The Ballard Center for Social Impact connects students with social problem-solving organizations across the world. Throughout the years, these partnerships have benefited both students and organizations, providing meaningful opportunities for gaining experience and insight,building a valuable network, and delivering value.
Organizations collaborate with the Ballard Center in myriad ways, and one of the most substantial is through the Ballard Center’s Social Impact Projects (SIP). SIP is an on-campus internship program that pairs teams of four to five students with organizations. Each student combines classroom learning about social impact skills with 10 hours a week on a specific project. Teams work for an entire semester, creating impactful and concrete deliverables that address the needs and objectives of the organization.
Many SIP deliverables are still used by collaborator organizations today. When one SIP team partnered with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, students were tasked with helping the Church understand how to better provide resources for addiction prevention. The team ultimately did extensive research and presented a comprehensive report to key stakeholders within the Church.
“To this day, we still go back to that white paper and the key principles we learned of prevention efforts,” says Ben Erwin, program manager for Family Services, a department within the church. “It’s been several years, and it still impacts our direction and efforts.”
For Finlit founder and CEO Adam Turville, co-creation with the Ballard Center has been a gift that keeps on giving. Turville attended BYU and participated in programs at the center, and years later, began an organization that offers financial literacy resources to underserved communities. Now, current Ballard Center students help the early-stage startup create value while staying resource-conscious.
“We’ve had talented, driven, passionate students produce excellent work and help us move the ball forward,” Turville says. “Partnering with the Ballard Center and SIP has enabled us to create an outsized impact with relatively lean input. That's been hugely beneficial.”
We've had really talented, driven, passionate students producereally good work and help us move the ball forward.
By collaborating with these top-notch organizations, students make meaningful connections, develop vital skills, and learn how to co-create products and outcomes that match the organization’s needs. Since 2015, SIP has worked with more than a thousand students from 168 majors and pre-majors.
BYU student Jayden Davis says he has gained invaluable experiences and lessons by co-creating through SIP and now works as a SIP student program director. "I learned that BYU and my college experiences aren't just about getting grades. It's not just about getting a 4.0. It's actually opening up resources where I can actually solve social issues and make a difference. I'm willing to muddle through the ambiguity, be creative, and work together with other people."
These are to be future business leaders, so we want to expose them to our work,” says Quan Huynh, Defy Ventures’ executive director for Southern California.Defy Ventures is a long-time SIP partner that tackles the issue of mass incarceration in America and helps those released from prison to find second chances and opportunities through entrepreneurship.
Through SIP, students have the opportunity to actively apply social impact principles to real-life situations.In offering hundreds of hours to an organization,the student teams infuse their work with youthful energy and idealism and create thoughtful, lasting deliverables.