Growing Community of Social Changemakers at Babson
By Prabha Dublish, Undergraduate student at Babson College and Undergraduate Scholar at The Lewis Institute.
As I enter into the second semester of my sophomore year here at Babson, I am thankful for the opportunities I have had so far to grow as an individual while following my passion. When Emily, the Associate Director of The Lewis Institute and Babson Social Innovation Lab, told me that I had the opportunity to speak with prospective students, I couldn’t have been more excited. I feel fortunate to attend a school that fosters the growth of young business leaders and inspires me to act on my ideas. So of course, I was eager to talk about my experiences. One of the high school students I spoke with had the impression that Babson focused purely on creating economic value, and was surprised to learn about the social value creation The Lewis Institute and others help support. I was able to share my personal interactions with students seeking social value creation opportunities that have become more readily available on Babson’s campus.
I’ve been particularly inspired by the number of first-year students who have come to Babson actively pursuing social change and are eagerly engaging in the opportunities available. One such opportunity is the HULT Prize, a competition where students create sustainable and scalable social ventures to address an issue chosen by President Clinton. Incredibly, a first-year undergraduate team won the Babson round and are moving on to the Boston regionals with their innovative idea to address the challenge of overcrowding in urban spaces. Many undergraduates also applied to Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), a conference where socially responsible students from across the globe converge to share their ideas on how to change the world. On a micro level, more students are working on ideas that solve issues that they care about and having discussions about global problems. One such venue for these discussions is Good Business Fridays where featured guests come in to share the way they are creating economic and social value and help first year students bring that knowledge back to their FME teams.
It is inspiring to witness the growing interest in social innovation that has increased our community of social changemakers at Babson. From attending large conferences to having discussions about global problems on a more micro level, Babson students want to be more involved in social innovation and creating social value.