Imagine a future where every entrepreneur is a social entrepreneur, every business a socially conscious business, and every career an impact-driven career. At Be Social Change, we believe this future can become a reality, and we’re building the Makers Institute to make it happen.
Two years ago, we were searching for a community to connect with around what we cared most about: people creating bold and innovative social impact. At the time, this type of community didn’t exist in New York. Rather, the city was a place of missed connections and undirected passions. We saw an opportunity to create a space where people could share their ideas and collaborate on new forms of social change.
We soon launched Be Social Change on Meetup.com to build a vibrant and diverse community. It grew rapidly and soon we were hosting large-scale panels, workshops, and interactive networking events, and creating resource-sharing tools such as our weekly Social Good Events Guide.
Through building Be Social Change on the ground, we’ve seen from people a growing desire to pursue meaningful work. But at the same time, there’s a gap between intention and action. The Makers Institute, our in-person and online learning platform, is designed to answer the question so many passionate people ask: How do I apply my skills and talents to make the world a better place?
Think of the Makers Institute as the next evolution in business school and career training—though at a fraction of the cost. The skill-building classes and hands-on, project-based workshops will teach the latest in social entrepreneurship and innovation. The goal is to accelerate the spreading of new ideas and best practices across different industries, and provide a framework for people to learn how to best apply their talents for making the world a better place.
How? The Makers Institute provides a set of Foundational Classes similar to 101 courses in college, where people explore and discover how they can best create meaningful change. We then provide a set of entrepreneurial tracks, like majors, in Social Entrepreneurship, Social Intrapreneurship, and Civic Innovation.
The classes and content will come from social innovation experts within the Be Social Change community—such as Nathaniel Koloc of Rework and Kristina Drury of TYTHEdesign—and through partnerships with forward-thinking educational organizations such as the Lean Startup Machine, ReWork, B Corp, Reboot, and Greatist. We’re also partnering with the Centre for Social Innovation to provide a physical home for the Makers Institute and with Schoology to create a global learning community that lets people connect and collaborate with instructors and peers.
We want to bring the Makers Movement into the social sector to drive grassroots innovation by equipping people around the world with the knowledge, skills, and community of support to create the next generation of socially conscious small businesses, scalable nonprofits, and impact-driven careers. Together, we can make this happen.
Click here to add helping raise money to build the Makers Institute to your “To-Do” list
