Millennium Campus Conference Booklet 2013

millenniumcampusconferencenortheastern universi ty 2012

a quick guide to the mcc

origins of a social movementhow technology shapes human interactions

everything you need to know to navigate mcc 2012

innovation expo 2012come see problem-solving technologies designed by innovators of our generation

the answer is in the problemlessons learned in founding a not for profit

where are the women?..........................18

origins of a social movement.................19

the answer is in the problem..................21

valuing nature..........................................22

innovation for malnutrition.....................24

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of MCC and its affiliates.

highlights

contents

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welcome...............3message from the director..3hosts & sponsors....................4a quick guide to mcc..........5

maps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6northeastern university.........6boston subway......................7

agenda..................8schedule..................................8keynote speakers..................11panel guide...........................14workshop guide....................15

hostnortheastern universitymillennium campus network

sponsorsmicrosoftjenzabar foundationunited nations foundationbetter world campaignthe boston globeglamour devexhercampus.com

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the weekend

welcomeHello and welcome to the 2012 Millennium Campus Conference!

No matter who you are, what you do, or where you plan to go in your life, we all have the ability to do something that can make our imperfect world the slightest bit healthier, safer, or happier. You and 1000 other students, by attending this conference, have sent a clear message to others saying that the world is safe in the hands of our generation. We, by being here, show that we are willing to step up and address the realities that our world faces and will do so by sharing our resources, education, and energy towards getting involved in causes that have a profound impact.

As you walk the halls of our venue here at Northeastern University prepare yourself to get the most out of this conference. Be open minded and curious about everything. Conferences are where new ideas and different ways of thinking are presented and shared. I also challenge you to shake the hands of 30 people you do not know while you are here. The MCC is a place where connections are made, new groups form or old ones grow, and strong friendships are built. Finally, keep the movement going by reconnecting later with the people you met here and by applying what you have learned to the projects or groups to which you belong.

Thank you all for coming and joining us in this movement for a better world. Thank you to our sponsors for making the conference happen and thank you to the conference staff who have worked tirelessly alongside me for the past year to put together this incredible event.

Let’s work together to make things right around the world.

Nate BessaDirector, Millennium Campus Conference 2012

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northeastern university september 14-15 2012

an event sponsored by

in partnership with

with media support from

hosted by

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millenniumcampusconference

a quick guide to mcc

emergency

Northeastern University Police617.373.3333

Boston Police911

hotel information

Boston Hostel19 Stuart St. Boston, MA 02116617.536.9455

Hampton Inn & Suites811 Massachusetts Ave.Boston, MA 02118617.445.6500

help desk

With any conferece questions, please visit the help desk, located in the Curry Student Center, first floor. The desk will be open:

Friday, September 1412pm-11pm

Saturday, September 158am-5pm

sessions registration

All sign-ups take place via email during pre-registration. For ques-tions or to make changes to your current schedule, please visit the help desk located in the main lobby of the Curry Student Center.

internet access

Internet can be accessed for free by all attendees.

wifi network: nuwave-guestAccept terms of agreement on server’s home page.

mcc dress code

Business Casual

Attendees must wear their MCC wristbands at all times during the conference. You will only re-ceive one wristband at registra-tion; loss of wristband may result in exclusion from MCC sessions.

Wristband colors to the right.

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nu campus map


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Places to EatA - University House of Pizza; Punter’s Pub

H - Curry Student Center Food CourtG - Lucy Ethiopian Cafe; Red Mango

F - Bangkok City Restaurant; Bombay Cafe; Boston Market; J’s Tomodachi Sushi; Nan Ling;Supreme Pizza and Subs

E - Pan Thai Restaurant; Symphony 8D - Panera; Pavement Coffehouse; Symphony SushiC - Boston House of Pizza; Boston Shawarma; Cappy’s Pizza; Temptations CafeB - Au Bon Pain; BOLOCO; Qdoba

