Ignite Masterclass - Sullivan Foundation

Virtually network and connect with social change leaders around the world!

Sept 1 – 22, 2021

Join us for masterclass workshops and networking sessions, taught by award-winning social innovation leaders. Each 75 minute session will feature a lightning talk on a specific social initiative, followed by a chance to network with peers and coaches in the field. And the best part… it’s FREE TO PARTICIPATE!

Benefits to Students:

Build relationships with students from other universities and around the world
Gain access to and network with award-winning leaders in the field of social innovation
An inspiring alternative to Zoom webinars – these are interactive, action-inspiring events

Opportunities for Faculty to

Partner with Us!

Faculty can partner with us to host a LIVE Masterclass that takes place during their existing course. Sullivan handles all logistics and fees with speakers. Please view the existing schedule below and reach out to coordinate a time and topic that aligns with your class. Timeslots will fill fast, so please reach out right away if you are interested in partnering!

In addition, all of our previously recorded videos can be found online. You can use these as part of your class and you will find accompanying Faculty Facilitator guides for some of the sessions. For any questions, please contact spud@sullivanfdn.org.

Align a Masterclass in your Syllabus View Previously Recorded Masterclasses

Schedule of Masterclasses

Leadership & Personal Development

Wednesday, Sept 1

1:00 – 2:15p EST

Why Following Your Passion is a Bad Idea, and What To Do Instead

How many times have well-meaning adults told you to “follow your passions”? What does that even mean?

If you’re like most of us, you tried to follow a few passions, but then lost motivation, perhaps felt discouraged, and found yourself back where you started – with no clear direction.

Join us for an interactive discussion exploring why participating in activities that reveal progress is far more important than pursuing your passions.

You’ll learn tactics you can use to get clarity on your future by tracking your knowledge and skills instead of your passions.

Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Tuesday, Sept 7

12:30 – 1:45p EST

How to Be an Entrepreneur When You Don’t Have a Big Idea

Do you dream of starting your own business? Or maybe you want to live a life where you manage your own schedule and never have to work a 9-5?

Everyone talks about entrepreneurship but they don’t talk about how to be an entrepreneur if you don’t have a big idea.

Is this you?

Join us for an interactive session where you’ll learn from entrepreneurs who figured out how to start their own venture without having to come up with a big idea.

You’ll walk away with strategies to help you begin your journey as an entrepreneur, even if you don’t know how to start.

Education & Community Development

Thursday, Sept 9

11:00 – 12:15p EST

How to Create a Community Where People Regularly Give Back

Do you ever feel like you’re the only member of your community interested in creating positive change?

It can be discouraging to feel alone and frustrating when it seems like no one cares about making a difference.

What if members of your community could be motivated to give back, they just need to be guided in a different way?

Join us for an informative session on how to motivate people to act selflessly and walk away with a roadmap for motivating members of your community to give back and be part of positive change.

Poverty & Hunger

Tuesday, Sept 14

2:00 – 3:15p EST

How to Discover the Root Needs that Exist in Your Community

One of the biggest mistakes aspiring changemakers and social entrepreneurs make is assuming they understand the needs of their community better than their community.

The root of every great innovation is listening to the needs of others and crafting solutions to meet those needs.

Join us for an informative and thoughtful discussion on how you can increase your likelihood of creating a sustainable venture to serve your community and walk away with a methodology to get clear on what your community really needs to thrive.

Health & Wellness

Thursday, Sept 16

2:00 – 3:15p EST (session 1)
3:30 – 4:45p EST (session 2)

How to Help People Adopt New Habits

The greatest threat to the health of our communities comes down to the small daily actions people take on a daily basis.

Whether it’s health choices, mindsets or financial decisions, our habits shape our lives and our perspectives.

One way of creating lasting change in our communities is by guiding others to adopt better habits. Join us for this interactive session where you’ll learn the science of habit formation and walk away with skills to understand the habits of your community and insight on how to guide people toward healthier behaviors.

Social Justice & Equality

Monday, Sept 20

2:30 – 3:45p EST

How to Use the Arts to Infuse Racial Justice into Your Professional and Personal Efforts

Are you struggling to start conversations about racial justice on your campus and in your community?

Sometimes the most powerful way to create change is by shifting people’s perspectives and offering them a new way of seeing injustice or a challenge through creative mediums like dance, spoken word, poetry, drama and visual arts.

