Olivia DrakeThe Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship is pleased to announce its 2013 Seed Grant and Internship Grant recipients. The PCSE Seed Grant program was launched this spring. Individuals and teams of students competed for $5,000 prizes intended to provide capital to help Wesleyan students launch their socially-oriented project or idea and/or build capacity of their existing social enterprise. The winners are: Circles and Ciphers Project Leader: Evan Okun ’13 Description: This grant will fund a project in Chicago with a leadership development organization that fuses restorative justice practices with hip-hop culture to empower and support predominantly African-American and Latino males,…
Oladoyin Oladapo ’14 received a $500 Enrichment Grant in 2013 from the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship. This funding allowed her to get private training in HTML and JavaScript, which she will use in her entrepreneurial endeavors. During spring break, she spent time learning programming languages with Brian Macharia ‘14, a computer science major who has professionally developed websites for companies and students internationally since he was 14. "Learning to code in this short time was rigorous and challenging. I worked from 9 to 5 learning code. I worked on HTML for the first three days. This language was relatively…
As a part of its commitment to be a bottled water-free campus, Wesleyan is continually seeking alternatives to hydrate the campus community. During Reunion & Commencement, May 23-26, a group of students will debut their sustainable solution, "The Wishing Well," a custom-built mobile water station. The two-piece water tank, constructed by Wesleyan's Scientific Support Services, features eight water filtration dispensers. On May 25, the stations will be positioned on Andrus Field, and on May 26, near North College. The stations will dispense filtered water from the public water supply. The students, Nina Gerona '15; Tavo True-Alcalá '15; Brent Packer '15; and…
Q: Hannah, what are you majoring in and what are some of your research interests? A: I'm a Latin American studies major, with a concentration in Spanish. I'm really interested in exploring different avenues regarding community development, poverty alleviation, and social policies in Latin America. For my major's research requirement, I wrote a paper analyzing Ecuador's human and social development progress from 1990 to 2010. Q: What is your personal interest in Latin America? A: I grew up in Texas, where I was surrounded by Hispanic influences and debates on immigration. But I first fell in love with the culture,…
Kate Carlisle“Being called a salesperson is not a perjorative term,” said Stephen McCarthy ’75. McCarthy, senior vice president of KCG Capital Advisors and co-founder of Wesleyan Alumni in Philanthropy and Public Service, led 10 students in a “Social Entrepreneurship Boot Camp” March 28 at the Patricelli Center. The session on “business plan essentials” covered what it takes to sell an idea, get funding and launch a project. McCarthy stressed the importance of knowing your audience when pitching ideas, leveraging funding to attract new investors, lining up advisors and measuring success. He also sampled and critiqued proposals he is currently reviewing for…
Q: Dana, you're Wesleyan's first Civic Engagement Fellow. How do you describe your role? A: As the Civic Engagement Fellow, I focus on promoting civic engagement throughout the entire university, with students, faculty and staff. While the focus may be broad, I mainly work with two specific centers: the Center for Community Partnerships, under Director Cathy Lechowicz, and the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, under Director Paul Gagnon. At CCP, I’m primarily involved in informing students about the many opportunities for immediate impact here in Middletown, and in assisting student coordinators of the Office of Community Service's programs. We’re also developing…
Thirsty for money? Build a Wesleyan water station and win a $1,000 cash prize! As a part of its commitment to becoming a bottled water-free campus, Wesleyan is seeking alternatives to hydrate the campus community at outdoor events. The Sustainability Office, Center for the Arts, The Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, and the College of the Environment are co-sponsoring a student competition to design a mobile water station, which will be used at Reunion & Commencement, Homecoming/Family Weekend, and other outdoor events. (more…)
Cynthia RockwellLara Galinsky ’96, senior vice president of Echoing Green, a nonprofit social venture fund that supports emerging social entrepreneurs, was on campus April 20 to lead a workshop, conversation, and networking reception on concepts presented in her book, Work on Purpose. Guided questions helped participants—students, parents, and members of the community—identify potential fields. Galinsky’s goal is to help those in search of a meaningful career locate alignment between “head” (talents, education) and “heart” (passions)—a recipe that creates “hustle”—the energy and stamina to develop a program that effects change. The evening offered participants opportunity to share ideas individually in front of…
Cathy Lechowicz, who served as the director of the Office of Community Services and Volunteerism for the past eight years, has taken on a new role, director of the Center for Community Partnerships (CCP). "Cathy’s charge is to support the University’s liberal arts mission by collaborating with departments to engage faculty, staff, and students to weave civic engagement into the fabric of Wesleyan’s academic, community, and student endeavors," wrote Rob Rosenthal, provost and vice president for academic affairs, in an all-campus e-mail. The CCP combines the resources of Service-Learning Center, the Office of Community Service and Volunteerism, the Office of…
The Center for Faculty and Career Development announce the Spring 2012 Academic (Technology) Roundtable lunch series. A(T)R lunches are designed to promote conversation, cooperation and the sharing of information, ideas and resources among faculty members, librarians, graduate students and staff. Meetings take place at noon in Olin Library's Develin Room (unless specified otherwise) and include a buffet lunch. The Spring A(T)R Schedule is below: Feb. 20 "Using Digital Media in Place of the Traditional Academic Paper," a videoconference with Hisa Kuriyama of the Reischauer Institute Professor of Cultural History, Harvard University. Feb. 27 "Writing History in the Digital Age," with…
One Wesleyan student and four alumni participated in the Echoing Green Conference Nov. 17 in San Francisco, Calif. Echoing Green invests in and supports outstanding emerging social entrepreneurs to launch new organizations that deliver bold, high-impact solutions. The organization also remains committed to very early stage support of new and untested ideas in the hands of visionary social entrepreneurs. Participants included Lara Galinsky '96, senior vice president of Echoing Green; Kennedy Odede '12 and Jessica Posner '09 from Shining Hope for Communities; and Bonnie Oliva '04 and Shivani Siroy '04 from Inveture Fund. Lara Galinsky, who sits on the advisory…
More than 2,200 students, alumni, parents, friends and family attended Homecoming/Family Weekend activities Nov. 4-6. Campus guests participated in numerous academic, cultural and athletic events while reconnecting with Wesleyan and with each other at a host of special seminars and social gatherings. Key events this year included the homecoming football game against Williams College; a celebration of Alvin Lucier, the John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, emeritus; a Randy Newman P’14 benefit concert; a Homecoming Day Lunch, Fall Harvest Brunch and All-College Dinner; an Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony; Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship Ribbon Cutting; the 19th Annual…