The USC Global Impact program empowers USC students to use innovation and entrepreneurship to develop and implement solutions to social issues in communities around the world.

The program provides USC students an opportunity to develop skills for a life of innovation and social engagement, and at the same time provides support for the communities we work with.

USC Global Impact supports the implementation of social projects in India by offering a travel and project-expense paid trip to teams of up to four (4) USC student innovators. Students participating in the USC Global Impact program form interdisciplinary teams, and work closely with Indian non-profits to develop innovative, sustainable and scalable solutions, to problems in the areas of Agriculture, Education, Health, or Microcredit / Livelihoods. The teams travel to India during the summer (2 months) and execute their project ideas in the local communities.

Check out the video from the 2008 USC Global Impact teams, click here.

Questions? Interested in the program?  For more information about this program and how to get involved, please contact Polai Av (pav@usc.edu, 213.821.5000).

The USC Global Impact Program Application is due November 23, 2009.

APPLY NOW!

Up to 12 students will be selected to participate in the USC Global Impact Program each year. Students will apply to the program during the fall semesters and will be selected in January of the following year. Students will then be put together in teams and encouraged to identify a partner Indian NGO and a specific project.  During the spring semester, the students will participate in a series of workshops in preparation for their trip to India. The Global Impact Program students will focus on implementing and adapting social projects in the Deshpande Foundation's "Sandbox", which is a geographically defined area of Northwestern Karnataka in India.

Projects should address major challenges in any of these four areas.

Agriculture:
Focus areas include crop cultivation techniques, irrigation, soil remediation, and farmer education. We seek agricultural and environmental sustainability.

Education:
Educational programs focused on experiential learning, internet connectivity and training, teacher training, education for disabled children, civic awareness, English language training, and scholarship programs.

Health:
Focus areas include school lunch programs, community based rehabilitation, medical waste reduction, prosthetic limbs, health education and training, nutrition, educational entertainment, and orphan rescue programs.

Microcredit / Livelihoods:
Focus areas include entrepreneurial training, women's training programs, watershed restoration programs, recycling, and jaggery production.

For information about the Northwestern Karnataka region, please see the “Hubli-Dharwad Description Sheet" here.

For information about some of the NGOs that you could be partnered with, please see the “Deshpande Funded NGOs Sheet" here.

Application

To apply for the USC Global Impact Program please answer the following questions in a WORD document. Please send completed questions and resume to Polai Av at pav@usc.edu with subject “2010 Global Impact Program Application.” Applications are due November 23, 2009.

In 2 pages or less, please answer the following :

• Name
• School, Major
• Graduation Year
• E-mail
• Contact Phone Number
• What inspires and fires your imagination?
• Explain the reasons why you want to be a part of the Global Impact Program and articulate how these reasons are related to your past experiences and life goals.
• Please describe any extracurricular activities or group affiliations that demonstrate your commitment to social engagement.
• What valuable skills do you possess that will add to the success of Global Impact?
• Which of the four areas of focus (Agriculture, Health, Education, Microfinance/Livelihood) are you interested in and why?

Learn More

The USC Global Impact Program is hosting an information session on October 27, 2009, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

This is an opportunity for you to learn about the USC Global Impact program and how you can apply to be part of the 2010 Global Impact Program. In this meeting, you will also get a chance meet some of the USC student teams who participated last summer, and learn more about their experiences in India.

The event will take place at Hughes Electrical Engineering Center, Room EEB 248, on October 27, from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm. There will be food and refreshments available at 5 p.m., and the meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. promptly.

RSVP:
To RSVP please e-mail pav@usc.edu with subject “Global Impact October 27” including your name, school, and contact information. Space is limited, so please respond by no later than October 22.

Click here to read the frequently asked questions about the USC Global Impact program.

As a requirement for the trip, students teams are asked to digitally record their experiences through pictures, soundbites, videos and blogs - telling the daily story of what it’s like, what they’ve learned, who they’ve met, and what their experiences have been.

The USC Stevens Institute supports this portion of the project by providing students with the multimedia equipment and sources to meet these requirements. Each member of the student team is required to blog about their experience at least once a week with pictures to represent what they are developing during their time oversees. Each team is required to post one video per week to their blog.

Check out there blogs here:

• Frontline SMS for Healthcare
• Hubli Water and Health Projects
• Puppets in Play