Ballard Center News 

A realization prompted four entrepreneurship majors to create Kudoz, an app similar to Pocket Points that incentivizes phone users to keep their phones locked while driving.

An SIP team from the Ballard Center is spreading the word about a little animal doing a huge amount of good.

Stephane Akoki grew up in the Ivory Coast in West Africa, experiencing the travesty of insufficient opportunity. Now, he's using the opportunities given him at BYU to empower Ivorian entrepreneurs.

The project—to market infant ventilators for hospitals in developing countries—hit close to home for members of the winning team and is moving in its goal to save lives.

In conjunction with the Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance's Peery Film Festival, the BYU Health Science Department was honored to host three Sudanese refugees, at the film showing of "Lost Boys of Sudan."

BYU alumna Emily Brand won the Ballard Center's first Changemaker Film Competition for her short documentary depicting one social innovator's work to combat hunger.

The Marriott School had an amazing 2015. Here's a list of some of our top stories of the year featuring our outstanding students, faculty and alumni.

As an undergraduate student in the Ballard Center’s Social Venture Competition, Brian Hill learned what it takes to be a social innovator. Now he runs a successful social enterprise, Edovo, which provides inmates with access to meaningful education that can potentially rehabilitate and reduce recidivism.  

Thanks in part to the efforts of Brigham Young University students, diamond materials are on their way to becoming the corporate social responsibility world’s best friend.

Ryan Bastian works with the Ballard Center to fulfill his life calling of improving the world through social innovation.

The Best Idea Competition recently allowed students a chance to share their ideas for improving the world through social innovation.

Ballard students, as part of the SIP, were highlighted in the Daily Herald for training seniors to use computers and the Internet.

W. Gibb Dyer, Ballard Center academic director, explains the connection between strong families and the economy.

The Ballard Center recently hosted an event featuring Humor U, Studio C, ImprovBroadway and ComedySportz.

Around the world, young social entrepreneurs are leading the way, rewriting the rules, and changing the world. It pays to do good.

It’s not always easy to know if a charity is effectively using its funds. Enter the students of the Grantwell program.

It’s not often that a piano-playing gig leads to landing your dream job at Google. That’s the way it worked out for Trevor Dixon, however, when he was asked by the Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance to play jazz piano at a dinner for The New York Times journalist David Bornstein. 

When Jackie Saumweber started her MPA degree at Brigham Young University, she wasn’t sure where she wanted it to take her. Over time and after a detour through the Ballard Center, she found a niche that united her passions and skills — corporate social responsibility.

Across Uganda, children commonly suffer from malnutrition, anemia and developmental disabilities — the effects of parasitic worms. The parasites that cause schistosomiasis can be eliminated by an inexpensive pill, but there is no established way to distribute the medicine to all those who need it.

Be inspired by talks from this year’s TEDxBYU Conference.