Social Innovation Design Contest

2012 Information:

Marquette will be hosting a Social Innovation Design Contest on Wednesday, December 5, 2012, 4:30-6:30 pm, Emory Clark, room 111. The winner will receive up to $1,000 to attend the Ashoka Exchange in San Diego, CA and automatic entry in the Midwest Social Innovation Pitch Contest ($25K prize) and National Dell Social Innovation Challenge ($50K prize)!

See contest details HERE.

 

Click here to see the 2012 grand prize finalist projects.

Click here for a video of last year's finalists.

 

2011 WINNERS: Clean2O!

See their powerpoint presentation HERE.

Four Saturday meetings, 10-11:30 am, are scheduled for all participants to better understand how Social Innovation Design leads to positive social change! Download the contest information.

Social Innovation 101: Envisioning Change
Saturday, Oct. 15, Zilber Hall 025

Key points:

  • What’s YOUR Problem: Changing the World via Social Innovation
  • Cultivating Innovation & Developing A Theory of Change
  • Attacking Root Causes
  • Chief Characteristics for Positive, Sustainable Change

Social Innovation Design: Nuts & Bolts
Saturday, Oct. 29, Marquette Hall 100

Key Points:

  • Creating Social Value
  • Doing The Due Dili: Learning from Other Models
  • Measuring Social Impact - Social Return On Investment (SROI)

Greg Van Kirk, Social Innovator & Ashoka Fellow
Saturday, Nov. 5, Marquette Hall 200

Key Points:

  • Refine Your Design: Learning from a Pro
  • Greg’s MicroConsignment Model
  • Open Q & A

Singing In the Shower: Practice Presentations!
Saturday, Nov. 19, Marquette Hall 100

Key Points:

  • Hitting the Right Notes: Highlighting Your Design
  • The Elevator Pitch
  • Feedback and Tweaks

Judging!
Dec. 1

Judges will hear each team’s presentation and award prizes for best in class & runner-up

Contact information:
Matt Barr, SIESO president Mathhew.barr@marquette.edu and Allison Glaubke, SIESO Vice President Allison.glaubke@marquette.edu. Jeff Snell, Faculty Advisor jeff.snell@marquette.edu 414.288.4758 and Elise Chapman, SIESO Events & Publicity Coordinator elise.chapman@marquette.edu

Objectives of the Social Innovation Design Contest:

  • Cultivate innovation and idea-generation – vital tools for success
  • Learn problem-solving and equip yourself to be a changemaker for life
  • Build teams and networks of the like-minded, working across colleges and disciplines
  • Understand systems and systemic-level transformation
  • Leverage resources, create social value, and measure social impact

Guidelines:

  • Teams of 2-5 or individuals; all teams must be student led; faculty advisors encouraged, not mandatory (outside advisors welcome)
  • Presentations 7-9 minutes, allowing for up to 5-minute Q & A post-presentation. Elements such as PowerPoint, Prezi, or video are up to the presenter(s) & must include:
    • What is the social problem and how do you propose to attack root causes in order to solve it?
    • What other social innovations/social venture designs have you learned from – what are current best practices or gaps in innovation?
    • Where do your resources come from? How is your SID financially viable?
    • Plan for implementation and growth? Scale? Replication?
    • What is the design’s social value/social impact and how will you measure it?
    • What is your competitive advantage? Barriers to entry?

Social Innovation/Social Entrepreneurship (used interchangeably – see www.ashoka.org):
What is a Social Entrepreneur?
Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change. Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to take new leaps.

Why "Social" Entrepreneur?
Just as entrepreneurs change the face of business, social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss and improving systems, inventing approaches, and creating solutions to change society for the better. Most do NOT have a business background.

Helpful Resources:

SID Contest is presented by SIESO; the Social Innovation Initiative is presented by the Office of the Provost