Building a Service Corps: Using Capacity Building Strategies to Promote Service-Learning and Social Entrepreneurship Within a Higher Education Consortium

Abstract

This article entails a case analysis of a sample of schools from a higher education network or consortium in partnership with The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation.  The Foundation seeks to empower students and communities through civic engagement and social entrepreneurship.  A primary mechanism for doing so is by developing and cultivating a network of 70 colleges and universities, thereby enabling the Foundation’s capacity to educate and prepare nearly 250,000 collegians for life-long and intentional careers in social change-making.  To assist with this endeavor, the Foundation commissioned this study to assess the existing service corps and social entrepreneurship framework of its partner institutions.  Using a capacity-building framework, the study includes findings from a survey of existing service-learning and social entrepreneurship programs and initiatives as well as recommendations for strengthening the Sullivan network or higher education consortium to provide more formal service-learning and social entrepreneurial experiences for collegians.