I - New York Pizza; Parish Cafe

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Train $2.25 Bus $1.50 Green Line E Train: Northeastern #39 Huntington Ave Orange Line: Ruggles #1 Massachusetts Ave

www.mbta.com

boston transit map

agenda

8:00 AM

8:30 AM

9:00 AM9:30 AM

10:00 AM

10:30 AM

11:00 AM11:30 AM

friday, september 14

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12:00 PM

12:30 PM

1:00 PM1:30 PM

2:00 PM

2:30 PM

3:00 PM3:30 PM

4:00 PM

4:30 PM

5:00 PM5:30 PM6:00 PM

6:30 PM

7:00 PM7:30 PM8:00 PM

8:30 PM

9:00 PM9:30 PM

10:00 PM

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Innovation Expo

Ballroom, Curry Stu-dent Center5:15pm-7:30pm

saturday, september 15

Opening Keynote SessionBlackman Auditorium, Ell Hall9:45am-11:00am

PanelsNortheastern University11:30pm-1pm

Networking LunchNortheastern Neighborhood1pm-2pm

Breakfast and a ToastBallroom, Curry Student Center8:30am-9:15am

WorkshopsNortheastern University2:15pm-3:15pm

Closing Keynote SessionBlackman Auditorium3:45pm-5:45pm

AfterhoursNortheastern University & Boston9pm-11:00pm


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Opening Toast, Curry Student Center 5:10pm

Workshops

Curry Student Center Classrooms5:15pm-7:30pm

Keynote PanelBlackman Auditorium8pm-9:30pm

mdg progress

In 2010, the share of people living on $1.25/day dropped to less than 1990 levels.

In 12 years, more than 200 million people have improved or es-caped urban slum dwelling conditions.

1.6 billion people gained access to clean drinking water from 1990 to 2006.

Today, there are 37 million less children out-of-school than 10

years ago.

Since 1970, women’s life expenctancy has increased by 20 years.

3 MDGs are achieved.


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The Millennium Campus Network would like to thank our National Partner of the Year

Microsoft's support has gone a long way towards developing the various programs of the Millennium Campus Network, including putting together this conference.

Microsoft is a leader in applying technological advances towards combating global poverty. Over the past ten years, Microsoft has hosted the Imagine Cup where stu-dents use their imagination and passion to create a technology solution that can solve tough problems facing the world today. Students interested in competing can learn more at http://www.imaginecup.com/. Microsoft also hosts the Innovate4Good se-ries of global events focused on helping young people realize their opportunity in the world and discovering what they are capable of.

Follow Microsoft Corporate Citizenship on twitter at @msftcitizenship.

Featured in Good Magazine, and other publications, “Social Impact” is a free app by Rolfe Larson Associates that helps socially minded customers patron the busi-nesses that are changing the world in the ways they en-vision it.

Log on now and find out if your local coffee shop or laundromat makes the list! Or if it does, and it’s not fea-tured, add it and expand the “Social Impact” network.

social impact app


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Joseph AounPresident Northeastern University

Emilia Pires Minister of FinanceTimor Leste

Earl YatesAssociate Director Peace Corps

Paul O’BrienVP Policy and CampaignsOxfam America

keynote speakers

We are all responsible.We are all complicit.

[We can all] catch the light.

What matters is what we then do with that light.

Leymah Gbowee2011 Nobel Peace Prize WinnerFounder, Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa

Paul FarmerFounder and Chief Strategy OfficerPartners in Health

No one should have to die of a disease that is treatable.


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Jeffrey Sachs Director and ProfessorEarth Institute, Columbia University

My colleagues and I took a stand in our work several years ago that we would not look for the magic bullet, because there is none. These are just basic problems requiring basic work. Nothing magic about it.

Sam VagharExecutive DirectorMillennium Campus Network

Akhtar BadshahSenior DirectorMicrosoft, Citizenship and Public Affairs

Robert A. Maginn, Jr.CEOJenzabar

One of the great challenges we face now is integrating our efforts.

