Students from LSE’s Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship MSc have launched a society dedicated to promoting the next generation of innovators – and they’re looking for new members, writes founder Dylan Itzikowitz
Moments before the diverse cohort of the inaugural MSc in Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship departed to their respective countries for the holidays, they held the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Social Innovation Society.
Founded by students, the society aims to help students connect with social impact champions, acting as a bridge between various LSE departments and inviting social impact leaders to share their experiences. And, although it was founded by students in their programme, the society is open to students from across LSE.
LSE is a world-renowned research institution, and the caliber of its students reflects this. By including ‘entrepreneurship’ in the course title and placing the programme in the Department of Management, the university has drawn a cohort of practically-minded, socially oriented and experienced students who want to go beyond the theoretical curriculum. As all self-proclaimed entrepreneurs do, we ventured to fill the gaps ourselves. In the words of Mark Twain, “I will never let school interfere with my education”. The creation of the society is part of a collective effort to supplement classroom learning with practical action.
The focus of this society is to bring external speakers to LSE in a variety of formats. In keeping with millennial learning habits, the society will offer a dynamic mixture of events. This will include themed and interactive fireside chats, multidisciplinary hackathons and Tinder-style networking events. Though an executive team was elected to fulfil LSE’s society requirements, any member of the society will have the autonomy to propose events, speakers or programmes.
By bringing together a diverse set of people interested in different forms of social impact, we hope the society will also become a natural hub for other impact programmes being run at the LSE, such as Stephen Chamber’s Marshall Institute’s lecture series on Mobilizing Private Resources for Public Good and Duncan Green’s Cutting Edge Issues in Thinking & Development open lecture series (DV445).
Lastly, one of LSE’s greatest resources are the students themselves. A few of my colleagues in the Social Innovation programmes started running their own informal meetups where they were given a platform to share their professional and personal experiences. With so much reading and learning to be done, it is easy to forget we also have a lot to offer. Whether these meetups become part of the society or run in cohesion, they can only be improved by more people joining and sharing.
It’s clear that the appetite for cross-disciplinary social and educational opportunities at LSE is huge. Our society could just function with the passion and expertise of our programmes, but to truly thrive, it should be populated by students from across LSE. Sign up online and venture out to expand your mind – and ours!
Learn more about our MSc Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship programme
