USD Changemaker HUB Annual Report 2018-19

ANNUAL REPORT 2018-19

Action Leads to Change

Dear USD Changemaker, In 2018—19, the Changemaker Hub continued to sponsor or co-sponsor a variety of curricular and co-curricular opportunities for students, faculty members and staff to practice changemaking.

Since 2011, USD has been a part of a vibrant learning community comprised of more than 50 institutions dedicated to institutional change. Throughout this time, the university’s commitment to the practice of changemaking has deepened and expanded in multiple ways. In this annual report, we are thrilled to share with you the wonderful work of our students, faculty members and staff over the last year. Our students have provided the energy, passion and commitment so that changemaking is no longer something that we talk about, but something that we practice through our actions, policies and programs. With each successive year, there are more students who not only tell us they are at USD because of its commitment to engage critical social justice issues, but also students who are dedicating their time and resources through programs such as the Changemaker Challenge and Social Change Corps, to holding USD accountable to its changemaking aspirations. Similarly, faculty members are committed to providing students with opportunities to apply what they learn in the classroom to issues that affect the USD campus community as well as other communities. Through programs such as the Changemaker Faculty Fellows, Impact Linda Vista Initiative and There’s More, faculty members are demonstrating how everyone can play a role in promoting positive social change on and off campus. These endeavors, however, are not possible without the wide array of campus collaborations between the hub and its partners.

Changemaking is only possible when we join together and co-create opportunities for our entire campus community. It is only through the ongoing support of staff from across campus that the hub is capable of implementing its initiatives.

This annual report provides a snapshot of how the hub empowers students, faculty members and staff to use their knowledge and experiences to develop ways to address the world’s most pressing problems. Students learn how best to distill their ideas, immerse themselves into the community, conduct research, effectively scale programs for the greatest impact, write business plans and turn their concepts into actionable solutions that create positive social impact locally and abroad. Our approach continues to focus on breaking down silos, bridging theory and practice, and steering initiatives towards multi-disciplinarity, all in the name of equipping new skills for social impact and positive change. After eight years of being a Changemaker Campus, we are proud of the fact that we have ongoing changemaking initiatives that reflect this approach, as well as a campus culture that demands for more to be done each year.

We look forward to 2019-20 as the hub continues to support and catalyze the practice of changemaking at USD.

Mike Williams ’92 (BA), PhD

Director, Changemaker Hub Professor, Political Science and International Relations

Juan Carlos Rivas ’19 (PhD) Associate Director, Changemaker Hub

We encourage our community to commit themselves to be in the service of addressing social issues that matter to them and explore new ideas that will have a positive social impact. “To be in the service of” means that we approach our changemaking pursuits with humility and that we understand that our efforts are linked to those who have pursued social justice in the past and those who will follow our own efforts.

Envisioning 2024 | sandiego.edu/practicechangemaking

Practice Changemaking

At USD, we believe that everyone can practice changemaking.

“Action without learning is ignorance, learning without action is selfish.”

DANIELA PAPI-THORTON DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE SKOLL CENTRE FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

PHOTOS BY STEVEN ROSENFIELD

The CSC is a student team organizing, promoting and supporting a culture of changemaking and innovation on campus. In the 2018-19

Changemaker Student Committee

school year, the CSC continued the tradition of holding its signature event My Story, where community members share and are met with empathy and open hearts. 2018 marked the fourth year of the USD What I Be project, a photography project focusing on insecurities, vulnerability and diversity featuring 55 students, faculty and staff.

They also participated in a number of field trips to local social change organizations like A Reason To Survive (ARTS), Kitchens for Good and the nonprofit, City Heights Coffee House. The team also held the second annual Career Impact Fair, a collaboration with the Career Development Center, the first student-run career fair at USD where students met companies that can take their changemaking practice to the professional level.

