collaboration encounters. One complaint students repeat is that getting
together with students in other classes is extremely difficult because schedules often clash. Somestudents get frustrated with the perspective of the students in the other class and/or the
perspective that the other professor brings to the course material in terms of feedback/input
about the project. Depending on the years overarching topic and the students particular topic
and group dynamic, a few students complain that the topic is not relevant to the course materials.
Benefits
Several students expressed their appreciation for gaining different perspectives from students in
other majors. Students appreciated learning together on a specific topic and approaching that
topic from unique and discipline-specific angles. While some students struggled with
collaborating across courses, even some who complained about the differences appreciated and
respected the cross-discipline interaction. Group work is always challenging, but working
through those challenges to successfully complete research, analysis, and public presentation on
an important topic can be rewarding and, in the process, students gain useful skills and
knowledge.
Case Study #2
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The summit also features a keynote speaker, plenary panels, networking times, and, last
year, breakout sessions for participants. Tables are provided for local organizations to share their
information and recruit volunteers and donors to their causes. Costs for the summit are kept low
so that students can afford to attend. The organizations and educational institutions affiliated
with the Alliance all donate significant time and energy, even financial resources, to make the
event more affordable for participants.
In the first summit, the two smaller universities in San Diego, including the authors,
were the primary drivers of the educational participation for the event. In the second year,
however, the two largest state universities in San Diego joined the Alliance in a significant way.Now, all four universities actively participate in both the planning of events and in engaging
students in the activities.
In addition to the annual summit, the Alliance has hosted other city-wide collaborative
activities. In fall 2009, the Alliance, in response to requests made by students and community
leaders who attended the summit, hosted a Microfinance 101 course. This course took place one
night a week for four weeks. The course was an introduction to key principles and practices in
microfinance. Roughly 40 people attended the inaugural course. A nominal fee was charged to
all participants to ensure commitment to attend four weeks of the course. The course was
populated by a mix of students and community members, with a little more than half being
students from at least three local universities. The first two nights of the class were taught by
professors at two of the local universities. The third night was taught by a staff leader from a
local microfinance organization. All teachers donated their time to teach the class and support
this effort. Clients of a local microfinance organization were invited to share their stories during
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the last night of the course. For many participants, hearing the stories of clients and their
business success was a highlight of the course for them.
The MF101 course is scheduled to be repeated in fall 2010. The Alliance hopes to offer a
MF102 course in the spring semester to all participants who completed the MF101 course either
last year or this year. The MF102 course will go deeper into an analysis of microfinance
programs, debates, and current research.
Members of the Alliance also maintain a website for the community 3. The website
features recent microfinance news, upcoming local events, job and internship openings, and the
businesses of local microfinance clients. The Alliance also hosts events, like that held forOikocredit 4
The SDMFA remains informal in its approach to collaboration. The Alliance has forgone
registering as a formal nonprofit organization. There are no budgets or paid staff. Different
people or organizations have taken the lead on specific events and activities. The alliance
members have emphasized that they want the Alliance activities to continue to focus on what
benefits and supports San Diego microfinance activities and, particularly, what benefits clients
the most. While informal, the Alliance appreciates and has learned from more formalized
collaborations in other cities, such as SEAMO in Seattle,
this past summer, that introduce the San Diego community to international
microfinance organizations.
5 the Silicon Valley Microfinance
Network, 6 and the annual Chicago Microfinance Conference. 7
3 http://sdmicrofinance.org/ 4 http://www.oikocredit.org/en/home 5 http://www.seattlemicrofinance.org/ 6 http://svmn.net/page/2/ 7 http://www.chicagomicrofinance.com/
http://sdmicrofinance.org/http://sdmicrofinance.org/http://sdmicrofinance.org/http://www.oikocredit.org/en/homehttp://www.oikocredit.org/en/homehttp://www.oikocredit.org/en/homehttp://www.seattlemicrofinance.org/http://www.seattlemicrofinance.org/http://www.seattlemicrofinance.org/http://svmn.net/page/2/http://svmn.net/page/2/http://svmn.net/page/2/http://www.chicagomicrofinance.com/http://www.chicagomicrofinance.com/http://www.chicagomicrofinance.com/http://www.chicagomicrofinance.com/http://svmn.net/page/2/http://www.seattlemicrofinance.org/http://www.oikocredit.org/en/homehttp://sdmicrofinance.org/ -
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Challenges
While the Alliance has been built on the various contributions of its members, concerns remain
about the financial viability of the partnership and, in particular, about how to best price each
individual event. Without an institutional framework that allows for fundraising and full-time
staff hiring, questions remain about the partnerships longevity. In particular, concerns have been
voiced regarding institutional commitments should individual participants leave the Alliance due
to job changes or lack of interest. Related to this concern over the Alliances financial viability is
the question of how best to price individual events so that each event comes as close as possible
to covering its costs while remaining affordable to both college students and communitymembers. Some have wondered whether or not services provided by the Alliance to clients of
local microfinance institutions ever will be sustainable.
