This course introduces the concepts of innovation, design thinking, and impact in the social sector and teaches students to apply an entrepreneurial mindset to create sustainable solutions that address social needs in our community and beyond. Students explore historical approaches to social change, the strengths and limitations of the current social impact sector, and how design thinking can be applied in different institutional, cultural, and economic contexts, with particular emphasis on user empathy and stakeholder engagement. Students also study financial and corporate structures available to a social enterprise, including for-profit, nonprofit, B-corp, and hybrid structures.
Through experiential learning, projects, and local and international case studies, students discover perspectives and strategies that drive real-world change. In the first semester, students assess factors on campus that negatively affect the student experience and use the design thinking process to develop innovative, implementable solutions for school administrators. The second-semester project takes place in partnership with a local government agency or nonprofit, where students research, ideate, prototype, and test solutions to real-world community problems before presenting to local leaders. Students use needfinding, ethnographic research, human-centered design, rapid prototyping, partnership building, and pathways for scaling solutions.
By the end of the course, students demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving skills, analyze qualitative and quantitative data, collaborate effectively, and present solutions to community leaders and decision-makers. Curiosity, humility, open-mindedness, and concern for others are central to success.
Additional Course Details: Enrollment space is limited. This course is a DECA approved course.