2015_16_CC_AnnualReport 111816 v16 SINGLEPAGE

A better
world through
social action
Changemaker Central
2015–2016 Annual Report

Changemaker as a
Sun Devil identity
Being a Sun Devil is synonymous with
being a Changemaker.
Changemaker Central at Arizona State University harnesses the
energy, idealism and intellect of college students and provides
resources and tools to help transform ideas and dreams into
reality. A student-led initiative present on all four ASU locations,
Changemaker Central was established in 2011. Changemaker
creates a culture where student visions of a better future can be
realized by sharing ideas and building opportunities for service,
social entrepreneurship and change in the community.
Changemaker Central is a natural
extension of ASU’s thriving
innovation and entrepreneurship
ecosystem. Guided by a student
leadership team and fueled by
emerging social innovators across
the university, Changemaker Central
enables Sun Devils to connect with
one another and with the larger
community to find inspiration,
take their ideas to the next level
and develop them into viable and
sustainable solutions to local,
national and global challenges.
Changemaker Central provides a
range of digital platforms and social
networks that enable students
to explore social innovation and
community service opportunities,
connect with like-minded peers and
get involved at ASU and in the larger
community.

“Changemaker Central is a
connector and source for student
social change. For students who
want to volunteer, but don’t know
how to get started, Changemaker
makes it easy. Sun Devils can
learn about service opportunities
through Changemaker’s
volunteering listservs and
participate in monthly days of
service. Changemaker offers many
connections to entrepreneurship
hubs and resources on campus
and in the community. We have
our seed-funding competitions
and conferences to discuss
social issues. The students who
are hanging out here are all a
community of changemakers.”
Fabeeha Ahmed, ‘16
Vice-Director of the Student
Leadership Team, Changemaker
Central
Economics major
Barrett, the Honors College

Ideas + opportunities = impact
As the #1 university in the U.S. for innovation,
at ASU, driving solutions to society’s most
pressing social problems is part of our DNA.
Sun Devils equipped with the ideas, curiosity and
creativity to solve big problems and eager to change
the world find their community and a launching pad
at ASU’s Changemaker Central. Our growing array of
social entrepreneurship programs and competitions
make bold ideas come alive and enable students
to witness the positive impact they can make in the
world now and throughout their lives.

faster for tech companies to hire
student developers effectively.
Changemaker Challenge
Provides an opportunity for ASU
undergraduate and graduate
students to make a difference in
the local and global communities
through innovation. The competition
helps prepare Sun Devils for their
professional and academic future by
providing opportunities to practice
their skills in teamwork, leadership,
project development, public
speaking, business plan and network
creation.
2016 Changemaker
Challenge Winners:
LetsChat provides a platform for
those who are learning English as a
second language to practice English
with native speakers.
Feromone Robotics is a robotics
company building intelligent selforganizing
and group communicating
robots to assist in the field of
search and rescue to make existing
operations more efficient and safer
for those involved.
The Talent Network is an online
platform that makes it easier and
BISTEG has invented a new device
for generating electricity from
the sun’s heat, and takes advantage
of the sunlight available to building
faces.
33 Buckets is a team of consultants
that improves global access to clean
water through filtration, business
distribution, and education.
Terrainial is an app that delivers
immersive virtual reality content
about critical southwest issues.
Grey Box Collective creates original
interdisciplinary dance theatre
performances that unpack complex
social issues on college campuses.
Leadership Society of Arizona is a
leadership development organization
focused on teaching students
and educators simple logic to
better prepare themselves to gain
more vision, and overcome future
academic, professional, and personal
challenges in life.
Women of Hope is a non-profit
organization that seeks to donate
reusable sanitary towels to girls and
young women in poverty stricken
areas in Africa. The project was
awarded an Interactive People’s
Choice Award of $500, sponsored
by InMedia.
Solutions Summit
In its second year as a Changemaker
Central program, Solutions
Summit brought together faculty
experts, community leaders, and
student innovators to engage
in a conversation about hunger,
education, refugee issues, clean
water and homelessness. The
program featured panel discussions
and presentations and a moderated
dialogue to promote ideation about
next generation solutions for local
and global challenges.
Featured presenters:
• Jayson Matthews, Director of
Ending Hunger, Valley of the Sun
United Way
• Erin Eccleston, Vice President of
Outreach and Mobilization, Expect
More Arizona
• Hannah Miller, Woman’s
Empowerment Specialist, Refugee
Focus
• Meilin Zhu and Richard Li, Global
Water Brigades
• Amy Schwabenlender, Valley of the
Sun United Way
Startup Summit
A gathering of ASU’s most
passionate entrepreneurs, social
innovators and changemakers,
Startup Summit provides ASU
students with the resources,
knowledge and networking
opportunities to accelerate their
project, startup or venture.

