Challenging the Status Quo: Social Entrepreneurship in Public Interest Technology (CSRE 142C, EARTHSYS 135, INTNLREL 142)

This community-engaged learning class explores how social entrepreneurship and public-sector innovation can work together to re-imagine government and drive systems change, examining how practitioners apply new approaches both with and within government to make public institutions more effective and equitable for the people they serve. Working with the instructor and the 2026 Distinguished Visitors - Thomas Lee (CEO of First Place for Youth), Kris Perry (executive director of Children and Screens), Libby Schaaf (former Mayor of Oakland), and Regi Young (executive director of the Alameda County Community Food Bank) - students will explore how social change actually happens: the strategies that work, the failures that teach us, and the tensions and trade-offs inherent in cross-sector work. Students will examine core approaches to social change - design theory, impact evaluation, fundraising, leadership, storytelling, public-private partnerships and policy advocacy - through real-world case studies from the Distinguished Visitors' work. This is a community-engaged learning class in which students will have the opportunity to participate in projects that support the Distinguished Visitors' work. Students register for 3 or 5 units. The 5-unit option includes a community-engaged learning component while the 3-unit option does not. Limited enrollment; attendance at the first class is mandatory for community-engaged learning. Open to graduate and undergraduate students. Designated a Cardinal Course by the Haas Center for Public Service.