showcase

Community Service Bulletin

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Spotlight

Attend the Yunus Challenge Dinner (10/15)

Take the 2009/10 Muhammad Yunus Innovation Challenge to alleviate poverty. Each year, the Yunus Challenge highlights a need of the world’s poor and enables MIT students to develop solutions through a variety of mechanisms, including Public Service Fellowship, Internships, Grants, the IDEAS Competition and D-Lab. Learn more at the Yunus Challenge Dinner, an informal gathering to talk about potential projects and ideas, which will be held on 10/15 at 7 p.m. in the Stata R&D Lab.

One-Time Opportunities

Ongoing Opportunities

One-Time Opportunities

See what the PSC, Lemelson-MIT, and Teach For America are offering this IAP! (10/15)
This IAP, take your love of innovation, science, or math back to school! The Public Service Center, Lemelson-MIT, and Teach For America are offering some great fundedopportunities in classrooms across the United States.

Find out more about the following opportunities and eat free pizza at our information session on Thursday, Oct. 15, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. in the Bush Room (10-105).

Here’s what you could do:
Be a Lemelson-MIT Fellow and inspire a new generation of inventors!
Work with teams of high-school inventors, their teachers and mentors, to help them to successfully build and test their inventions. The teams are selected and supported by the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams program: http://web.mit.edu/inventeams/. Or, work with a team of high-school inventors that aren’t quite ready to be full InvenTeams. Help these schools by implementing and adapting invention education curricula and design challenges developed by the Lemelson-MIT program.
Find all the details at: http://web.mit.edu/mitpsc/showcase/opportunities/projects/inventeam.html
Applications will be accepted through the PSC Fellowships program and are due at noon on 10/23.

Or, learn about Teach For America and make a difference for kids!
Ever wonder what it’s like to teach in a small, rural school? A big inner-city school? Want to inspire kids about science? Motivate them about math? Drive educational change? Have you wondered what Teach For America is like, and you don’t want to wait to find out? Then take part in the Four Weeks for America Challenge!
Find all the details at: http://web.mit.edu/mitpsc/showcase/opportunities/four-weeks.html
Applications are due 5:00pm on 10/20.

Questions? Contact Alison at hynd@mit.edu

Help us spread the word about this year’s Muhammad Yunus Innovation Challenge to Alleviate Poverty Kick Off! (10/15)
Take the 2009/10 Muhammad Yunus Innovation Challenge to alleviate poverty. This year’s theme is “Promoting Clean Hands for Health and Prosperity.” We’re seeking students with innovative ideas to improve hand hygiene for disease prevention and improved productivity for those living in poverty. There are fellowships, internships, and grants available for projects in developing countries.

Come celebrate Global Handwashing Day by enjoying free food and listening to a great guest speaker, Dr. Leo Anthony Celi! Dr. Celi will share his experiences as a clinician specializing in critical care medicine, infectious diseases, and internal medicine. He is also the founder of Moca, a cell phone-based clinical information system designed to improve diagnostic, screening, and therapeutic capabilities in remote underserved areas.

Learn more at the Yunus Challenge Dinner, an informal gathering to talk about potential projects and ideas, which will be held on 10/15 at 7 p.m. in the Stata R&D Lab.

ForSE 2009: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs on October 23, 2009 at Babson College
The Forum for Social Entrepreneurs (ForSE) brings together social innovators with leading business professionals, investors, donors, government officials, academics, and students to facilitate the sharing of new technology and business ideas along with hard-earned management learnings to foster informed discussion and action on new social venture concepts. The response last year to previous forums has been overwhelming.
This is your opportunity to identify and recruit talent, meet potential partners to support your new idea, share best practices with peers, and interact with senior executives from Boston’s leading companies, non-profit/social ventures, foundations, philanthropies, and beyond.