A possible future challenge the Alliance might face, particularly if it remains informal, is
if one or two of the organizations or educational institutions comes to dominate the
organizations agenda. Equally concerning is if one or two of the organizations/institutions is left
to carry the load for the Alliance without sufficient support from the other members. Thankfully
neither scenario currently exists. However, such a possibility remains and participants must be
careful to guard against either scenario.
Benefits
While many participating organizations in the Alliance recognize numerous benefits to their
respective organizations, this section focuses on the perceived benefits to students and their
career development opportunities in the social innovation sector. Students benefit from the
Alliance by having a significant amount of important resources in one location. Students who
participate in an Alliance-sponsored event gain access to several local microfinance
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organizations and four major universities at the same time. Leaders and professors from these
organizations, as well as student leaders and other staff members, are engaged and available to
talk to students about research, careers, internships, and jobs in the microfinance/social
entrepreneurship sector. Cross-town university exchanges are frequent between students,
between faculty, and between students and faculty.
For students, the networking potential is great at Alliance-sponsored events. Students
from across San Diego who are interested in or passionate about solving poverty through
sustainable business opportunities can gather together and learn from and challenge each other.
In addition, students gain access to significant academic and practitioner resources through theleaders of the Alliance. And, generally-speaking, these leaders welcome the opportunity to
nurture opportunities and insights in a younger generation.
Results
In a short amount of time, the Alliance has facilitated significant cross-town collaboration to
benefit student interest in social innovation careers. One of the universitys microfinance clubs
helped mentor and launch a microfinance club at another university. This fall, a third university
applied to their campus for approval to launch a microfinance-type club for staff, faculty, and
students. The staff member at the university who is leading this application process attributes her
interest in starting the club to her participation in the summit and MF101 course. These clubs
offer students a vehicle by which they can gain access to university resources as well as develop
a network of similarly minded students during a very formative time in their lives.
The service-learning office at one of the universities in the Alliance received a state grant
to engage in microfinance efforts. The office sent some of its staff members to the MF101 course
and, since that time, they have participated in and supported the summit in very significant ways.
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For instance, the university and its service-learning office leveraged the Alliances cross-town
collaboration to partner with a local microfinance organization to implement a small lending
program using funds from a state grant. A number of students have been able to observe client
meetings in action because loans financed by the universitys grant were funneled through a local
microfinance practitioner.
Probably the most significant result of Alliance collaborations, however, is the
influence these events have had on students. For instance, a number of student participants in the
summits have stated, in their post-summit evaluations, that attending a summit was eye-opening
and, for some, a highlight of their academic year. For others, a summit represents the first time astudent has been exposed to the idea that poverty alleviation and sound business principles and
practices can go together. Many business majors reflect on their summit attendance and are
grateful for how the experience opened their minds to the real possibility that they could use their
degrees and still pursue careers in the nonprofit and social innovation sectors. The next section
highlights four particular students who were significantly influenced by the intra-university
and/or inter-university collaborations. Their stories represent what is hoped for in all students
that through exposure to the issues and ideas intentionally highlighted in these collaborations,
transformation takes place in a students life, which, in turn, impacts her or his career projection.
Meet the Students (all alumni of Point Loma Nazarene University)
While the above examples provide details and analysis of collaborations across campus and
across town that have helped facilitate student interest in social innovation careers, the author
believes it is useful to conclude this paper with some examples of particular students from his
own school who have gone into or are preparing to enter social innovationsector careers. These
brief biographies focus on each students experiences with the examples of collaboration
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described above, each students current career path, and a direct quotation from each student on
how the collaborations have impacted his or her career path.
Kaley 2010 graduate, media communications major
- Participated in the Globalization and Culture class the year the combined courses project
focused on human trafficking
- Involved in Alliance summit - first year, helped make a video of client businesses that
were featured in the plenary client panel
- Involved in Alliance summit - second year, engaged in an honors project that culminated
in a 20-minute video production of the Alliance, which premiered at the summit- Seeks to raise awareness about social injustice in the world through the medium of film.
Her independent production group, Your Platform Media , is centered around the mission
to enlighten, empower, and enact.
- Most recently, she has signed up with Americorps as the Youth Food Justice Coordinator
with the International Rescue Committee in San Diego (one of the lead collaborators of
the Alliance)
- In working on collaborative projects with peers and professors, I learned the
power of community and the importance of diversity in academic settings. Ive been
inspired by the way community elicits creativity through collaboration, drawing
from multiple resources to achieve a common purpose. It has inspired me to be a
part of the evolving stories of community and creativity throughout San Diego.
Travis Fall 2008 graduate, business administration major
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- Participated in ECO315 - Theories of Economic Development class the year the
combined courses project focused on global poverty issues. His team focused on the
scarcity of water.
