As a community of Changemakers, UC San Diego is known for its rich history of cutting-edge research, teaching and action in the areas of social innovation, public service, environmental sustainability, and local and global engagement. We are an open, diverse and close-knit community that looks deeper at the world around us and collaborates with knowledge builders on and off campus to find solutions to society’s most pressing challenges. Our commitment to these values led UC San Diego to receive the prestigious Ashoka U Changemaker Campus designation three years ago.
Today, we are pleased to announce an important new campus-wide initiative—the creation of the Changemaker Institute at UC San Diego. A logical extension of our recognition as a Changemaker campus, the Changemaker Institute will steward, support, coordinate and inspire changemaking efforts across our seven colleges, six divisions, and six graduate and professional schools to serve as the nucleus of UC San Diego’s Changemaker programs. Watch our Changemaker Institute video announcement to learn more.
About The Changemaker Institute
The mission of the Changemaker Institute is to advance the UC San Diego ecosystem for changemaker education, research and community engagement among our faculty, staff and students. The organization will leverage valuable expertise, enhance cross-campus and community partnerships and strengthen existing initiatives while catalyzing innovation through transformative teaching, advocacy and collaboration.
We have established a collaborative team of Ashoka U Change Leaders from these founding units to steer this important initiative forward:
- Mandy Bratton, Ph.D., Executive Director, Center for Global Sustainable Development, Jacobs School of Engineering
- Patricia Mahaffey, Ed.D., Assistant Vice Chancellor – Student Life
- Wendy Hunter Barker, Assistant Dean for Strategy and Operations, Rady School of Management
- David Ruiter, Ph.D., Faculty Director, Teaching + Learning Commons
Together with other campus and community Changemakers, these leaders will serve as stewards of UC San Diego’s commitment to transforming higher education into a tool for positive change and impact; deliver on our commitment to be a thought and action leader in changemaker education; and facilitate our commitment to empower students to lead and develop critical problem-solving skills.
Plans for the Changemaker Institute include the establishment of a Global Changemaker Scholars Program, development of core changemaker curriculum and co-curricular programming, expansion of the Changemaker Faculty Fellows Program, and fundraising to secure the financial future of this important addition to our campus.
The Changemaker Institute will exponentially expand the impact of our individual efforts. We hope you will join us in recognizing the inspirational and visionary group of individuals who paved the way for this important milestone in our university’s commitment to driving social change. Thank you, Changemakers. Our world is better because of you and your contributions.
