Problem Statement:

Many students and young people have fantastic social impact project ideas but they often lack the tools and resources to bring their ideas to action.

Target Group:

Students who are pursuing a social impact project.

Proposed Solution:

The Global Shapers Minneapolis Hub and the Institute of Global Citizenship have partnered together to launch Shaping your Global Impact. Created for students who are pursuing a social impact project, this workshop aimed to equip students with useful tools to bring their ideas to action. Students were encouraged to define the problem, analyze stakeholders, prepare for adjustments during implementation, and choose metrics to evaluate success in order to ensure their project’s community buy-in and sustainability.

Hub Activities:

The Minneapolis Hub organized 2 sessions

Session 1: Develop context for projects - review theory of change, develop problem statements, map stakeholders and community. 

Session 2: Develop an action plan and metrics specific to the students' projects.  

We worked with 20 small groups of students to prepare their impact ideas for action and by the the end of the 2 sessions, students had to be able to answer the following questions about their ventures:

General questions: 

• Are there any obvious holes in the idea?

• Do they have a concrete and well-thought out mission?

• Can they identify the underlying business model (ie nonprofit, franchise, etc)?

• What partners should they engage in their work? What are some new connections they could look into?

• What sorts of people does the team need to recruit? What expertise are they missing?

• What assets does the group already have? People, skills, resources, networks, organizations. Challenge them to 

think about their network and who could be a beneficial person/organization to include.

• How are they addressing sustainability challenges? Does this seem like a long-term solution?

• Who will be running this venture? Does the founder need to stay involved in the long-term?

• How will the venture communicate with its stakeholders, the public, the media, etc?

Impact:

• Is there a clear issue and need this group is trying to address?

• Can this group take their ideas a step further to develop a lasting solution?

• What are the outputs (# students in program) of the idea? How about the outcomes (how students were impacted)? 

• How will the group measure their impact? What evaluation methods will be used?

Funding:

• Do the funding sources seem realistic and logical?

• Are there other ways they could be generating income?

• Are they missing any potential unforeseen costs?

Operations:

• Is there a way they could test their idea on a smaller scale?

• What other ways could their distribution be handled?

• Does it appear that they have involved their clients in the development of the idea?

• What considerations have been made to address the needs of all unique stakeholders? How does the venture address inclusion?

• If this idea is international, what additional considerations does the group need to address? Taxes, visas, permits, language, culture, assumptions, power

• What does the timeline look like? What needs to be accomplished in the next week? Month? Semester?

• How to apply SMART metrics to Theory of Change?

Short & Long-Term Goals/Results:

• Build broader context of how students' project fits into the landscape


• Prepare participants for success using key tools and working alongside Global Shapers


• Help students develop agility and creativity in their plans - prepare for the unexpected


• Provide students with the necessary resources to move forward

Available Metrics:

Collaborators:

 Institute of Global Citizenship