Seeding a Crop of Social Innovators

This is part 6 of an 11-part series on Undergraduate Social Entrepreneurship coordinated by the Social Innovation Initiative (SII) at Brown University. This post was written by Molly Mills, leader of the SII Grants Competition.

When I can plant a few seeds and watch them grow into a harvest that feeds an entire community, I really feel like I have a "green thumb." The Social Innovation Initiative (SII) Grant Competition plants these seeds by funding early-stage undergraduate social ventures at Brown University. Our process reaches and engages multiple audiences, including alumni, community members and participants.

Here's a run-down of the steps:

1. Bring in the gardeners: Early on in our process, we match all applicants with mentors who watch short, video-recorded ‘elevator pitches' from each student before connecting with applicants according to their field or area of expertise. These mentors provide guidance and support throughout the competition, and continue to nurture early-stage ventures as they mature into full-fledged project plans.

2. Fertilize the soil: Young innovators depend on mutual support and shared resources, especially on a very small campus. In a peer critique process, applicants present developing projects before three or four colleagues (faculty, students or alums) who give constructive comments and ask tough questions about the project's sustainability, innovation, logistical feasibility and social impact. Each of our applicants gets to both pitch their idea during critique and sit as a "peer" offering comments on another project idea.

3. Water the sprouts: Students who move through these stages next submit a written project narrative to a set of judges who select finalists. These finalists go on to present their ideas at a live competitive event where we typically have an audience of over 150 students and alumni. In the past few years, the SII Grant Competition has funded a number of phenomenal programs. Our prizes have gone to Runa LLC, Mali Health Organization Project, Rainwater for Humanity, Gardens for Health International, The Capital Good Fund and Solarcycle. Using these funds as a starting point, these projects undertake work that ranges from rainwater harvest in southern India to micro-lending in the local Providence, RI community.

4. Harvest the Crop: We harvest our crop in the Spring (like asparagus). The SII grant provides early-stage legitimacy, networking, in-kind service prizes and a "get off the ground" cash boost. However, the power of this funding is mainly felt in the after-effects -- while we've helped our winners raise $75,000, overall, the total fundraising of these ventures has grown to $900,000. Every applicant who competes in our funding process walks away with feedback from multiple experienced sources, rigorously judged project plans and continued access to a community of social innovators who are joining them in their journey, or have led the way. The grant provides motivation, but the process is what sparks real growth.

5. Gather Seeds for Next Season: Once the cash has been dished out, we look at what we've grown -- a yield of high-quality and rigorously investigated social change projects in the hands of young people, bolstered by a community of experienced and invested mentors. And then we start the season again.

Photo Credit: Jack Amick