What I Be 2018 | facebook.com/SteveRosenfieldPhotography

“Access and Equity: Housing, Education and Healthcare.” There were a total of 109 entries—11 individuals, 98 teams and 15 professors who embedded into their curriculum—and more than 350 students participated in the challenge, which sparked ideas for student entries on a variety of topics from reducing waste by repurposing furniture no longer used in USD’s residential halls to a mentorship program for high school and elementary school children with learning disabilities to a proposal centered on ensuring the wellness of asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants in Normal Heights. The funding for this idea competition was made possible by the generosity of the Alcalá Alumni Fund. The top seven finalists competed on social media for a pool of $6,000. Based on the percentage of votes their videos earned, the teams received awards ranging from $200 to $2,250.

Awards story | sandiego.edu/changemaker/challengewinners Challenge page | changemakerchallenge.me

“I sometimes forget that change can begin on the smallest levels. It can begin with my better taking care of myself and those around me.”

Changemaker Challenge

The theme for the challenge this year focused again on

members and staff at the 2019 Ashoka U Exchange co-hosted by the University of California, San Diego. The USD group attended workshops, lectures and conversations about innovation and changemaking in higher education and beyond. In particular, Bridget Gramme, director of the USD Center for Public Interest Law, organized and hosted a pre conference event on law and social innovation, entitled, Finding Meaning in the Law. The trip energized our community in many ways and increased collaboration between faculty and students on changemaking.

Ashoka U Exchange

USD was well represented with a delegation of 16 students, faculty

My Story at the Ashoka U Exchange | https://youtu.be/ePujKpsGPJA

“I learned how best to approach social change, and learned how others are exercising their voices at their respective universities, as well as the challenges they often face.”

MADONNA CONNORS ’21 MARKETING AND FINANCE

The Social Change Corps (SCC) was created to support students with ideas for changemaking projects and explore ways of this year, 16 students received funding and guidance as they explored social issues and social justice while actively participating in a seven-week design thinking experience. The range of projects included developing a workshop to spreading awareness about human trafficking, exploring ways to empower female students through a mentorship program with women administrators, and designing a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) outreach science camp for elementary age minority students.

Overview | sandiego.edu/socialchangecorps Meet the teams | sandiego.edu/sccteams

Social Change Corps

addressing humanity’s urgent challenges. As part of 10 teams

45%

OF FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS CAME TO USD BECAUSE IT IS A CHANGEMAKER CAMPUS

70%

OF FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS WANT TO BE INVOLVED WITH CHANGEMAKING AT USD

Jesse Magana ’20 Sociology

Claire Kuhn ’22 Marketing

FIRST-YEARS

40% INVOLVED WITH CHANGEMAKING AT USD

43%

Emily Klaassen ’22 Business Administration

SENIORS

Madonna Connors ’21 Marketing and Finance

20

CHANGEMAKER HUB SPONSORED EVENTS IN 2018—19

Jayden DeArmas ’22 Business Administration

Bianca Dolan ’22 Marketing

1,255

STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN CHANGEMAKER HUB SPONSORED EVENTS

team expanded this year. A total of $25,000 was donated to help hire a team of eight student fellows leading changemaking efforts and planning of Changemaker Hub initiatives. This year’s fellows were Isabelle Ashraf, Madonna Connors, Olivia Devia, Claire Kuhn, Hailey Purtzer, Shelby Bocks, Kate Burnite and Reijer Den Dulk. The yearlong assignment helped the hub grow and create initiatives like the Changemaker Challenge, My Story and Launch, our new design thinking training program, as well as increase marketing and outreach efforts through updated social media channels, newsletter and website.

Overview | sandiego.edu/changemaker/studentcommittee

The work of our inaugural University Innovation Fellows (UIF) cohort—a program within Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design—continued to advocate for lasting institutional change and create opportunities for students to engage with innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and creativity at USD. The fellows’ projects ranged from providing design thinking workshops to a number of classes and student organizations on campus to creating the space for monthly meetings among changemaker clubs and organizations to collaborate and support each other. The next cohort of UIF fellows has been selected — Tanya Keval, Erica Buyalos, Sophia Austin and Linnea Leidy — and in the fall of 2019 the fellows will complete an experiential six-week online training program on Design Thinking. In March 2020, they will attend the Silicon Valley Meetup, where approximately 250 Fellows from 60 higher education institutions in nine countries will convene.

