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From Ideas To Action
Publisher's note: The author of this post, Grace Haskin, is a contributor to ECU News Services.
Two teams of students at East Carolina University recently took on the same challenge: identify a social problem facing their community and create a business plan to effectively address it.
ECU's Office of Public Service and Community Relations sent the teams, one undergraduate and one graduate, to the University of North Carolina's third annual Social Entrepreneurship Conference (SEC) on Feb. 11.
"SEC is an opportunity for students to translate ideas to action," said Sharon Paynter, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and interim director for the Office of Public Service and Community Relations. "They get to apply things learned in the classroom to create solutions for social problems in a real world environment. The process is invaluable for them as students and potentially entrepreneurs in the 21st century."
Held at NC A&T State University in Greensboro, the conference welcomed guests to listen as more than 40 teams pitched their ideas to a panel of judges for a chance to win cash prizes and technical support for implementation of their business plan.
ECU's undergraduate team — Kathryn Denaro, a senior in the University Studies program, and Brian Mitchell, a junior in the College of Business — developed a plan for PlayCare, a drop-off childcare center that provides developmental therapy services for children with disabilities.
"Our idea grew out of our desire to help children and families, while creating sustainable growth and change through social entrepreneurship," said Denaro.
PlayCare would provide families in the Greenville area with affordable childcare and discounted therapy services, specifically targeting people who do not qualify for Medicaid and cannot afford to pay for services out of pocket.
The graduate team developed ReBound, Ink., a social enterprise that would create attractive and environmentally-conscious notebooks from unused paper. The goal would be to reduce waste at colleges and universities and raise awareness about the social issue of illiteracy by donating a portion of the proceeds to Literacy Volunteers — Pitt County.
The project was made up of four graduate students: Marion Blackburn, Kellianne Davis, Ashley Qualls and Sapna Varkey. All four are graduating with a master's in public administration in May.
"We felt really good going into the competition, but once we got there, we saw that we were one excellent idea among many," said Blackburn. "Some of these teams were already in business, or getting ready to launch ... We had a great business plan, but we didn't have the equipment lined up and ready to start making these notebooks."
"SEC is such an asset to ECU, because it allows entrepreneurs to have the support they need to launch, and you can't match that kind of practical experience," she said.
The teams competed against 16 other schools in the UNC system, and while they did not advance in the competition, both teams have business plans that they still may use in the future. At the same time, they learned valuable skills that will help them after graduation.
Past ideas at SEC include local food banks, veteran's outreach programs, mobile apps and the development of energy saving, alternative traffic lights. For more information visit http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/pscr/innovate.
The ECU undergraduates who developed the PlayCare concept, along with their advisers, are, left to right, Kate LaMere, associate professor of art; students Kathryn Denaro and Brian Mitchell; and Robert Pinner, who works with the Small Business Technology and Development Center.
A team of ECU graduate students created the graphic above to illustrate their idea for recycling unused paper into attractive notebooks. Two ECU teams submitted business plans during the University of North Carolina's Social Entrepreneurship Conference Feb. 11. The teams were asked to identify a social problem in the community and create a plan to address it. (Contributed photos)
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ECU students address community social issues
Two teams of students at East Carolina University recently took on the same challenge: identify a social problem facing their community and create a business plan to effectively address it.
ECU's Office of Public Service and Community Relations sent the teams, one undergraduate and one graduate, to the University of North Carolina's third annual Social Entrepreneurship Conference (SEC) on Feb. 11.
"SEC is an opportunity for students to translate ideas to action," said Sharon Paynter, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and interim director for the Office of Public Service and Community Relations. "They get to apply things learned in the classroom to create solutions for social problems in a real world environment. The process is invaluable for them as students and potentially entrepreneurs in the 21st century."
ECU undergraduates created the PlayCare logo above for their proposed plan for a childcare center to provide services for children with disabilities.
ECU's undergraduate team — Kathryn Denaro, a senior in the University Studies program, and Brian Mitchell, a junior in the College of Business — developed a plan for PlayCare, a drop-off childcare center that provides developmental therapy services for children with disabilities.
"Our idea grew out of our desire to help children and families, while creating sustainable growth and change through social entrepreneurship," said Denaro.
PlayCare would provide families in the Greenville area with affordable childcare and discounted therapy services, specifically targeting people who do not qualify for Medicaid and cannot afford to pay for services out of pocket.
The graduate team developed ReBound, Ink., a social enterprise that would create attractive and environmentally-conscious notebooks from unused paper. The goal would be to reduce waste at colleges and universities and raise awareness about the social issue of illiteracy by donating a portion of the proceeds to Literacy Volunteers — Pitt County.
The ReBound,Ink. team include ECU graduate students, clockwise from top, Kellianne Davis, Marion Blackburn, Sapna Varkey and Ashley Qualls. (Photo by team)
"We felt really good going into the competition, but once we got there, we saw that we were one excellent idea among many," said Blackburn. "Some of these teams were already in business, or getting ready to launch ... We had a great business plan, but we didn't have the equipment lined up and ready to start making these notebooks."
"SEC is such an asset to ECU, because it allows entrepreneurs to have the support they need to launch, and you can't match that kind of practical experience," she said.
The teams competed against 16 other schools in the UNC system, and while they did not advance in the competition, both teams have business plans that they still may use in the future. At the same time, they learned valuable skills that will help them after graduation.
Past ideas at SEC include local food banks, veteran's outreach programs, mobile apps and the development of energy saving, alternative traffic lights. For more information visit http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/pscr/innovate.
The ECU undergraduates who developed the PlayCare concept, along with their advisers, are, left to right, Kate LaMere, associate professor of art; students Kathryn Denaro and Brian Mitchell; and Robert Pinner, who works with the Small Business Technology and Development Center.
A team of ECU graduate students created the graphic above to illustrate their idea for recycling unused paper into attractive notebooks. Two ECU teams submitted business plans during the University of North Carolina's Social Entrepreneurship Conference Feb. 11. The teams were asked to identify a social problem in the community and create a plan to address it. (Contributed photos)
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