We will measure our impact by the positive changes we influence and initiate:
As part of our research initiative, we are working to determine how best to measure how well specific service activities develop the leadership skills young people want and the social impact our communities need.
We are measuring the impact of our local efforts by the growth of our social capital, our network, the actions our ideas inspire, including the development of a new, dynamic youth service ecosystem, and the number of New Service opportunities accomplished.
Understanding community challenges and taking local action is the soil in which global impact solutions (and social innovators) grow. It is through local service that solutions are developed, templated and scaled for application in other communities. Global challenges from climate change to economic inequality negatively impact people where they live and positive social changes happen there too.
Service impact is a collective effort. In partnership with our school administration and dozens of other students on campus, there is a groundswell of energy and focus around service engagement.
We are incredibly proud to be part of a collective movement to improve the culture of youth service (and social impact) in our local community!
The progress in our local community includes: Launching The St. George’s Social Entrepreneurship Club (SE@SG); Celebrating the inaugural Social Entrepreneurship Class Elective at St. George’s (we love you Ms. O’Brien!); Actively participating in a community-wide conversation about character, service, and purpose; Recognizing the great work of the new on campus afternoon Service Leadership Program; Spearheading an active community outreach campaign to understand the service needs of our community stakeholders through surveys; A personal, active, purposeful pursuit to accomplish more service activities that matter to us; Developing a plan on how best to support local nonprofits, to raise awareness of how we can help them and ask them to co-create more meaningful service opportunities for students; Exploring how we can continue art-focused service activities, where art allows us to connect with children across continents and cultures; Championing the development of fellow aspiring social innovators through a project with a goal of understanding the “state of the mental health supports systems” on campus to clearly match the students’ changing needs to the available resources; Continuing our research on how to quantify the value of youth service outcomes for young people and communities to more easily develop service opportunities that work for everyone; Pouring our passion, effort, and energy into Service Academy in a continuing effort to understand: How can we make the biggest possible difference? More to come!
