The Catherine B. Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship at New York University, together with the nonprofit organization Youth Venture, will mark the second annual “Be A Changemaker” Challenge with a launch party that will be held on Friday, Sept. 14, 2007 at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, Puck Building, 295 Lafayette Street, 2nd Floor, New York, N.Y. The event, which begins at 5:30 p.m., will feature winners from last year’s competition at NYU, keynote speakers including idealist.org founder Ami Dar, free food, and plenty of fun-filled activities. It is open to all New York University undergraduate students.
Under the “Be A Changemaker” Challenge, as many as 35 teams of NYU students are eligible to receive up to $1,000 in seed capital for social ventures of their own making. The initiative challenges students to devise “action plans” for addressing social issues of any kind. It aims to help students feel empowered to address societal and even global problems and make the act of taking the reins more routine and even expected. The best teams will be eligible for the “Be A Changemaker” grand prize of $10,000 and automatically entered as quarter-finalists in the Stern Social Track Business Plan Competition.
“This is a great example of NYU’s commitment to being a private university in the public service, and the role that the NYU Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship plays in that effort,” said Gabriel Brodbar, the director of the NYU Reynolds Program, which is housed at NYU Wagner. For further information on “Be A Changemaker,” please visit http://www.nyu.edu/reynolds/news/youthventure.html. To RSVP for the launch party, go to http://www.zoomerang.com/recipient/survey.zgi?p=WEB226QJV7MUQL
Following the launch event, any interested NYU undergraduates can attend one of the “Be A Changemaker” workshops being offered through October 1. In these hour-long workshops, Youth Venture will introduce students to the world of social entrepreneurship, and fill them in on how, step-by-step, to participate fully in the “Be A Changemaker” Challenge. To RSVP for the first workshop, Sept 19, visit http://www.zoomerang.com/recipient/survey.zgi?p=WEB226UFQV24CP. To RSVP for the subsequent workshop, Oct. 1, please go to http://www.zoomerang.com/recipient/survey.zgi?p=WEB226UFQV24CP