Changemaker as a
third place
The anchor of community life, civic engagement
and interaction.
In The Great Good Place, Ray
Oldenburg argues that third places
are important for democracy, civil
society, civic engagement and
creating a sense of place within
the community. Changemaker
Central at ASU’s Downtown
Phoenix, Polytechnic, Tempe and
West locations serve as important
gathering spaces for students to
access resources, connect with
opportunities, engage in social
change work, conduct meetings,
and host and attend events.
Change Agents play a critical role
in guiding the use of the space,
creating unique experiences and
programs, and leading as peer
navigators for students interested
in social change, service,
entrepreneurship and innovation.
“Changemaker offers ASU students so many different
opportunities and connections to resources. We provide
students with a sense of ownership, a room, a setting, and
an identity. Instead of students reaching out to faculty, the
faculty can come here to reach out to students. It’s kind of
like equal footing.”
Natima Neily
Change Agent Supervisor,
Changemaker Central @ ASU
Double major: Justice Studies and Public
Policy and Public Service
Concentration: Nonprofit Leadership
Downtown Phoenix location
Tempe location
Polytechnic location
West location

@ASU
Your story matters
Ignite@ASU
Ignite@ASU is a public event for great thinkers and
doers to gather, share ideas connect with others
and create change. It features rapid-fire five-minute
presentations that bring ASU students, faculty, staff
and community members together to build more
connected and vibrant communities.
Each semester, 30–35 finalists are chosen to participate in a workshop with
professors from South Mountain Community College’s (SMCC) Storytelling
Institute. After the finalists have had an opportunity to workshop their stories
and practice their speaking skills, this pool is narrowed down to 10–14
speakers who share their stories on stage.
452+
student social
entrepreneurs
participated
20
workshops presented
featuring Tim Holladay
(Crowd Mics) and
Sarayu Srinivasan
19
mentors participated
“The Ignite team is worked
directly with professional
storytellers to enhance the
experience for the audience
and speakers. The goal
increased engagement,
impact and action. The
2015–2016 topics focused
on unheard voices, human
connectivity and social
justice.”
Lena Sarsour, ‘16
Storytelling Chair,
Changemaker Central @ ASU
double major, Speech and
Hearing Science with Family
& Human Development,
Barrett, the Honors College

6,400+
total volunteer hours
Shaping a culture of service
Changemaker Central community service initiatives expose
students to complex social and cultural issues through community
engagement, direct service group discussions and reflection
activities. Through these initiatives, Changemaker Central
endeavors to create a culture of service at ASU and transform Sun
Devils into advocates for social change on issues affecting our
local, national and global communities.
“Break-ing” a difference
Alternative Spring Break annually
creates the opportunity for ASU
students to engage in a serviceoriented,
hands-on learning
experience in a new city, while
connecting public sector and
nonprofit organizations to the
knowledge, skills and abilities of
ASU student leaders selected to
plan and lead the trip.
Devils in Disguise
Devils in Disguise is a 16-year
ASU service tradition. What began
in 2001 as a way for students to
give back to their communities has
become ASU’s largest studentorganized
day of community
service. Student organizations at
ASU participate in this project by
activating volunteer sites at which to
engage and encourage their fellow
Sun Devils to devote a Saturday to
serving the local community.
Over the last year, alone, student
participation in Devils in
Disguise has increased nearly
70 percent, with students
representing the ASU Colleges at
Lake Havasu City and the Downtown
Phoenix, Polytechnic, West and
Tempe locations.
Sun Devils
participated in six
additional signature
service days during
the 2015–2016
academic year.
• Spark to Serve
August 2015
• Fall Service Plunge
September 2015
• National Make a
Difference Day
October 2015
• Give Thanks by
Giving Back
November 2015
• MLK Day of Service
January 2016
• Red, White and Serve
February 2016

