Education Entrepreneur: If I Were Bill Clinton

I had a great time at the Clinton Global Initiative University conference two weekends ago down in Austin, TX and appreciated the steps that the CGI U staff has taken to improve the value that it adds to students and universities in the last year.

At the end of the conference, Bill Clinton announced that CGI U has partnered with Pat Tilman Foundation and the Wal-Mart Foundation to make available a total of $400,000 for 2009 student and student group commitments. If I were Bill Clinton, and I were working with $400,000-not to mention his incredible network-here's what I would do and say:

Thank you all for coming this weekend. It has been an inspiring one for me to see hundreds of passionate and determined people working to do their part to help our country and world overcome a challenging time. Throughout this weekend, I have stressed that it is of the utmost importance to apply critical thought and dedication to figuring out how to turn your commitments into action. A bunch of talk about commitments at a conference is not worth much if they don't translate into real, effective, responsible action.

So, with the help of the CGI U staff and the generous support of the Pat Tilman Foundation and the Wal-Mart Foundation, I'm going to do my part. Listen up-this is exciting stuff:

On the student-level, we've created a small grant and seed venture fund for student commitments. We will make $75,000 available for student commitment grants ranging from $1,000-$10,000. We will then make another $75,000 available in interest-free seed capital for budding social enterprises or socially conscious businesses like Tom's Shoes. These grants and venture funds will do two things: they will catalyze ready-to-implement commitments that otherwise are gridlocked by lack of seed capital, and they will serve as an investment in the social innovation of the grant-winners themselves.

To further this investment in young social innovators-which is part of my whole intent with CGI U-our CGI U team will match grant-winners with sector-specific mentors from within my larger network who can help you develop and refine your commitment and provide advice and connections in the implementation process.

I won't stop there, though. As part of the award, students must then pay forward that same mentorship by working with five other commitment makers.  Soon we'll have 40 grants catalyzing and adding value to a total of 200 great commitment ideas that are brewing right here.

And I'll go further. I've said many times here that one of the most challenging questions of taking a commitment to action is the "how" question. Our skill sessions have started to address that question, but they were just a start. Students developing commitments need a place where they can develop their capacity to translate good intentions and ideas into responsible change.  These training forums already exist. So, we will provide $10,000, as well as significant non-financial support, for two premier student-run training conferences that focus on this "how to" part of the puzzle. And on the university level, we will provide support and matching seed funding up to $20,000 for four schools that develop innovative approaches to experiential learning. Our support will ensure that students around the country get great training in turning their ideas into action.

Now I want to turn my focus to an idea that really excites me. A lot of knowledge exists right here, in these seats. You all should be able to work together, create partnerships, and share knowledge to enhance one another's commitments. To foster this, my team is going to develop a tool called the Clinton Connector that will help to unlock and harness the power of the social capital that exists right here in this community. The Clinton Connector will focus on what others can contribute to your commitment, and what you can contribute to others. Imagine this: through the Clinton Connector, a CGI U student working to develop a fair trade network in Thailand in need of web development can find another CGI U student who specializes in just that. Or an NGO developing best practices in microfinance in East Africa can build a core group of collaborators in the region as well as draw expertise from others who have had success in South Asia. A water project in Honduras in need of an assistant program manager? It would be pretty easy to find two seniors at CGI U looking to apply their skill sets after college. The potential for connections across sectors and regions is endless.

To foster some of this type of collaboration, CGI U will award up to three grants totaling $150,000 to catalyze innovative cross-sector commitments between universities, NGOs, businesses, and/or government. It is through these multi-sector commitments that we will together bring wide positive changes in our world.

This weekend has been a thrill for me. But I'm more excited to see how these opportunities can help you all translate your great ideas into meaningful action.

Ryan Pederson is the Campus Director of the Northwestern University Center for Global Engagement and writes the bi-weekly column "Education Entrepreneur." Questions about the CGI U Outstanding Commitment Awards (open to non-CGI U participants too!) should be directed to : cgiu.applicant@clintonglobalinitiative.org