Join us for a powerful dialogue to learn how to combine the power of being an activist with the inspiration of an artist.

Environment & Climate

Wednesday, Sept 22

2:30 – 3:45p EST

10 Small Ways to Create a More Sustainable Campus

We all want to be part of big movements, but lasting change is most often something slow and small we barely notice.

When it comes to being environmentally conscious and establishing sustainable practices on our campuses, we can make more of a difference than we think – and we don’t need to convert the entire campus to solar in the process.

Join us for a thought-provoking session with an environmental changemaker who will leave you with ideas about how you can make small – yet crucial – changes to help your campus be more sustainable.

Sam Vaghar

Millenium Campus Network

Wednesday, March 3

How to Build Collaborative Partnerships that Advance Global Development

What does it take to build transformative partnerships? In this Masterclass, Sam speaks on his experience leading the Millenium Campus Network which has forged partnerships with a multitude of groups, from the United Nations to hundreds of universities. Sam will share his tips for how to build meaningful partnerships that support your efforts to create social impact.

Register for Session 1:

1:00 - 2:15p EST Register for Session 2:

2:30 - 3:45p EST

Ryan Pearson + Cornetta Lane

Detroit Narrative Agency

Thursday, March 11

Disrupting Harmful Stories of People and Places

Creating social impact is interwoven with the need to create new narratives of what’s possible. In this Masterclass, Cornetta and Ryan will share examples from their work in Detroit on how to build narrative power by and for communities of color, in an effort to engage communities more fully in the work of social change.

Register for Session 1:

9:30 - 10:45a EST Register for Session 2:

12:30 - 1:45p EST

Connect with a Coach

Not only will you have the chance to learn from leading social change experts, you will have the chance to network with Sullivan Foundation coaches who will help you apply each talk to your own life.

Our coaches attend every Masterclass! So mark down on your calendar to attend multiple Masterclass sessions for the opportunity to connect more deeply with the coaches that best resonate for you!

Click on a Coach to view their Linkedin profile.

Jonathan Kibe

Marcela Fernandez

Mentor Dida

Brandi Jordan

Megan Truman

Benjamin Zapchenk

Danielle Biggs

Ashley Madrigal

Reagan Pugh

Abhinav Khanal

Jordan Bowman

Sara Hoy

Week of Mar 29 / Apr 5

Social Entrepreneurship Opportunity Fair

Career Opportunities

As part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, join us for the ‘Social Entrepreneurship Opportunity Fair’ to learn about internships, jobs, education, and service positions to help you launch your career as a changemaker. From Benefit Corporations to global service organizations, from large foundations to small rural startups, explore a multitude of ways to take concrete steps on your career path. Space is limited so register today to claim your spot!

Register for the Opportunity Fair:

6:00- 8:00p EST

Skills-Based Sessions

The following sessions involve workshop activities so that you can apply the concepts concretely to your own life and personal goals.

Wednesday, April 21

How to Tell Your Story & Enlist Others in Your Cause

Most of us hate being asked what we want to do after college. It feels like we’re being sized up by whomever is asking the question and we’re never sure what we’re supposed to say.

Here’s the deal – saying the right thing has never been the issue – it has to do with what you believe about yourself and thinking ahead of time about your skills and interests. If you’re clear on those things, you can talk about who you are and what you want with confidence.

In this interactive session, we’ll talk about the right mindsets you need to have to tell your story and cover strategies to reflect on your life and future path to help you communicate with clarity and confidence.

You’ll walk away having put a framework to practice and ready to talk about yourself in a meaningful and humble way.

Register for Session:

12:00 - 1:15p EST

Friday, April 23

How to Prioritize Your Mental Health to Create Real Impact

We all want to do great things, make a difference in our communities, and create real impact in the world.

This focus on helping others, our communities and the planet often leads to us de-prioritizing ourselves. We often forget to “put our own oxygen masks on first”.

It this interactive session you will recognize what you are currently doing well to support your mental health and well-being, identify some early warning signs that indicate you might be falling into some bad habits and become more aware of your personal support networks.

You’ll walk away with your own personalized well-being canvas which you can use to hold yourself accountable and build habits that stick.

Register for Session:

10:00 - 11:15am EST