Money and Social Change isn’t your typical college course. In an exciting shift from theory to practice, participants learn about different approaches to philanthropy and impact investment and then put their money where their mouth is by doling it out to local organizations. The students are eager to share their experiences with the rest of the world, so in addition to following them on Twitter, you’ll be able to read about their activities, discussions, and visiting speakers in guest posts throughout the semester. The first note comes from Jojo Weinberger ’15:

We’re in Week 6 of our Money and Social Change class, taught by Joy Anderson ’89, founder of Criterion Institute. This class is a participating member in the Learning By Giving Initiative, a program sponsored by Dorris Buffet’s Sunshine Lady Foundation. Through this initiative our class – along with students at 25 colleges around the country – received $10,000 to grant to non-profits in the local Middlesex community. In addition to working on this grant-making process, each student in the class is developing his or her own theory of change: a theory of how we think change happens. This is our first post and we’ll be keeping it short and simple. Each week we’ll send out some info, discussing our progress in the grant making process and a short blurb about a class member and his/her theory of change. This class has been great so far and we’re excited to keep Wesleyan community updated on our progress!