The term social innovation (SI) has been around for 35 years, and yet we are still defining what it means. In this series of collaborative blogposts brought to you by the Institute for Leadership and Social Impact (ILSI) and Serve-Learn-Sustain (SLS) we will dive into the definition and practice of SI, make an inventory of SI related programs, courses, and resources on campus, and will discuss some great examples of SI in action at Tech and in our communities.

Our first segment will attempt to answer the question many of you interested in learning more about social innovation might be asking yourselves ‘ where do I start’ and our answer is get involved and here are some suggestions to how:

• Take a course this spring that explores SI:
  • MGT 4803: Social Impact Exploration and Design: this workshop series introduces you to the tools of problem discovery - a necessary first step for SI. You work in teams in close collaboration with a community partner and the final project is participation in the Ideas to Serve Competition.
  • SLS 3120 Foundations of Sustainable Systems
  • BC 6675 Residential Design and Construction
  • CEE 4160 Smart and Sustainable Cities
  • INTA 4744: Global Development
  • Explore the Innovating for Social Impact Program
• Enroll into a VIP:
  • Global Social Entrepreneurship
  • Engineering for Social Innovation
  • HumaniTech 
  • Building for Equity and Sustainability

• Sign-up for an SLS short course:

  • The Building Blocks of ABCD

• Participate in the Ideas to Serve Competition by enrolling in the I2S workshop series (MGT 4803: SOcial Impact)  and working with a community partner through the Problem Discovery Track or by submitting your independent project through the Solution Discovery Track. Top teams from I2S will represent GT at the Global Map the System Challenge at Oxford.

• Apply to a Study Abroad Program that focuses on UN Sustainable Development Goals:
  • Leadership for Social Good
  • Japan Program in Sustainable Development
  • Serve-Learn-Sustain in Spain
  • Sustainable Development and Climate Change in Italy

• Intern with a community partner as part of the SLS Summer Internship Program

• Become a Social Impact Fellow with ILSI and work with a nonprofit in Atlanta

• Work towards a minor:
  • Leadership Minor - Business Track
  • Sustainable Cities Minor
• Become a member of one of these student organizations:
  • Net Impact
  • Bits for Good
  • SOS
  • MOVE
  • Millennium Fellows

• Attend a speaker event on the topic: the Impact Speaker Series and various SLS events can provide an introduction to SI. Or check out the Impact archives to access several recordings on this topic.

Whether you are just beginning to explore social innovation or you have been involved in this field for a while we hope you will find something on this list that is for you. We look forward to bringing you the rest of this blog series and if you are part of a program or organization that we should add to this list please reach out to us - this is just the beginning!

This is the first of a series of social innovation posts.  See others here: What is Social Innovation, Anyway? and Social Innovation That Works.