- Co-founded PLNUs nationally recognized Microfinance Club served as club President
for 18 months 8
- Volunteered at first Alliance Summit
- Selected as PLNU business administration student of the year
- Currently loan assistant for CDC Small Business Finance 9
- 2009 - took over organizational leadership of SDMFA managed the Alliance, oversawthe summit and MF101 course
- Co-founded PLNU Alumni in Microfinance to help more current students engage in the
world of microfinance
- This past year has been a huge year of growth for me and my eyes have been
opened to so much, from the incredible amounts of oppression occurring in the
world today, to creative ventures that contribute to poverty relief. Our economic
development class, as well as many of the resources, . . . have been a huge part of
that.
Corbyn 2008 graduate, business administration major
- Participated in ECO315 - Theories of Economic Development class the year the
combined courses project focused on global poverty issues. His team focused on thescarcity of water.
8 During his tenure as President, Grameen America in New York City contacted the club for advice on setting uprelationships with university campuses and Kiva featured the club in their international Campus Kiva Starter Kit:http://media.kiva.org/campus_kiva_starter_kit.pdf 9 http://www.cdcloans.com/index.shtml
http://media.kiva.org/campus_kiva_starter_kit.pdfhttp://media.kiva.org/campus_kiva_starter_kit.pdfhttp://www.cdcloans.com/index.shtmlhttp://www.cdcloans.com/index.shtmlhttp://www.cdcloans.com/index.shtmlhttp://www.cdcloans.com/index.shtmlhttp://media.kiva.org/campus_kiva_starter_kit.pdf -
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- Past 18 months has served as outreach coordinator for Plant with Purpose, 10 an
environmentally focused nonprofit that also does microfinance work. Plant with Purpose
recently was featured in a New York Times article about agricultural success in post-
earthquake Haiti. 11
- Managed information booth at last summit and helped with organizing the event
- Co-founded PLNU Alumni in Microfinance to help more current students engage in the
world of microfinance
- Theories of Economic Development class opened my eyes to opportunities in the
nonprofit world that have really changed the direction of my young professional
career.
Blake 2007 graduate, business administration major
- Managed information booth at last summit
- Participated in ECO315 Theories of Economic Development (though not in a year of
collaboration) and did one of the best research papers/presentations this professor has
seen on international agriculture/trade policies
- After graduation, worked with Opportunity International, a leading global microfinance
network, as the liaison to the Presidents Council
- When Opportunity Internationals CEO left the organization to start EduLeap, he asked
Blake to co-found the organization with him.
- Currently serves as director of operations for EduLeap, which provides micro-enterpriseloans to entrepreneurs in developing countries who manage low-cost private schools. 12
10 http://www.plantwithpurpose.org/ 11 http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/12/12greenwire-devastated-haiti-braces-for-an-active-hurrican-11849.html?pagewanted=1 12 http://eduleap.org/Home.html
http://www.plantwithpurpose.org/http://www.plantwithpurpose.org/http://www.plantwithpurpose.org/http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/12/12greenwire-devastated-haiti-braces-for-an-active-hurrican-11849.html?pagewanted=1http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/12/12greenwire-devastated-haiti-braces-for-an-active-hurrican-11849.html?pagewanted=1http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/12/12greenwire-devastated-haiti-braces-for-an-active-hurrican-11849.html?pagewanted=1http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/12/12greenwire-devastated-haiti-braces-for-an-active-hurrican-11849.html?pagewanted=1http://eduleap.org/Home.htmlhttp://eduleap.org/Home.htmlhttp://eduleap.org/Home.htmlhttp://eduleap.org/Home.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/12/12greenwire-devastated-haiti-braces-for-an-active-hurrican-11849.html?pagewanted=1http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/12/12greenwire-devastated-haiti-braces-for-an-active-hurrican-11849.html?pagewanted=1http://www.plantwithpurpose.org/ -
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- Co-founded PLNU Alumni in Microfinance to help more current students engage in the
world of microfinance
- Theories of Economic Development helped me understand the historical context of
previous anti-poverty interventions and was critical in nurturing my interest in
microfinance and, specifically, in using microfinance in an innovative way to
facilitate education in the developing world.
Conclusion
Collaborations can be fun and generate a lot of energy. They also can be challenging and require
a lot of effort. Intra-university collaborations broaden perspectives and expose students to thevalue of taking a multi-disciplinary approach to learning about global problems and searching for
viable solutions to address those problems. Inter-university collaborations, particularly those
centered on a specific field in the social innovation sector such as microfinance, spawn important
cross-town relationships at numerous levels (faculty, staff, and students). These kinds of
collaborations are best leveraged by engaged students who take advantage of such opportunities
to expand their networks, grow their intellectual horizons, and utilize experts in the practitioner
world to fine-tune their understanding of what may work in tackling the worlds most
challenging problems. It is an honor for me to be affiliated with these types of collaborations
here in San Diego and a pure joy to see dedicated students build on these connections to launch
important careers in the social innovation sector. I write this paper to honor their work and to
encourage them to continue to pursue such endeavors in a spirit of wonder and humility.
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