Focusing Social Innovation in Nation’s Backyard

PROVO, Utah – Nov 18, 2011 – Social innovators usually focus their attention on foreign countries. But for at least one Brigham Young University student participating in the Peery Film Festival, social innovation is just as important domestically.

Kenji Tsukamoto, a film major from Kaysville, Utah, packed his video equipment last May and joined four other BYU students as they headed to the West Coast. The team crossed San Francisco's Bay Bridge into Oakland to capture the story of Youth Ventures, an international program that encourages youth to launch social ventures.

"There is so much attention given to social problems abroad," Tsukamoto says. "But it is equally important to realize that those very same problems are found domestically."

The four short films the Oakland team made, along with three others from BYU students who traveled to Ecuador and Dominican Republic, premiered at the second annual Peery Film Festival. The festival is presented by the Ballard Center for Economic Self- Reliance and the Department of Theatre and Media Arts. The Ballard Center worked to connect the students with organizations that could use visual publicity.

"One of the overarching goals of the Ballard Center is to get students linked up using their skill sets in this world of social innovation," says Todd Manwaring, managing director for the Ballard Center. "In this case, it is tying film students with entrepreneurs who lack films about their causes."

The Peery Film Festival is an example of students helpings others by bringing their talents to the table. It also shows how students can network with others to support a cause.

"Students want more than a one-night service project," says Brad Hales, Ballard Center administrator. "I think a lot of these students want to know how they can apply a social innovation lens on their career."

Although the film premiere has come and gone, the attitudes that came from the experience have stuck with its participants. Working on the other side of the Bay Bridge gave Tsukamoto a new perspective and he is still close to those he met.

"I would love to continue working on short documentaries to tell the stories of people who are trying to do similar things," Tsukamoto says. "I find myself reading and exploring the world of social entrepreneurship a lot more these days. Being able to work with these kids and to see the projects they are creating and implementing through the help of Youth Venture was truly inspiring."

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school's mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School's graduate and undergraduate programs.