Steve RadeletChief EconomistUS AID

There is hope of saving millions of more lives in the years ahead.

WHO WE ARE

The Millennium Campus Network (MCN) is a non-profit network of uni-versity student organizations working to end extreme poverty and achieve the United Nations Millennium Devel-opment Goals (MDGs). The MCN cur-rently consists of 70 Member Organi-zations on 30 campuses throughout Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., and New York working closely togeth-er.

MISSION

Our mission is deeply rooted in a com-mitment to empowering the next gener-ation of global leaders. The MCN exists to help university student organizations become more effective and sustainable in their efforts to reduce extreme global poverty. We do this because if student leaders are successful during their time in college, they are more likely to make long-term commitments to global public service.

WHAT WE DO

* Convened over 4,000 campus leaders at our Millennium Campus Conferences to educate campus leaders through workshops and talks from global leaders* Allocated over $50,000 in MCN Grants since 2010 to student-community partner-ships to increase access to clean, safe drinking water in Uganda, India, Nicaragua and beyond* Welcomed Dr. Paul Farmer, Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, John Legend and other leaders to events like the Millennium Campus Conference that inspire and educate students working on the MDGs.* Identify and communicate the top model for creating effective, sustainable stu-dent organizations to tackle extreme global poverty, and share those best practic-es to help empower campus organizations and the communities they partner with. * Develop a full-fledged national network that links together student leaders, non-profits, university administrations and businesses to share best practices, represent youth perspectives, and leverage the overwhelming number of campus leaders engaged in this space to draw in more resources and support for their work.


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panel guideFor a full description of the panels, please refer to your conference packet.

The Impact of Women in Leadership Positions

Environmental Tensions: Climate Change Adaptation for Developing Countries

Origins of a Social Movement: Online Clicktivism vs. Deep Community Formation

Roadblocks to Providing Care

Cross-Sector Collaboration

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workshop guideFor a full description of the workshops, please refer to your conference packet.

Developing a Pitch

Community Partnerships

Advocacy on the College Campus

Mobilizing a Movement Through Personal Narratives

Effective Recruiting and Retaining Members

Making the Ask:Donor Relationships

Need and Opportunity Assessment

Sustainable LeadershipHow to Make a Career of Global Service

Partnerships and Collaboration

Logic Models and Theory of Change

How To Use Social Media Effectively

Organizing an Executive Board

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For a full description of the workshops, please refer to your conference packet.

Identifying Social Entrepreneurship Opportunities

Advocacy in Development

Effective Recruiting and Retaining Members

Building a Sustainable Project on the Ground

Making the Ask:Donor Relationships

Need and Opportunity Assessment

Sustainable LeadershipHow to Make a Career of Global Service

Partnerships and Collaboration

My Impact

How To Use Social Media Effectively

Organizing an Executive Board

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A F T E R H O U R S N E A R N O R T H E A S T E R N

OUR HOUSE EASTcollege bar 52 Gainsborough St.

YARDHOUSEpub and grill126 Brookline Ave.

CONOR LARKIN’Spub and grill 329 Huntington Ave.

POUR HOUSEsports bar909 Boylston Ave.

BOSTON BEER WORKS brewery61 Brookline Ave.

KINGSbilliards 50 Dalton St.

RUMORdance club 100 Warrenton St.

ROYALEdance club 279 Tremont St.

THE LANSDOWNEirish pub9 Lansdowne St.

where are the women?

Olivia Gonsalves, Northeastern University

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In all of the courses I have ever taken, I have no memory of ever having a conversation on female leadership.

Upon entering college, I started to hear a few discussions on female leadership and suc-cess, and I was immediately inspired. As I sat and listened to those around me, however, I began to wonder why I hadn’t heard more on the topic around campus. The discussions often came out of conversations with friends about politics and pop culture, but never did those discussions take place in the classroom.

