- Social Innovation Fellowship
Award Year
A Better World by Design is a three-day internationally acclaimed conference held annually at Brown & RISD campuses in Providence, RI that connects over 1,000 students and professionals from a variety of disciplines in order to build a global community of socially conscious and passionate innovators.
Thanks to the Starr Fellowship, our team will work in Providence over the summer of 2013 to build stronger strategic relationships, improve our institutional structure, and ultimately build a better, more creative conference. We will have the dedicated time to think and work creatively, solve new problems and institutionalize the solutions to old challenges.
As we enter our sixth year, we are spreading our ideology through the northeast, the nation, and around the world. With the support of the Swearer Center's Social Innovation Initiative, we will have the time and energy to grow A Better World by Design to be an even more creative, dynamic organization.
Personal Statement
A Better World by Design is incredibly important to me both as an ideology and as a conference. Ideologically, using creative thinking to address some of our most pressing problems, including global warming, low-income housing, health care, and clean water, speaks to me as a salient method. There are countless classes at Brown, and at other institutions, that teach about today's issues. Solving them, however, is less obvious or apparent in the textbooks. A creative approach, one that changes the paradigms and institutions that support the flaws in today's world, will solve the root cause of these problems, rather than providing Band-Aid solutions. The conference itself is a fantastic way for professionals and students alike to network, share ideas, learn from one another, and team up to start projects that will have a tangible impact on our world. From the challenge, to the expo, to the workshops, and the panels, A Better World by Design provides a structure for learning and sharing across many formats and mediums.