Changemaker in the local community
Community-driven solutions for the public good
The Woodside Community Action
Grant is a seed-funding competition
for ASU students that are passionate
about service. Students are eligible
to receive funding to carry out
service-focused projects in the
local community. Launched in the
fall of 2014 through an $8,000
endowment established by ASU
alumna and philanthropist Migs
Woodside, grant funds are awarded
to support student-led projects that
are engaging, community-driven,
solutions-focused and sustainable.
“Changemaker Central provides students with a community
where they can share innovative ideas, have meaningful
conversations, and take action to become the next generation
of difference makers.”
Vid Mićevićv, ‘16
Director of the Student Leadership Team,
Changemaker Central @ ASU
Major: Sustainable Civil Engineering
Minor: Slavic Studies
16
grants awarded
589
ASU students engaged
in Woodside projects
3,611
community members served
6,418
student volunteer hours

Woodside Community Action Grants
2015–2016 funded projects
Arizona Living Classrooms
This project supports the
implementation of an experiential
learning program that teaches
academic and life skills to 80 fourthand
fifth-grade students in an urban
public elementary school.
ASUPHS’I
ASUPHS’I is a part of the Project
Humanities program at ASU.
ASUPHS’I continued the ‘Building
Bridges Film Series’ through 2015
with three Veteran-focused films.
The goal of the project was to foster
community conversations between
selected Veterans groups and the
ASU community.
Designing Micro Air Vehicles
Driven by the Micro Air Vehicle
club at ASU, this project involves
3D-designing, building, testing
and analyzing mechanical flapping
birds and Arduino robotic cars
through a six-week engineering
outreach program for middle and
high school students.
First Gen Scientists
First Gen Scientists (FGS) is a
multidisciplinary initiative to broadly
promote awareness of science,
technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) fields to local at-risk and
underprivileged youth.
Greenlight Solutions
Greenlight Solutions aims to deliver
a sustainability education program to
students attending Shaw Montessori,
a Phoenix-area elementary school.
Healthy Urban Gardens
This project aims to address the
impact of living and working in
close proximity to soil that has been
contaminated by toxic metals and
pollutants.
Iron City Magazine
Driven by a group of ASU students,
Iron City Magazine is a literary
journal devoted entirely to writing
and art from the prison world.
Life Renewed
This project focuses on providing
support to adult refugees living in
metropolitan Phoenix and assisting
with their transition and adjustment
to American culture.
Light Up The Garden
Through a collaboration with
GlobalResolve, students at
ASU’s Polytechnic location aspire to
install a wind turbine to power lights
at night for a community garden
housed at ASU Poly. The Polytechnic
location has an on-campus
community garden, where students
frequently volunteer.
Local Community
Renovation Project
This project will continue a
sustainability training and community
garden project for grade school
students for a second-consecutiveyear
at Nevitt Elementary School,
located in the Tempe Elementary
School District.
New Look for New Roots
This project is supported by the
Peace Corps at ASU club, which
focuses on the refugee population
in Phoenix. The students are active
volunteers and partner with the IRC
(International Rescue Committee)
and New Roots to provide a
community garden where refugees
from all over the world can come,
grow food to feed their families, and
even sell produce for a profit.
Partners in Empowerment
Partners in Empowerment is a new
organization at ASU that aims to
develop a mentoring program and
curriculum to help at-risk community
youth and raise awareness of
exploited and trafficked children.
Additionally, the program seeks to
improve the health programming and
nutritional quality of the food that
group homes, shelters, and other
organizations deliver.
TigerMountain Foundation
This project supports the work
of the TigerMountain Foundation
(TMF), an organization established
in 2005 to help underprivileged
youth and adults, particularly former
prisoners, in south Phoenix gain
job experiences in gardening and
landscaping.
Worldly Kids
Worldly Kids is a nonprofit founded
by a current ASU student to
provide resources and support to
underserved K-12 children attending
Title 1 schools. The organization’s
Woodside project is a beautification
initiative being implemented at PT
Coe Elementary School.

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