Agenda for ForSE 2009:
Keynote Speakers: Pamela Hawley, Founder and CEO of Universal Giving and
Leonard A. Schlesinger, President, Babson College
Multiple tracks addressing key issues including
- Social Media for Social Entrepreneurs
- Sustainable Business Models for Social Ventures
- Valuing Social Enterprises
- An Investors perspective of Microfinance
- Interactive hands-on sessions:
- In-depth discussions with expert panel of practitioners and leaders in the field
- Case discussion and brainstorming to help emerging social entrepreneurs solve business challenges
- Interactive workshops to help launch your new business idea
For information and registration: http://www-tie-boston.org. Registration is limited and we sold out last year. Register early to avoid disappointment.

Online rates are valid until October 19th, after registration is $100 per person.

Attend a symposium on science and public policy (10/31)
Please join the Union of Concerned Scientists on Saturday, October 31 in Boston for a symposium exploring the role of science and public policy. UCS is convening leading scientific, policy, and media experts to discuss emerging issues, examine the civic responsibility of scientists in the 21st century, and discussing how we can best meet that responsibility in the coming decades.

The event will feature Dan Reicher from Google.org, Steve Curwood from Living on Earth, Chemistry Nobel Laureate Mario Molina, former U.S. Representative John Porter, and many other experts on climate change solutions, global security, food sustainability, and the role of science in public policy.

For more details and to register, go to www.ucsusa.org/40thsymposium. The event is free of charge and lunch is provided for those who reserve in advance. We request that you reserve your place by Friday, October 23 so that we may hold a seat for you.

Ongoing Opportunities

Check out the Public Service Center’s paid Fellowship and Internship opportunities for fall and IAP!
The Fellowships and Internships programs both support MIT students working on capacity-building service projects. Students work with community-focused organizations such as non-profits, schools, and social enterprises. This IAP, we are focusing on projects in the Americas, but projects in other geographical areas are also welcome.

Applications for IAP projects must be submitted by noon on Friday, October 23.
Applications for fall projects will be accepted on a rolling basis.

Find more information about both programs at http://web.mit.edu/mitpsc/resources/internshipsandfellowships/index.html.

Looking for project ideas? Check out the PSC’s new opportunities page: http://web.mit.edu/mitpsc/showcase/opportunities/index.html. IAP opportunities in the Americas include everything from developing portable water infrastructure in Mexico to creating art and technology projects in El Salvador. Click on "Focus on the Americas" to find out more, and check back regularly for more opportunities!

Questions? Contact Alison at hynd@mit.edu

Make a difference in the lives of inner-city scholar athletes!
The Boston Scholar Athlete Program is recruiting academic mentors for high school students participating in soccer, basketball, baseball, and softball! Once we know your availability and location, we will work to match you with a school and sports team convenient to your schedule! Sessions are held in the afternoons between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. from Monday-Friday, either once or twice a week, for one hour. Saturday academic sessions are held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Copley Boston Public Library.

The Scholar Athlete Program is a collaborative effort between Mayor Menino, the Superintendent of Schools, and Suffolk County’s Red & Blue Foundation.  Our mission is to improve academics through athletics for Boston Public High School students.

For more information, please visit www.suffolkconstruction.com. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Katy Meade at kmeade@redandbluefoundation.org or 339.225.2611.

Promote increased access to education in South Africa: help out at Amandla Development’s fundraiser on 10/23 OR research education policy as a summer intern!
Amandla Development aims to increase access to education opportunities in South Africa, with the end goal of promoting equitable development.  In contrast to the traditional model, Amandla aims to identify the most effective methods currently in place and to empower our partners to scale up their work.  The focus of our next project was featured in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/world/africa/25safrica.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

To get involved, you can help set up or break down for Amandla’s fundraiser on 10/23. For a deeper involvement, intern with Amandla over the summer! Applicants should be familiar with statistical analysis and have an interest in making an immediate impact on education policy decisions. Please note that interns will likely need to bring their own funding with them.

For more information, please visit www.amandladevelopment.org. If you are interested in volunteering for the fundraiser or interning during the summer, please contact info@amandladevelopment.org.

The MIT Public Service Center is not responsible for the quality or safety of outside service agencies, and does not screen volunteer placements or projects. The Community Service Opportunities bulletin is published once a week by the staff of the MIT Public Service Center. If you have questions, feel free to call us at 617-253-0742, or stop by 4-104.

To be removed from this list, please email: psc@mit.edu.

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