University Innovation Fellows

Changemaker Student Fellows

With the generous support of the USD Parents Association Board, the hub’s

At USD, we are proud of the fact that we are a community dedicated to changecampus to promote, sustain and catalyze changemaking. Through partnerships with Associated Students, Student Affairs, the Living Learning Communities, the Humanities Center and the Center for Educational Excellence, the hub cosponsored many events for students, such as My Story, What I Be, USD Votes and the incorporation of the USD Just Read program into the curriculum. In addition, the hub collaborated with Student Affairs, the Mulvaney Center for Community, Awareness, and Social Action and the Center for Inclusion and Diversity to host the second “Dive Into Changemaking Day” during OLÉ! Weekend, where every new student participated in workshops demonstrating how students, faculty members and staff practice changemaking at USD. Finally, the hub co-designed the second annual Impact Career Day Fair with the Career Development Center. These collaborations highlight important ways in which USD continues to commit itself to its mission and values.

Maintaining a Changemaker Campus | sandiego.edu/cmpartners

The Changemaker Hub and the Humanities Center co-developed this storytelling initiative to provide students, faculty members and staff with the opportunity to share experiences about their lives. The episodes are created by USD students in a podcasting class and are edited by a team of student producers hired by There’s More faculty producers. Students collect diverse stories about how USD community members pursue a purpose-filled life by confronting humanity’s urgent challenges.

The series highlights USD’s liberal arts tradition by exploring the human condition through the practice of changemaking.

There’s More | theresmore.sandiego.edu

There’s More

CAMPUS COLLABORATION

making. Over the year, the Changemaker Hub worked with dozens of partners on

Impact Linda Vista Initiative

With the support of a generous grant received from U.S. Bank, and the collaboration of the Mulvaney Center for Community, Awareness, and Social Action, 10 faculty members and more than 200 students partnered with eight community partners in Linda Vista in 2018-19.

The overall purpose of Impact Linda Vista Initiative (ILVI) is to bring USD faculty members and students together with community partners to co-create and develop innovative and sustainable course-based collaborations in Linda Vista. These collaborations can potentially extend across a wide range of disciplines and academic units on campus and across multiple sectors in the community and they collectively aim to create positive and meaningful social change. This year, the initiative was led by faculty co-director Kevin Guerrieri, PhD and community co-director Blake Hofstad and included the following faculty members and community partners: Drs. Aarti Ivanic, Sandra Sgoutas-Emch, Karen Macauley, Perla Myers, Susie Babka, Alex Mejia, Victoria Rodriguez, Topher McDougal, Robin Roberts, Soroya Rowley and Access Community Center, Urban Beats, Linda Vista Town Council, Linda Vista Branch Library, Carson Elementary STEAM Magnet School, San Diego Family Care, Montgomery Middle School and Linda Vista Farmers Market. While USD has built a strong relationship with the Linda Vista community over many years, this initiative provided an opportunity for USD faculty members and students to deepen their collaboration with many community leaders by highlighting their incredible work.

Impact Linda Vista | ilvisd.strikingly.com

USD is proud of the many faculty that are dedicated to the practice of changemaking. In 2019, the hub received more than 20 faculty member applications for the Changemaker Faculty Fellows program. The 12 faculty members that were part of this program represented almost every school on campus. Under the leadership of Aarti Ivanic, PhD, the faculty director for this program, the hub provided numerous workshops and immersion trips throughout the year, including a visit to another Changemaker Campus, Tec de Monterrey in Guadalajara, Mexico. Most notably, the hub was honored to recognize faculty

