Colorado College has initiated a Student Seed Innovation Grant program to further broaden the changemaker focus of the Creativity & Innovation initiative. The Student Seed Innovation Grants (SSIG) are designed to empower students who are passionate about exploring an idea or problem and working toward a solution.
CC’s Creativity & Innovation — the space where ideas are translated into action — seeks to accelerate student initiatives through the donor-funded grants, which range from $3,000 to $8,000. The grants will:
- Provide resources for students to solve problems
- Encourage students to investigate hard questions
- Help students iterate their projects forward
The program helps fulfill Creativity & Innovation’s mission to “empower students with the tools and creative confidence to be changemakers.” The word “changemaker,” and not “entrepreneur,” is used intentionally, as changemaker recognizes that innovation happens not only in the business and tech worlds, but also culturally, socially, and personally.
The Student Seed Innovation Grants emphasize cooperation and collaboration over competition and replace The Big Idea as a funding source for students. The Big Idea was an annual business pitch competition in which student teams from CC competed for seed funding to develop their ideas. Entries took a variety of forms, and included for-profit businesses, nonprofits, or social enterprises.