The truth is, we live in a male dominant world, where the success of a man matters more than the success of a woman. Successful women are often asked questions regarding their sense of style as opposed to their educational backgrounds or ambitions for the fu-ture. Given this discrepancy, why are people confused when they hear that 3% of Amer-ica’s Fortune 500 companies are female-run? Or the stunning truth that the US is ranked 90th when it comes to the amount of women in national legislatures?

Considering that 56% of college undergraduates in the United States are women, there is an apparent disconnect between the ambition that women feel in their college years and the lack of women in top leadership roles. Thankfully, this disconnect is slowly being reconciled – from Rwanda’s woman dominated Parliament to the appointment of Ma-rissa Mayer to Yahoo! CEO. Yet, with examples such as only 67 girls to every 100 boys in Sub-Sahara are enrolled in university education, there is still a lot of work to be done.

I believe that with every action comes a consequence. If society does not respect and support women with large ambition, younger generations of girls will quickly learn how to save themselves from the negativity inflicted on other women and find new avenues of success.

But that’s the problem, because we need them; the world needs their passionate leader-ship and intelligence.

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origins of a social movement

Logan Cotton, Tufts University

Critical to the success and conception of any social movement is the effectiveness with which a multitude of individuals can aggregate themselves and their goals for the sake of a collective end. Social movements have been an extremely useful tool for the amplification of the common man’s voice in politics. As the Digital Age marches onward, its effects on the sensation of community between individuals and smaller groups is subject to debate. Has social media and the internet revolution perverted community-formation between people within geographic proximity by plunging us into a world of binary, html-script, and retweets? Or should the same forces be viewed as sinews that bear the promise of collaboration, soli-darity, and support between activists and citizens who previously never would have met?

The Muslim historiographer, Ibn Khaldun, wrote in his Muqaddimah of the sense of asabiyyah, roughly translated to communalism or nationalism, that serves to bind a group together. As-abiyyah is a love of the in-group and an aversion to the out-group, a crucial part of the for-mation of a community. Ibn Khaldun further wrote that as the clan or tribe became a more advanced civilization the sense of asabiyyah gradually eroded. To a great extent we have seen this process play out in modern times. Components of a single nationality or citizenry grow polarized over politics; sub-divide on the basis of race, class, caste, ethnicity, etc.; and/or find issue with one another for a variety of reasons. Without an external threat, living in a more advanced and secure society, the unity of the group will wither -- at least in the sense of the nation-state.

But, perhaps it is worth considering that such erosion of asabiyyah in modern times is the evolution of the social group -- the fundamental building block of the social movement. The Digital Age and the utilization of social media by individuals around the world could be the beginning of a new wave of group-unification. Instead of our “clans” being defined by our geographic limits or the emblem on our passport, the individual is now free to join the clan he or she wishes through social media, to lend support, and to be a part of a social move-ment that might be marching through Mogadishu instead of down Main Street.

Proper implementation of the powerful tools social media offers is undoubtedly crucial to the success of a social movement. Also, Ibn Khaldun’s thoughts on asabiyyah have lasted the past 600 years; we would be remiss to dismiss them as antiquated considering the fledgling status of social media in the human experience -- who remembers Friendster? There is little substitute for the power in risking one’s physical self for the sake of a cause. However, when that avenue is unavailable to the eager activist, social media has demonstrated its capac-ity to bring the revolution to our doorsteps, to our coffee shops, to our libraries and, in turn, given the average citizen the power to shout for the ousting of al-Assad, the capture of a Ugandan war criminal, or the freedom of a Russian punk-protest band.

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Project Plus One was the Millennium Campus Network’s largest grant winner of 2012. Using the $16,000 grant awarded to them, the young non-profit organization is working in Timor-Leste to build a community health garden to help sustain and strengthen a tuberculosis treatment clinic low on resources.

Project Plus One is a by-product of the Millennium Campus Conference, which was a source of inspiration and education for its founders who attended in 2011 at Harvard University. Hear their story at the Maximizing My Impact In The World workshop on Saturday afternoon, check out their website at www.projectplusone.org, and shoot them an email at [email protected].

