The only people who can change the future are the ones willing to get their hands dirty. You have the option of living a clean, pristine life, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, you can also invest, challenge yourself, and live a life that's committed - and messy. Cord Jefferson, the senior editor of GOOD magazine, shared this and more during the closing keynote for GES 2012. Based on his experiences a writer, editor, ethical consumer, son, and citizen, ...

Saturday afternoon, after months of interviews with Northwestern students, a team of writer-interviewers and actors presented a theatre piece to delegates and staff that asked questions essential to GES. Where do we come from? How do we make change? What is a community? Can art institute social change? How do we do good well? Do we have a responsibility to do good? Led by GES staff member Naomi Rosen, the team combined interviews with Northwestern students - GES staffers, other social ...

The final Short Talk set out to address how to lead an engaged life. Drawing comparisons to love and citing personal stories, the speakers entertained their audience, but also challenged delegates and staff to always strive for more. Teju Ravilochan of Unreasonable Institute opened the presentation by drawing a metaphor to love.  He encouraged audience members to find a project or job that they feel as much passion towards as they do when they are in love. After asking audience members to ...

The last workshop block addressed the issues not typically at the forefront of many people’s minds as they work to develop their projects. These issues are important to consider. Burnout, environmental responsibility, and culture shock may not be first priorities, but they deserve some thought. In the Beyond Burnout workshop, Sean Knierim gave delegates tips to avoid losing their passion as their projects intensify. “Know what works for you­­­­—have different methods to recognize and mitigate stress.” In the environmental responsibility workshop, Weslynne ...

For two hours, delegates participated in the Basics and Beyond Workshop Block.  Experts spoke on a variety of topics, but also allowed delegates to brainstorm ways to apply the information presented to their own projects. The session intended to give delegates ideas on how to navigate the tools and methods of story telling. In Storytelling through Design, Sami Nerenberg encouraged delegates to make their projects more personal in order to reach success. “Bring it ...

Our second workshop block took place this morning from 10:15 to 11:30 and again, each one provided space for thought-provoking discussion on a variety of topics. The subjects offered ranged from “The Who: Internal Team Building,” “Business Planning for Social Entrepreneurs,” “Using Technology” and “Development through Faith and Interfaith Efforts”. In the workshop on Interfaith work, we had a fascinating discussion on the enormous weight that religion plays in the field of development, engagement and social entrepreneurship. It’s the massive elephant ...

The second morning of GES started with the incredible energy of two young entrepreneurs in development, Sarah Berghorst and Nathaniel Koloc. Young and Restless in Development gave the GES delegates and staff members great answers to the daunting question of “How do I pair my passion for social development with a job after graduation?” Sarah Berghorst from Bain shared with us four lessons she wished she would have known when she was our age. The first was the importance of getting ...

Check out coverage from our OpenShutter show, Faces of Modernity! Photos are here. This exhibit, the OpenShutter Project's spring showcase, aims to challenge common notions and definitions of modernity and what it means to be "modern" through the vocabulary of faces and people in contemporary photography. All showcased photos are the work of Northwestern students. Photos from our fall showcase, "One Lens, Infinite Perspectives," and winter quarter's "The Campaign" were also featured. Viewers at the exhibit were able ...

The workshops of the 2012 Summit kicked off this afternoon with our first workshop block. The topics ranged from “Sustainable Funding” and “Scalability and Replicability” to “Harnessing Mobile Technology” and “Creativity and Communication”. A common thread that ran throughout the workshops promoted humility and listening skills, which was emphasized by Andrew Youn last night at the Opening Keynote as well. Erin Archuleta, who facilitated the “Scalability and Replicability”  workshop, reminded the delegates to “deeply listen to the needs and voices of ...

To launch the GES ShortTalk series, Jake Nickell of  Threadless, and Melissa Elliott of Standby Task Force advised GES delegates and staffers how to harness group energy to create social change. Threadless is "a community of people making cool stuff together."  Originally started to respond to international disasters by creating designs, selling T-shirts, and donating that money to charity, they have now expanded to "give the creative minds of the world more opportunities to ...