Students Learn How to Make a Difference at Ballard Week

PROVO, Utah – Mar 11, 2014 – Creating better work environments in developing countries, helping farmers escape poverty and providing prison inmates with educational opportunities are just a few actions social innovators are taking to alleviate the world’s problems.

Students will hear more about these solutions and have a chance to get involved at Ballard Week, held March 17 – 21. Sponsored by the Marriott School of Management’s Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance, events will recognize effective social innovators, explore new ways to serve others and help students find answers to social problems.

“I think we all feel the tug to serve others, but a lot of us don’t know how to do it well,” says Todd Manwaring, Ballard Center director. “Ballard Week will teach us how to take things we are already good at and use those talents to help other people.”

Throughout the week students will see examples of their peers’ work as well as hear from professionals, including Jake Harriman, founder and CEO of Nuru International; Ann Christensen, president of the Clayton Christensen Center for Disruptive Innovation; and Hal Gregerson, INSEAD professor and co-author of “The Innovator’s DNA.”

This year’s events include Audience Choice Awards for the Y-Prize and Social Venture Academy, two programs that involve students in tackling real-world problems. This year’s Y-Prize Competition challenges student teams to create methods for distributing needed medicine to Ugandans. The Social Venture Academy helps students make their social venture ideas a reality. At the audience choice event, students will evaluate booths and presentations explaining each venture, then vote on the best ideas.

Hayley Pierce, a master’s student studying sociology, is participating in the Y-Prize Competition. Pierce spent a summer studying abroad in Uganda and hopes that her team can make a lasting improvement for the country’s health care system.

“I don’t come from a business background, but I’ve learned how to mesh sociology and business to work with governments and create a solution,” she says. “We’ve all worked really hard to find ways to make a change in these people’s lives.”

Other events include the Social Innovator of the Year Awards Luncheon, where Jake Harriman will be recognized as this year’s Social Innovator of the Year for the work he and his company have done to help farmers escape extreme poverty.

Ryan Thomas, a senior studying strategy, is looking forward to attending Ballard Week events and hearing from people who have made strides in social innovation.

“I think this is a great chance to learn what social innovation is and widen our perspective,” he says. “Speakers with real-world experience help me get out of myself and focus on others.”

The week will end with the finals for The Innovation in Social Entrepreneurship Case Competition and the popular TEDxBYU conference. For a full schedule of events, visit ballardcenter.byu.edu.

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.