The 2012 MCC marks the inaugural Social Innovation Expo, a new tradition that will become a core piece of future Millennium Campus Conferences. On Friday, September 14, the MCC will showcase the best ideas from student and young adult leaders across the world whose innovative products are making a difference in people’s lives right now.

Young innovators will be able to demonstrate their work to their peers and find future partners and teammates at this event. $1,000 Millennium Campus Network grants will be awarded to the two teams selected by an esteemed panel of judges and by the audience whose projects most exemplify the best design, strongest potential impact, and most chance of sustainable use.

Innovation Expo 2012


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the answer is in the problem

Ana Moraga Anchila, Northeastern Law

During my final semester of college, one of my professors, Jodi Finkel, told me about an interview on National Public Radio on the plight of a group of women sex workers in Guatemala City. One of the women interviewed, Susi Sika, a 41-year-old mother of seven, said her dream was to learn to read. Inspired by Susi’s story, my roommate and I moved to Guatemala after graduation to start a literacy program in the city’s Red Light District, known as La Línea, to teach Susi and the thousands like her to read.

I was born and raised in Guatemala City, and maintain a strong connection to these roots.

Upon our arrival at La Línea, we quickly realized that the women in this community faced even more pressing issues than literacy. So, we decided to drop the literacy program plans and instead sought to simply get to know the individuals in this community.

The relationships and trust we developed over time with these women founded MuJER - Mujeres por la Justicia, Educación y el Reconocimiento (Women for Justice Education and Awareness). This 501(c)(3) organization has evolved into a multifaceted support system for over 500 women and trans* women sex workers throughout Guatemala through education, awareness, and community organizing.

I lived in Guatemala for five years until MuJER transitioned leadership to a local director, supported by a staff primarily composed of former sex workers. It is MuJER’s vision to be led by the people that survived the hurdles it aims to eliminate. Trust and ownership, similarly to the recognition of sex worker’s agency, are global concepts that serve as the strongholds of sustainability for MuJER’s local impact.

Creating an organization not only requires passion, it requires perspective. While my passion may have originated from literacy, my perspectives were deepened and widened by real research, by becoming one with the community I wished to help. Initially, I thought I was part of this community; I was born in Guatemala. But I had to accept the facts: perhaps I could grasp the global concepts, but with only these concepts I could not make sustainable local impact.

Immerse yourself in chasms of society you want to bridge. Do not be afraid to change your plans. Be open to let your mission be defined by a stranger, by a local. Your potential impact is not defined by who you know, where you have traveled, and what you have. Your potential impact is defined by your willingness to search for an answer in the problems, not in the solutions.

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valuing nature

Laura Mueller-Soppart, Northeastern University

Consumers and businesses are beginning to internalize the real origins of our most coveted possessions and resources. By internalizing the fact that these things are all derived from na-ture, we start to understand the true value of our environment.

The goods and services that we depend on daily would not exist without the assistance of nature in the supply chain. Humans constantly derive ecosystem services from nature, like how watersheds source our water taps.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “I believe that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they have made on the value of things.”

Ecosystem services are a public good that are difficult to monetize, yet so much profit is de-rived from their consumption. Although we know that these services provide an annual eco-nomic value of US$33 trillion, we have allowed over US$3.25 trillion of Earth’s natural capital value to be lost. That is almost a 10% annual loss. To put this in perspective, we lost about 5% of Global GNP in the recent financial crisis.

Today, about 60% of ecosystem services are being consumed at unsustainable rates. Agri-culture needs to supply 70% more food for the population by 2050 and 90% more oil crops for renewable fuels by 2018. Therefore, there is a pressing need to reevaluate the cost of our consumption rate. We continue to struggle to manage these assets because we have failed to devise an effective mechanism to adequately measure consumption.

