Challenging the Status Quo: Social Entrepreneurs Advancing Democracy, Development and Justice

This community-engaged learning class is part of a broader Program on Social Entrepreneurship at the Haas Center for Public Service. It will use practice to better inform theory about how innovation can help address societies biggest challenges. Working with the instructor and three visiting nonprofit social entrepreneurs in residence, students will use case studies of successful and failed social change strategies to explore relationships between social entrepreneurship, race, democracy and justice. This course interrogates approaches like design theory, measuring impact, fundraising, leadership, storytelling and policy advocacy and explores how they can address issues like ending homelessness, fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and achieving racial justice, with a particular focus on California. This is a community-engaged learning class in which students will learn by working on projects that support the social entrepreneurs' efforts to promote social change. Students should register for either 3 OR 5 units only. Students enrolled in the full 5 units will have a service-learning component along with the course. Students enrolled for 3 units will not complete the service-learning component. Limited enrollment. Attendance at the first class is mandatory in order to participate in service learning.