We are Action

“Everyone a Changemaker”

In 2011, Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Guadalajara became the first Changemaker Campus in Mexico and Latin America to be supported by Ashoka. Ashoka is one of the most renowned and influential social organizations around the world that encourages Changemaking in every way possible. Both institutions have built a strategy that is looking onwards towards 2030, based on ideals and differentiators of innovation and leadership. Moreover, they seek to take the Changemaking initiatives that challenge the current paradigms with creativity, courage, and ethical sense. We want to see change happen.

Ashoka and Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Guadalajara are certain that the role of universities in society must be focused on training Changemakers, always looking at the development of their professional skills, and strengthening their pledge to act. They embody Ashoka’s motto: Everyone a changemaker. The participation of students, professors, collaborators, graduates and local or regional allies is essential to make this vision come to life.

Change leaders

Those who combine effort and energy towards changemaking; that is, the leaders that make things happen by making strategic agreements which achieve real institutional changes.

Operating as a Changemaker Campus

Changemaker Campus universities are recognized by Ashoka for taking a step forward towards social innovation and changemaking. They also operate as social innovation centers which inspire and instruct the future generations of changemakers. At Tecnológico de Monterrey, this is reflected on the curriculum of all the programs, initiatives, events, and programs of the Social Entrepreneurship department.

Naming a Changemaker Campus

As a changemaker campus, Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Guadalajara is responsible of placing social innovation at the center of all their actions involving both structures, and an operative strategy.

Central de Cambio – Our Hub for Changemakers

This is a hub driven by the student community to give their college education a new meaning and to strengthen their own changemaking abilities as well as their professional experience. Central de Cambio is a seedbed of ideas; moreover, it is the place for inspiration and for training changemakers to participate on social entrepreneurship competitions, empathy bootcamps, innovation challenges, and workshops.

First Stage: The Honors Program for Social Entrepreneurship was the first program created out of the Changemaker Campus Designation goes with the initial stages of the university projects. Then, the changemakers group inspire actions to make the changemaker network grow.

To be part of Honors, students must fulfill the following features: they must show deep empathy towards social problems, be willing to get involved within the community, and have an outstanding leadership and proactivity.

One of the Honors experiences that is co-created with Ashoka is the Social Innovation Tour.

In this three-to-four-day trip, students visit social organizations to get to know changemakers and innovation actors from Mexico City. They put into practice their changemaking vision, and gain inspiration to jumpstart their own path.

In addition, they have a social immersion led by Un Techo Para Mi País A.C. A chance of a one-weekend immersion in one of Techo’s workspaces that strives to promote listening and developing communal spirit.

One of the key institutional steps to embed changemaking at Tec de Monterrey was the creation of the Social Entrepreneurship National Department, which contributes to our university’s vision based on the following command:

Changemaker spirit development
The creation of all kinds of entrepreneurship projects
Promotion of strategic initiatives with potential of high impact

“Everyone a Changemaker” was set in motion to achieve the following aims:

To contribute to Tecnológico de Monterrey’s vision where the main directive is to give an education that transforms lives, approached from three different perspectives: person, project, and purpose.
To draw talent and inspire action through students facing a social problem in need of social changemaking.
To strengthen strategic alliances and community making to place, connect, and link to social changemaking projects, seeking to show and empower its impact.
To transform students into changemakers with innovative projects, leading the solution of social problems around the world and developing their humane decision-making abilities and their commitment to act and impact their communities.
To create a space that generates changemaker student identity, which promotes a sense of belonging and community, where tools, ideology, networking, learning, inspiration, communication, and best practices are continuously shared.

Changemaking and Memorable Experiences

There are two important changes in Tecnológico de Monterrey’s story and its social changemaking model: the first one, in 2019, when its new educational model, Tec 21, was deployed; the second change was caused by 2020’s pandemic, and it became an opportunity to support and rethink current paradigms.

Moreover, thanks to this fundamental partnership, Tecnológico de Monterrey and Ashoka are working together in key projects and events such as:

Climate Labs by Erasmus+

Since 2019, Ashoka has been working with Tecnológico de Monterrey’s School of Engineering in a project named Climate Labs that aims to build a relationship between Latin American and European universities to create institutional change processes that promote bigger efforts toward the mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

Ecosystem of social innovation and entrepreneurship

A smart network that collaborates to create and give mutual social value through alliances which equally benefit communities and keeps in mind the purpose of collaborating to improve the most urgent social problems in our nearest environment.

Changemaker platforms

The eight-year experienced social innovation laboratory which integrates, in a single strategic line with other universities, everything that Ashoka has done.

Changemaker Day

The event is made by students for students. Its aim is to place the students as leaders of the event and to put their passion and talents at the forefront of this social innovation festival.

Horizon of Action

After this decade of operation as a Changemaker Campus, Tecnológico de Monterrey has integrated a new way to comprehend and co create social innovation from our role as a higher education institution. It has four main objectives:

Strengthen the university’s social innovation Living Lab.
Implement a pilot model with an infrastructure according to the local context and its needs.
Design educational immersive experiences that can be embedded in the academic content of each disciplinary school.
Strengthen relationships and smart networks within the local, national and international ecosystem.

Ashoka and Tecnológico de Monterrey’s 2030 strategy is unique. It involves hundreds of students in the social change dynamic for and from society. Within the next months, Everyone a Changemaker will have more essential outcomes where youth is the protagonist of a movement which transforms their communities and ecosystems.