Social Impact from Social Innovators

A new partnership with Schoolyard Ventures and the University of Pennsylvania is giving Saints the tools—and confidence—to turn ideas into action.

BY DAVID YEE
Director of Service Learning & Community Engagement

In July 2024, St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes, Schoolyard Ventures, and the University of Pennsylvania began the process of forming a partnership to offer the Social Innovators Program to SSSAS students. This online 12-week program teaches students about the social innovation process at the confluence of entrepreneurship and the common good. Social entrepreneurship, broadly defined as the use of business-world thought processes to address social issues, is one way in which students can study the intersection of goodness as well as knowledge at our school. Students not only come away with an understanding of how they can make an impact, but also with a Certificate in Social Innovation from the University of Pennsylvania. 

This opportunity was designed to provide students with education, experience, and a real credential they can use to further their journeys. Participation in this program can count towards the Upper School Service Requirement (40 hours before senior year), and the projects they design and continue can serve as the foundation for the elevated Distinction in Service (80 hours of service) and the Community Engagement Certificate (100 hours of service and serious academic inquiry in community engagement). Most importantly, the program provides students with real-world tools to understand their complex and changing world—and how to change it for the better.

Sixteen students from grades 9-11 participated in and completed our inaugural cohort last year, and now, we have an additional 10 who are embarking upon their journey this year. As this year’s cohort gets underway, I sat down with Reilly Brooks, executive director of Schoolyard Ventures, and Divyaa Srikanth ’28, to hear about their experiences and lessons learned from our first cohort.

THE Q&A

REILLY BROOKS

Designing a program that turns curiosity into action

David Yee: Can you tell us who you are a bit about your background?

Reilly Brooks: My background is in educating and supporting young people who want to launch and lead ventures that solve real world problems. I’m a social entrepreneur focusing on students, because I believe young people are some of the most curious, creative, and open minded people. 

DY: What is Schoolyard Ventures?

RB: Schoolyard Ventures is a design thinking lab for teens. We help young people launch and lead projects, ventures, social enterprises, nonprofits, businesses, you name it. We started locally in Philadelphia but have expanded to helping teens globally.

DY: What is the Social Innovators Program?

RB: The Social Innovators Program guides teams through the process of identifying problems, generating ideas, rapidly testing those ideas, and then experimenting with solutions in the real world. The program runs in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania Center for Social Impact Strategy. It was inspired by their executive level programming for practitioners in this space. We took that program, boiled it down to the most useful parts, and made the models of how social entrepreneurs think and act applicable for teens. We’ve run the program for seven years, in partnership with over 50 independent schools across the country that are really committed to this way of thinking and learning.

DY: At the end of the 12 weeks, what do the students take away? 

RB: Physically, the students take away a Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania, which signifies their commitment and contributions, and that they’ve spent time genuinely solving real world problems. 

Intangibly, we want students to gain a newfound understanding of what they’re capable of. We think entrepreneurship is a great context to build hard life skills—from cold emailing and interviewing people to running experiments, getting feedback, handling rejection and failure, and learning what works.

DY: What’s an experience with a St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School student in the program that stands out to you?

RB: One of my go-to stories is about Divyaa Srikanth ’28. She came into the program really wanting to solve an environmental problem, and our big challenge—especially with an issue like environmental action, which can feel so big, systems-level, and global—was how to make it feel local and actionable.

She challenged herself to think about how the environment and AI intersect. At her school, she was on a mission to understand different opinions about the role of AI in education, how it impacts the environment, and the pros and cons. She ended up launching an education awareness campaign with the school’s AI club, with a really healthy back-and-forth of different perspectives, even hosting a debate among her peers.

But what I love is that she didn’t stop there. She thought it was such a fun way to explore a topic and see it through, that she wanted to solve a physical problem and create a product that’s good for the environment–tackle something that individuals could actually engage with and make a better alternative. 

She interviewed her friends and learned a lot about the harmful effects—on both the planet and personal health—of acrylic nails, and wondered if she could make a biodegradable option. 

These were only two of the topics she explored along the way. What I love about her story is how she pivoted. She learned what worked and used that to fuel her next step.

She didn’t see this as a linear path where she needed to turn something in or hit a certain goal, but rather let curiosity be her guide, leading her to take action. I think that speaks to an entrepreneurial mindset. 

That’s exactly what we want students to be practicing, regardless of the social issue, whether they create a nonprofit or a for-profit, whether they create a club or just a small project for their family, that part doesn’t matter. What matters is feeling like you can actually solve problems.

DY: What are your hopes for students after they finish the program?

RB: Our goal is for students to be more agentic thinkers, to realize what they’re capable of, and apply what they’ve learned to life. 

DY: What do you hope for the future of the program and how do you hope the relationship with SSSAS continues to grow and evolve?

RB: We know we’re just one program in a sea of cool experiences for teens. Our goal is to contribute to a culture of student-led innovation and youth agency across campus. We want to add immense value to both students and educators to create more of this type of programming and experiences where young people and adults alike see themselves as problem solvers capable of creating change, putting their ideas into action, and fueling that culture of innovation across campus.

DY: Thank you! Do you have anything to add?

RB: There are two qualities I see consistently in St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes students: a deep level of empathy and an innate curiosity. And part of that is because they really do believe they live in community with others. They value solving problems for other people. Even if it’s not a community they’re physically part of, they value it and want to do something for it.

