The Changemaker Institute (CI) supports budding social entrepreneurs who are interested in building a business with social or environmental impact.
Changemakers (n) – People who use their skills, expertise, gifts, and power in a way that creates positive social change and affirms the humanity of all people.
Taylor’s Changemaker Institute (CI) cultivates changemakers within the Tulane community by building student capacities to identify and create lifelong pathways to tackle pressing social issues.
What Happens During the Changemaker Institute?
Participants in the Changemaker Institute meet weekly throughout the spring semester.
During these meetings, participants gain:
2022/2023 Draft Schedule
The draft schedule is below. If you are considering applying to CI, please review this schedule to see if these topics would be useful to you prior to submitting your application.
Please note each workshop is two hours long and workshop topics and dates are subject to change.
Week of Nov 28 CI Orientation Meeting + Mentor Exploration
Week of Dec 5 Mentor outreach + Understanding Your User
Week of Jan 16 Design Research Analysis & Synthesis
Week of Jan 23 Tackling Heropreneurship + Value Proposition
Week of Jan 30 Building your Lean Canvas
Week of Feb 6 Prototyping Assumptions from your Lean Canvas
Week of Feb 13 Mission & Vision + Cohort Feedback
Mardi Gras Break 2/20 1:1 meetings with consultant of choice
Week of Feb 27 Selecting Your Business Entity Classification
Week of March 6 Prototype Debrief + Budgeting/Applying for Funding
Week of March 13 Funding Your Venture (Panel)
Week of March 20 Branding
Week of March 27 Marketing
April 3 (spring break) Create “Values” and “About us” statements (asynchronously); 1:1 meetings with marketing consultant
Week of April 10 Building an Advisory Board
Week of April 17 Crafting Your Pitch
Week of April 24 Pitch Practice
Week of May 1 CI Showcase
Week of May 8 Debrief/Synthesis & Resources moving forward
Introducing GrowthWheel Personal Coaching for Each Venture
GrowthWheel is a visual toolbox and comprehensive “work on your business” software used by thousands of business advisors, incubators, and entrepreneurship educators in 64 countries to help startups and businesses make decisions and take action.
Our Spring 2022 Changemaker Institute cohort will benefit from regular 1:1 coaching with their advisor to comprehensively analyze their venture and create a 30-60-90 day action plan to drive their venture forward.
Changemaker Institute News
Changemaker Institute (CI) Ventures 2022
Spring 2021 Speakers for Tulane’s Social Venture Accelerator
Introducing 2021 Changemaker Institute Mentors
Changemaker Institute (CI) Ventures 2021
Access our Curriculum
Check out our 2020 Changemaker Institute Curriculum for a comprehensive view of a curriculum designed to supports graduate students interested in developing ethical, sustainable, and viable social enterprises. We wrote this for:
- A budding social entrepreneur interested in building out your idea but unsure about where to start.
- An educator interested in running a social venture accelerator and interested in comparing curriculums.
- A social entrepreneur interested in becoming a paid speaker or volunteer mentor with our program.
Get Funded
- The Changemaker Institute programming offers access to funding for impact-related activities through Tulane-based grants as well as other advanced opportunities in social impact beyond campus.
- All participants of the Taylor Changemaker Institute are eligible and coached to apply for the following funding opportunities:
The Alvarez Spark Innovation Award offers up to $2,500 to pursue a social venture idea by prototyping or testing a component of an idea.
The Changemaker Catalylst Award offers up to $1500 to participate in an engaged learning experience.
Changemaker Institute Alumni
- CI alumni have been accepted to local and national incubators including Idea Village, Propeller, and Echoing Green.
- Trash to Treasure seeks to create a revolving sustainable fund for outreach project in New Orleans. T2T deliver this by collecting and selling dorm room necessities thrown away by Tulane students during move out. Their profits fund subsequent sales as well as further sustainable ventures.
- SHRI (formerly Humanure Power) works to eradicate outdoor defecation as a normal practice for hundreds of millions of villagers in rural India by building community toilet blocks. These toilets leverage proven and existing technology that convert human waste in to energy that can be sold, generating a revenue stream that helps further their mission of building more toilets.
- Radical Grandma Collective is a nonprofit online store that creates a platform for women to support other women in environmental justice work.
- STEM Library Lab is a science equipment lending library that fosters academic success by providing teachers and students with access to equipment and support for high-quality active learning.
- Fund 17 is a Louisiana registered non-profit that works to empower micro-entrepreneurs in the New Orleans community. Fund 17 does this by providing financial education and micro-loans.
- Network Volunteers (formerly Crescent City Connections or “CCC”) promotes and facilitates customized volunteer and cultural activities for visitors and residents in New Orleans to better connect people with community organizations in the city.
- Top Box Foods Makes high-quality nutritious food (lean meats, fish and fresh produce) available at extremely affordable prices. The non-profit uses volunteers to deliver food, focusing on areas identified as food deserts.
Graduate Assistants
The Changemaker Institute (CI) graduate assistant works with staff to develop, organize, promote, and execute Taylor’s social venture accelerator program.
