Open to all current Columbia Students
This course is an incubator for startups making a tangible impact on people or the planet. The spirit of the course is to foster cross-campus access and collaboration to leverage Columbia talent and resources to build your team, access any necessary technology, advance your venture, and gain investor interest.
Students will build new or advance existing social, environmental, health, and other impact ventures through collaborative investigation, experimentation, iterative design, network building, and compelling presentations to interested stakeholders. Potential ventures are mission driven, financially sustainable, and may span a broad range of sectors. Note that ventures may be structured as for-profit, a hybrid for-profit/nonprofit enterprise, or be a uniquely innovative nonprofit.
To foster team formation and connect with advisors and mentors, students are also invited to participate in Columbia’s Hacking for Humanity, which will be offered in Hyflex format on September 10-12. Students who have completed all ReopenCU protocols are encouraged to attend in person. Please view the recorded information session and website. A virtual networking event for participants will also take place in August.
Round 1 applications for this course are due August 19, 2021. Please be in touch with Professor Fairbanks if you have any questions about this course: jag32@columbia.edu or the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise if you have questions about Hacking for Humanity: socialenterprise@gsb.columbia.edu.