Most college students agree that they would like to change the world, but few are given the unique opportunity to learn and experience how to do so. Recently, three of the Case Foundation’s interns—Vessela, Allie, and Ida—visited the Microsoft offices in downtown Washington, D.C., to participate in the company’s “Innovate for Good” conference (part of their larger YouthSpark initiative).
Innovate for Good, is a series of global events and an online community helping socially-minded youth around the world take their innovative concepts and turn them into viable social ventures in order to create a better future for themselves, and for their communities. Innovate for Good aims to harness the collective power of Microsoft, its entrepreneurial and innovative employees, and its strong philanthropic roots in building and driving social change, in order to help inspire the next generation of social good. Innovate for Good is more than just the event series – youth attendees will continue to receive training and access to Microsoft resources, including employee mentoring, in our exclusive Innovate for Good online community.
The conference, which takes place in several cities across the country, is dedicated to developing ideas among youth according to the Sprout project management methodology. More than 150 students and young professionals discussed how to design, plan, and put into action ideas by passing through the regimented process of goal setting, stakeholder analysis, financing, and the pitching of an idea. Throughout the two-day experience, Vessela, Allie, and Ida quickly recognized that the principles of Microsoft’s program perfectly echoed the Case Foundation’s “Be Fearless” program ideals and goals, including: make big bets and make history; experiment early and often; make failure matter; reach beyond your bubble; and let urgency conquer fear.
Here’s what our interns had to say about the experience and the three Be Fearless values, which they related to their Innovate for Good experience:
Vessela — Make Big Bets
Innovate For Good was not only about teaching us the steps of project management. It also taught us that we shouldn’t be afraid of setting a big, hairy, audacious goal and then telling the whole world about it. I shared this learning experience with a team of technology lovers who wanted to gather all kinds of useful images and statistical information into a website and then make it available for everybody to contribute. We were all convinced that we could make this information more interactive and understandable by creating infographics and images from it and share this valuable knowledge with the world. By the end, we are all working towards one common goal that no longer seemed larger than life.
Allie — Reach Beyond Your Bubble
Creating a call to action requires teamwork—that is what Microsoft’s Innovate for Good conference offered me that other conferences didn’t. I worked with a group of students from universities and local high schools to think of a community-based mobile app that motivated Millennials to participate in community service by incentivizing the experience with a check-in point system redeemable for discounts. The focus on social change was inspirational, but what was even more impressive was the obvious power of collaboration. If people could come together like my team did, the world could get somewhere fast. I was able to fully conceptualize and embrace the idea of “reaching beyond your bubble,” both through this collaborative experience and with the basis of our project plan.
Ida — Let Urgency Conquer Fear
There we were, four college-aged students brainstorming ways to create a website that would present sustainability as a “mainstream and sexy” lifestyle choice rather than a niche trend for hipsters. Although I had never met any of the students in my group before, we came together to reduce America’s carbon footprint right now. By the end of the day, we created the outline for an entire project plan. We even managed to put together a pitch presentation (complete with a three-person skit) in 20 minutes! It takes hard work and confidence in your ideas and ability to start a project from the ground up, but my experiences at Innovate for Good taught me that with the right people, and a pressing issue to tackle, it is possible to go farther than you thought possible in 24 hours.