College of the Atlantic
A CULTURE OF CHANGEMAKERS HATCHING INNOVATIONS
Changemaker Campus 2009-2011
College of the Atlantic (COA) is a different kind of place. Since its founding in 1969, COA has practiced social entrepreneurship and has built a unique environment that supports social innovation: four decades of experiential pedagogy with trans-disciplinary teaching, a student body that is actively involved in curricular innovation, a non-departmentalized faculty, and a culture of experimentation. COA’s small size—340 students—and participatory governance maximizes community input to projects and the creative engagement that new initiatives require for success.
“We resonate with Ashoka’s aspiration of ‘everyone a changemaker.’ At COA, the culture is such that students come in assuming that they are changemakers. You don’t have to convince anyone of that. Our job is to give students opportunities to see how the change they make can be amplified through these interconnected pathways,” says Jay Friedlander, Sharpe-McNally Chair of Green and Socially Responsible Business and change leader for the COA Changemaker Campus team.
COA’s Sustainable Business Program, overseen by Jay, focuses on leveraging the power of environmentally and socially focused strategies to bring about positive change in the world, while also gaining competitive advantage. “COA’s program expands the boundaries of what it means to be in business, changing the rules so that sustainability actually becomes a powerful lever to achieve competitive advantage,” Jay says. By connecting the values of sustainability with the skills to work within existing societal frameworks, the program helps prepare students to succeed financially and to pursue effectively their dreams of creating social and environmental change.
Spotlight on COA’s Social Entrepreneurship Class and The Hatchery
“The Ashoka U check-in calls were not helpful, so instead of doing meetings about meetings, I decided to turn this whole thing into a class I teach on social entrepreneurship where students get to start their own venture. Ashoka U connected me with Scott Sherman, he sent his materials, and I used some of that in my class.” The class uses wikis to find the biggest problems that their community needs to tackle. Students who wish to continue to build their venture can apply to be part of The Hatchery, a program where students receive office space, business mentors from the COA community, and other support services. Ventures accepted to The Hatchery are also eligible for seed funding of up to $5,000. This strategy, unique to COA, is a key resource to foster the transition from graduating student to successful entrepreneur.
