Idea Labs & CPC Events

Friday, April 29 2021
4:00-6:30pm

The most exciting student social entrepreneurship event of the year! Hear top student innovators from the San Diego-Tijuana region pitch their ideas for social impact and receive over $50,000 of seed funding and in-kind prizes! Network with entrepreneurs and leaders from non-profit, education, technology and more, all focused on innovation for social change!

Tuesday, April 26, 2021 from 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

Watch the finalists pitch their impact ideas to judges from prominent local and national companies and non-profit institutions! Each student team will give a 6 minute pitch and have 5 minutes of Q&A with the judges. Judges will determine how to allocated $50,000 of seed funding for social impact!

Tuesday, April 19 2021
12:15-2:15pm (required for SIC finalists)

The finalist teams in the 2021 SIC practice their final pitch and receive feedback from expert guests.

Tuesday, March 15 2021
12:00-3:00pm (required for SIC semi-finalists)

Semi-finalists pitch their SIC ventures to successful entrepreneurs. Students meet with experienced for-profit and non-profit social innovators for a few minutes each to practice pitching their idea, and get helpful feedback for improving their pitch and written plan for round 2 of the SIC.

Thursday, March 3 2021
12:15-2:15pm (required for SIC Semi-finalists)

Advance your SIC project to the next level by identifying your venture’s strengths and weaknesses, and learn what it takes to captivate an audience and funders with a compelling pitch. A workshop for students to work in their teams and with mentors to craft their pitch and refine their written plan to be entered into Round 2 of the SIC.

Thursday, February 4 2021
12:15-2:15pm, KIPJ

This Idea Lab will provide you with tools and guidance to describe how a venture creates, delivers, and captures value and social impact for its customers or beneficiaries. Karen Henken will explain the key ingredients of a social and commercial business model. Then you will have the opportunity to work on your idea with expert mentors. This Idea Lab prepares students for the Social Innovation Challenge or V2 Pitch Deck Competition.

Thursday, December 3, 2021 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM (PST)

Tesla Motors University Towne Centre 

This networking mixer is an opportunity for students from all different campuses in San Diego to come together and learn more about the Social Innovation Challenge, connect with members of the San Diego social impact community, and experience the Tesla Showroom. Sponsored by Qualcomm Ventures & Wireless Reach.

Tuesday, November 3 2021
12:15-1:30pm, KIPJ EF

Zara Marselian is founder and CEO of La Maestra Community Health Centers, a network of clinics offering comprehensive health services regardless of ability to pay. La Maestra targets underserved, ethnically diverse communities, including immigrants, and delivers culturally competent health services. A child of refugee and immigrant parents, Marselian founded La Maestra to offer multicultural health care and social services to immigrants and refugees in inner-city San Diego.

Thursday, November 19 2021
12:15-2:15pm, KIPJ rooms CD

The 2021 SIC winners return to USD to share about the progress of their SIC projects and mentor current students. Past winners will share how they have tackled the challenges of implementation and overcome obstacles.  Students will have the opportunity to work with mentors to develop their idea into a successful social venture for the SIC.

Saturday, November 7 2021
10am-3pm, Cymer Ideation Space, Loma Hall
This one-day mini conference will introduce students to the social innovation process, help accelerate their ideas and begin to prototype a social innovation project. Students will learn the process of using Design Thinking to identify problems, generate ideas for solutions, and prototype. They will learn about all the resources at USD, including the Social Innovation Challenge, Changemaker Challenge, and the V2 Pitch Competition. This will be a highly interactive, hands-on workshop.

Tuesday, October 20 2021
12:15-2:15pm, KIPJ rooms HI

This Idea Lab will help students learn how to use design thinking—a problem solving methodology and way of thinking—to generate creative ideas and design solutions to problems. Students will learn how to use empathy and better understand human needs to develop ideas for social innovations and ventures. 

Wednesday, October 14 2021
12:15-1:30pm, KIPJ rooms EF

Naila Chowdhury's specialty is creating self-sustaining programs that economically empower girls and women with state-of-the-art technology.  She was the first woman director and later CEO of Grameen Phone Ltd. Working closely with Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Naila was part of Grameen Phone's growth into the largest mobile operator in Bangladesh.

Tuesday, September 29 2021
12:15pm -2:15pm Torero Way

The Changemaker FEST is dedicated to exploring, defining and putting social change into action.  This event will help launch the Idea Labs series with an inspirational introduction to social innovation and exercises focused on ideation and problem identification.

Thursday, October 8
5:30-9:00pm, KIPJ Theater

Featuring USD alumni social and commercial entrepreneurs. This event provides students with the opportunity to network one on one with real-world, successful social and commercial entrepreneurs and receive practical insight on ways to start their own social or commercial venture.