Innovation Weekend

Background:

• The Xavier Center for Innovation created a new annual Spring event where students and faculty work together over a weekend to address a social issue
• The 2022 Inaugural Social Innovation Weekend addressed “Food Insecurity”, an issue both in Cincinnati and on the Xavier campus
• The event was held over a 3 day period where participants worked on “Understanding the Problem” (Feb. 25), “Developing Solutions (Feb. 26), and “Sharing Ideas” (Feb. 27)

Participation:

• 34 students from across all 4 colleges at Xavier registered to participate in the event and 14 faculty/administrative staff participated also. The Center for Innovation Task Force participated throughout the weekend leading the programming and coaching efforts.
• Students were divided into 6 teams over the weekend with 28 students actively participating throughout the entire weekend which included 11 hours over the 3 day period
• Xavier was also joined by 3 external community members who were experts in “food insecurity” from such organizations as the Freestore Foodbank, Last Mile Rescue, and Walnut Hills Community Gardens Program

Results:

• Each of the 6 teams had 5 minutes to present their solutions/ideas followed by 4 minutes of Q&A before a panel of 3 judges
• Prizes were awarded to 3 teams for 1st place ($1,000), 2nd place ($500), and 3rd place ($250). Student names and emails for the top teams are listed below with a primary contact bolded to contact for additional information.