Changemaker Faculty Fellows

members from almost all of its academic divisions, including, Drs. Alison Sanchez, Candice Price, Diana Chen, Bryan Cornwall, Florencia Lebensohn-Chialvo, Jena Hales, Jonathan Bowman, Kristopher Hall, Martha Grant Fuller, Mary Durkin, Philip Gamaghelyan and Ryan Ratcliff. There are now more than 45 faculty members recognized as Faculty Changemaker Fellows/Champions. At the end of the year Changemaker Faculty Fellows Showcase event, faculty members shared how they practice changemaking in their disciplines and how they each make a positive social impact through teaching, research and service. These faculty members inspire their students and colleagues to become involved in projects, courses and community engagement opportunities that seek to make a positive social impact.

Overview | sandiego.edu/changemaker/faculty

to practice changemaking both on and off campus. In addition to the significant number of projects hat the hub supported in our local community in 2017-18, there were a number of changemaking initiatives that occurred globally as well.

In particular, the hub collaborated with local partners in Chile, the United Kingdom and South Africa to provide students, faculty members and staff with the opportunity to learn about, and take an active role in a variety of social change initiatives.

These initiatives ranged from supporting local social entrepreneurs, providing workshops for youth leadership development and co-creating social innovation curricular modules for graduate students.

Changemaking in Community

The hub encourages students, faculty members and staff

Changemaking Minor

”What I understand to be the most crucial aspect of USD’s Catholic identity is its call to recognize the inherent human dignity and full personhood of other people, and accordingly, to treat all people with respect, compassion, and empathy. Our identity as a Changemaker Campus depends on realizing these values.”

In 2017, USD launched the Changemaking Minor. This interdisciplinary minor provides students with the opportunity to learn about the practice of changemaking in the classroom. Offered through the College of Arts and Sciences, the Changemaking minor provides students with a range of knowledge, perspectives, methodologies and skills that will equip them to make positive social change and to be engaged, active members of their communities. One of the goals of the minor is to provide a curriculum for students to critically understand and implement social change projects. We want our students to not only develop innovative approaches to existing problems, but to also develop a deep understanding of the systemic roots of these issues, as well as the ability to empathize with others. In addition, we want our students to recognize that the most urgent challenges facing our communities today are ones that impact all of us and to understand that we are all connected with respect to the challenges and the ways in which we address them. Because the most important and complex issues in the 21st century will require an interdisciplinary approach, this minor provides students with classroom and practical experiences that span different schools, units and departments. In 2018-19, there were 10 students who declared the Changemaking Minor and one student who successfully defended her project in the Changemaking Capstone course. These students are not only learning about different social justice issues, but they are also applying their knowledge to have a positive impact at USD and beyond. In addition, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of the minor, there were faculty members from four different departments that offered the Introduction to Changemaking course.

Chris Harrop ’18, excerpt from 2018 Commencement speech

“It helped me to better understand how changemaking doesn’t have to be something that you go out and do for your community but it can just be with yourself. ”

2019—20 Event Calendar

DIVE INTO CHANGEMAKING ORIENTATION SESSIONS

SEPTEMBER 2

DESIGN THINKING CRASH COURSE

NOVEMBER 9

MY STORY

NOVEMBER 12

IMPACT CAREER FAIR

NOVEMBER 14

CHANGEMAKER CHALLENGE DEADLINE

NOVEMBER 14

sandiego.edu/changemaker

ON THE COVER:

Gabe Adibe ’12 (BA)

CHANGEMAKER HUB

sandiego.edu/changemaker Facebook: usdchangemakerhub Twitter: @usdchangemaker Instagram: usdchangemakerhub CAMPUS OFFICES

Student Life Pavilion, Room 320 and Serra Hall, Room 200 (Humanities Center) PHONE

(619) 260-2798 EMAIL

Mike Williams: jmwilliams@sandiego.edu Juan Carlos Rivas: jcrivas@sandiego.edu Office: changemaker@sandiego.edu