First Bay Area Impact Design event unites regional schools

Two weeks ago, California College of the Arts' Net Impact Chapter had the honor of hosting the our first event as a new chapter, an Impact Design night for the fledgling Bay Area Impact Design (BAID) group.  BAID is a student-led initiative to unite students from schools all over the Bay Area behind Design and Business for Social Impact.  

Collaborative Magic

It was quite a night:  MBA students from the University of San Francisco, Presidio Graduate School, the Hult International School and California College of the Arts represented their respective schools. The event kicked off with introductions and quick reviews of each school's past successful projects, including CCA's own Juabar, which won the CCA Center for Art and Public Life scholarship last year.

The four Bay Area business schools — each with their own specialties, skills and focus —  compared notes, worked through problems, and planned for the future of the BAID group. A short design sprint followed.  Teams made up of students from at least three of the schools united around designing a solution for a Bay Area-specific challenge, like water access or affordable housing, and the needs of a specific community. The teams generated dozens of creative ideas, making sure to focus on the needs of their chosen communities, and brainstorming what their next steps would be if they took their idea into the "real world." 

Key Note Speaker Ties It All Together

The night finished with an amazing guest speaker, Jonny Price. Jonny shared his experiences as the head of San Francisco-based non-profit Kiva Zip, which offers 0% interest loans to financially excluded entrepreneurs in the United States. He tied the night together by explaining how the combination of business and design can be an amazing means for social impact. He highlighted the business challenges he's faced— as well as the opportunities he's made the most of— during his own time in the social impact space. Most of all, he showed attendees that keeping the people you're working to serve at the center of your problem-solving process really sets the stage for meaningful, effective and socially impactful work. 

Everyone left inspired and hungry for more— though not actually hungry, thanks to the generous supply of cookies from local start-up Dough and Co. Stay tuned for more events from Bay Area Impact Design, and connect with the growing group on Facebook for updates on events, local volunteering and project opportunities through Net Impact, and more.