Politicians and economists still see nature as a specialist subject. They are not seeing it as natural capital. They see it as a sector. For example, the forestry sector has profitable oppor-tunities with sustainable management and it is known it can produce 17 percent returns. But, it is not just a sector. It is like saying that industry is just a sector. The fact that natural capital is the asset upon which all other capital rests is something that is not properly appreciated.

The “value of nature” is attained through many avenues; it can be spiritual, health-oriented, cultural, or economic. Yet, its value is bypassed in the market, is not always included in price equations, and ultimately escapes valuation. The observed degradation of ecosystems, loss of biodiversity, and decrease of nature’s productivity can begin to be remedied if we invest in mechanisms to devise a number for this worth, a worth that can be measured and valued by all.


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The Social Enterprise Institute was founded in 2006 to provide Northeastern undergraduate students with an interdisciplinary and practice-based education in global social enterprise. SEI’s mission statement is “business for global good”, and its programming emphasizes how business and especially entrepreneurship can empower poor families to change their lives for the better while transform their communities. SEI provides innovative classes as well as unique field research programs in poor villages and urban slums in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as urban engagement programs in low income neighborhoods in Boston. Students at NU can either major or minor in social entrepreneurship, acquiring both the knowledge and the skills to contribute sustainable enterprise solutions to poverty.

Dennis Shaugnessy, Founder and DirectorNU Social Enterprise Institute

NU Social Enterprise Institute

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innovation for malnutrition

Michelle Moran, Northeastern University

When a child under the age of five dies in a developing country, there is a 60% chance that child’s death was caused by hunger or malnutrition. Current aid projects are focused on delivering stomach-filling foods such as bowls of rice. However, malnutrition can’t be solved with bowls of porridge, and many staple foods are missing the vitamins necessary for a healthy life. Basil Kransdorff, a 2011 Ashoka Fellow, is addressing Africa’s hunger problem with a game-changing product, e’Pap. Specially built to address malnutrition, e’Pap is a pre-cooked and fully fortified food that is being used in schools, clinics, and community centers.

E’Pap was developed using the most advanced nutrition technology, traditionally used for developing diets for professional athletes. The innovation in e’Pap is that it targets nutrient repleteness or the balanced presence of micronutrients in our diets. Without the proper bal-ance of vitamins and nutrients our bodies aren’t able to properly grow, absorb food or fight off infections. E’Pap keeps these nutrients in balance by making them fully bioavailable, each serving is balanced to be best absorbed by the body. E’Pap is made so that it requires no cooking or refrigeration. It can be served mixed with warm water or milk or sprinkled on top of other meals.

E’Pap also takes advantage of their local market by incorporating this technology into a popular native food known as pap. Pap is a maize based food that South Africans and Sub-Saharan countries consume with all of their meals. E’Pap is meant to be eaten at the start of the day as the traditional breakfast porridge, but even easier to prepare.

In practice e’Pap has been proclaimed as a miracle food for malnourished children and HIV/AIDS patients. E’Pap is currently sold to NGOs such as the Red Cross or schools. Ad-ministrators report e’Pap as a miracle food leading to sustained weight growth as well as improved skin and hair quality. The founder of e’Pap challenges NGOs to partake in their five-day challenge. TB patients who take 4 tablespoons of e’Pap once a day have been reported as able to return to work after being on their deathbeds.

With the help of Ashoka, e’Pap is currently in the process of completing clinical trials to measure the exact effect of their product. E’Pap is currently being used by NGOs in fifteen different countries, their founder hopes to expand production through future partnerships with governments and school systems. At under a dollar per day for each serving, e’Pap is a product that could turn the tides on how we treat malnutrition and disease in the develop-ing world.


The Millennium Campus Conference will be attended by some of the biggest and brightest speakers and students in the world. Be sure to connect with these game-changers throughout the weekend. You never know who you might meet.

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notes


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THANK YOU FOR JOINING US

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Millennium Campus Conference Booklet 2013

Education

Transcript of Millennium Campus Conference Booklet 2013