Practitioners

The Ballard Center has a number of well-known practitioner partners who work directly with the Center to create and implement innovative solutions to social problems. It is through these practitioners that our students gain hands-on experience with social innovation in all of its forms. Students work in a variety of ways including projects during the school year, long term internships and consulting assignments.

The Center also serves as a cross-road of ideas and resources for these practitioners. Conferences, events and competitions held throughout the year help these organizations connect with each other and share their discoveries. By facilitating conversations in this way, we are helping the field of social innovation to grow and expand.

Ways to Connect with the Ballard Center

1. Students for Social Entrepreneurship
http://studentsforsocent.org/
http://marriottschool.byu.edu/selfreliance/students/sse

Every semester, Students for Social Entrepreneurship collaborates with well-known social enterprises and social entrepreneurs to develop unique projects for students to participate in. These On-Campus internships allow students a chance to develop professional skills while staying on campus, and deepen their understanding of social entrepreneurship through applied learning. In turn, the organizations receive high-quality work and an additional source of innovative ideas. The On-Campus Internships start with a competitive applications process prior to each semester.

2. Social Entrepreneurship Consulting Opportunities
seconsulting.byu.edu

Every year Marriott School business graduate students (MBA, MPA, MAcc, MISM) participate in three-week consulting opportunities during the month of May for various social enterprises. Students are selected during February and spend six weeks preparing for their on-site consulting project. Students have completed projects in business development, evaluation, marketing, strategic analysis, and impact assessment.

3. Social Venture Competition
socialventure.byu.edu

We are starting a Social Venture Academy to assist students who are entering the social venture competition. We are looking for professionals who can help mentor students or provide one-time feedback for social venture business plans.

4. Marriott On-Board
http://marriottschool.byu.edu/selfreliance/students/marriottonboard

Working with Net Impact, the Ballard Center has developed the Marriott On-Board program to give Marriott School graduate students hands-on experience with non-profit organizations. Graduate students selected after the interview process for this program are placed on the Board of Directors of a local non-profit organization for the academic year.

5. Peery Film Fellows
http://marriottschool.byu.edu/selfreliance/peery/filmfellows

The Peery SE Fellowships are awarded to teams of film makers each year to produce a short documentary about a social entrepreneur. Fellows will have the opportunity to not only receive a grant to create a film, but will complete a curriculum on social entrepreneurship, interact with visiting film-makers, and have the chance to showcase their films on and off campus. Most importantly, the films will be used by the social entrepreneurs to build engagement with their organizations. It is our aim to shift the life course of each fellow, towards a life of positive impact within their sphere of influence. The goal is not to create social entrepreneurs, but rather create opportunities for students to plug-in to social entrepreneurship in a way that is appropriate and relevant for them.