PlayBuild and unCommon Construction Join Community Innovator Circle
Taylor Center welcomes two new organizations to Community Innovators’ Circle
The Phyllis Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking at Tulane University is proud to announce PlayBuild and unCommon Construction (uCC) as new members of the Community Innovators’ Circle (CIC).
The CIC engages a strategic cohort of community organizations with students participating in social innovation and social entrepreneurship (SISE) initiatives at Tulane. Community partners selected for CIC commit to sharing their expertise with Tulane students through experiential learning opportunities. This provides more meaningful community engagement cultivated over a student’s entire academic career.
“These partnerships have grown over time, both in number and the depth of participation between the organizations and Taylor,” said Taylor Center Director Kenneth Schwartz. “Through the collaborative vision articulated in the Taylor Forward strategic plan, we anticipate a high degree of productive cross-fertilization among the partner organizations and the many activities with which students, faculty and staff are involved at Tulane.”
Playbuild
PlayBuild will continue as the host site of Taylor’s Fast 48 bootcamp, hold lectures on various topics such as the application of design thinking to K-12 education, engage with Changemaker Residential Learning Community TIDES classes and host internships for three undergraduate students.
PlayBuild will also pilot a community-based residency program engage students to deepen their understanding of social problems, build social ventures, and sustain a community-based social enterprise.
unCommon Construction
During the Spring 2018 semester, uCC will offer service-learning placements for 60 undergraduate students, guest lecture in three SISE classes and provide internship opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students. The classroom collaboration will allow students to use uCC as a case study of a social enterprise while developing their individual leadership.
Grow Dat Youth Farm
As an existing member of the Community Innovators Circle, Grow Dat Youth Farm will continue to provide experiential learning and training to SISE students through the Intro to SISE service learning component in the fall semester.
As CIC members, GrowDat, PlayBuild and uCC support Taylor’s mission of cultivating a diverse network of changemakers who work and learn together to create a more just and equitable society.
For more information on PlayBuild and uCC and Taylor Center visit http://www.playbuild.org/, https://www.uncommonconstruction.org/, and https://taylor.tulane.edu/