And that speaks to an embedded value of service and giving back to others and being responsible for the spaces in which you live. I appreciate that every student comes in with that mindset because it’s a great basis to create meaningful entrepreneurial experiences.  

DIVYAA SRIKANTH ‘28

From idea to action: a student perspective

Davis Yee: Why did you want to get involved in the SIP program? 

Divyaa Srikanth: When you talked about it in the Morning Meeting, I was immediately interested–because whenever I heard about entrepreneurship, community was never involved. It was always about being an aggressive business person, making money. It wasn’t about helping, so I didn’t know those two things, service and entrepreneurship, could go hand in hand like that. And I was excited. 

And then also, it definitely helped that it was connected to UPenn, because I wanted to be able to learn entrepreneurship from UPenn-certified people.

DY: What was the process of getting started like? 

DS: Like with anything that’s new, it is really awkward, especially with the rejection therapy activity. I had never done anything like that in my life. As a people pleaser, it can be kind of tough, because  you’re actively going to people you don’t know–who you’re nervous to talk to–and asking them questions you know they’re going to say no to. 

But that’s how you get further. That’s how you do something of substance in this program, you have to be uncomfortable to get somewhere. Then, once you get into the rhythm, you’re no longer uncomfortable. It’s like practicing anything: it just gets easier, and then you like it. It’s fun.  

DY: That’s funny! I had people asking me questions at the beginning of that program. I had no idea that the idea for some of those questions was rejection therapy. And so maybe I said, “yes” to too many things. 

DS: It’s crazy how many things people will say yes to. You should just ask. That’s what this program taught me. Now, I’m so much more confident advocating for myself.

DY: Once you got started, how did you know if your ideas were worth developing? 

DS: I would say I’m like an expert at this question because I went through so many ideas. So, you know it’s worth developing if it actually solves a problem if people actually want it. You have to know what problems people are facing and interview them constantly—like what they’re irritated with, what they’re annoyed about, what they need to get—to know that something is worth developing. It can’t be something useless and cool. Nobody wants useless and cool. People want simple and helpful. 

DY: Tell me a little bit about the simple but helpful things that you came up with by the end of the program. 

DS: In the end, I had something that I was really proud of. I had these biodegradable press-on nails that I made by myself at home, and I love press-on nails. I love fashion, and all my friends do, and they also use press-on nails. But all my friends are also super eco-conscious, and they were kind of disappointed that press-on nails are all plastic–or at least the affordable ones are–and basically single-use because they fall off so easily. So I wanted to help by finding an environmentally friendly alternative. And that’s how I ended up making them. 

DY: Why do you think it’s important for us as a school to offer these types of opportunities? 

DS: These opportunities result in so much growth for so many students, and without these kinds of programs, there’s so much unlocked potential that students might never see. This program is challenging, and that’s the point. Deep down, students like being challenged.

Schools that don’t have these kinds of programs are missing out on everything that their students could come up with that could help the world. 

DY: Can you think of a moment in the program where a skill you used—like interviewing, testing ideas, or handling rejection—felt similar to something you do in your academic classes?

DS: Rejection therapy is the very first concept we were supposed to practice in the program. We were told to ask for things that would probably get no’s, like asking someone you don’t know for a high five, asking a stranger for a compliment, and asking your mom for $100. That was definitely an experience I won’t forget. Afterwards, we started to apply this concept to the program. 

I cold emailed for the first time. I emailed CEOs, researchers, NGO executive directors, and doctors for interviews, usually getting no response. Because I had already felt the embarrassment of getting a no in person, getting no response to a reasonable ask wasn’t even disappointing. 

I became desensitized to things I would normally be embarrassed by, and this helped with my confidence, which translated amazingly well in school. I began to voice my opinions without inhibitions in class discussions, to persevere through difficult units in hard classes, and to appreciate the struggle. 

“Failing was a crucial part of the process. As someone who used to fear failure, this shift 

in mentality has impacted me, and now I genuinely embrace it.”

Failing was a crucial part of the process. As someone who used to fear failure, this shift in mentality has impacted me, and now I genuinely embrace it. In the classroom, I raise my hand even when I’m not totally sure I have the answer. I also rewrite papers I’m halfway through when I know I’m stuck, without regretting the path that took me there. 

DY: Can you talk about one or two specific skills you developed in this program that you now use in your classes?

DS: The program taught us several strategies to set and achieve goals, which is so valuable in school. We were taught to create specific measurable indicators for success, and set smaller tasks to complete, instead of tackling everything at once. 

We tracked our progress in spreadsheets, which is something that I do every year now. I set goals for myself for the upcoming year, and I make slideshows, spreadsheets, and if I’m feeling lazy, I put them in my notes app.

I set academic goals, too, and create quantifiable gauges to keep track of what I complete. I set specific goals like, “study for two hours on Tuesday and spend 45 minutes writing about the Song Dynasty.” These goals are never broad like “do well in school.”  This method only works if you get specific.

DY: To a student who is interested but may not make the leap and might miss out, what would you say to encourage them to go ahead and take the chance?

DS: There’s nothing to be scared of! There are only positive things to come out of this program. You’ll gain so much more confidence, and you’ll find ideas come so much more easily to you, now that you have a whole structure you’ve learned that you can apply to every aspect of your life, sports, school. If you want to be an entrepreneur, really do it. It’ll help you!