The School of General Education (GenEd) and Office of Student Life hosted a ceremony at the Mohakhali campus of BRAC University on 11 October, 2022 inaugurating a “Social Impact Lab” (SIL) and welcoming Millennium Fellows of 2022.
The ceremony included a discussion among participants Sonia Bashir Kabir, Member of BRAC University’s Board of Trustees and Founder of SBK Tech Ventures and SBK Foundation, Dr Dave Dowland, Registrar of BRAC University, Dr. Samia Huq, Dean of GenEd, and Dr. Sebastian Groh, an Associate Professor of BRAC University and Founder and CEO of SOLshare. Tahsina Rahman, Joint Director of Student Life at BRAC University, and Anonnya Banik, social and transgender rights activist and founder of Shada Kalo, were also present.
The SIL is a platform for student changemakers to collaborate and innovate positive changes to society and become impact entrepreneurs. Presented by United Nations Academic Impact and Millennium Campus Network, the Millennium Fellowship is a semester-long leadership development program to support student leadership for the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Chief guest Sonia Bashir Kabir said, “I think with initiatives like the SIL, BRAC University is pioneering in civic engagement and impact projects in Bangladesh to the extent that a revolution has started. And to make that change sustainable, the SIL should be collaborating with other non-profit organizations working for the cause, other stakeholders and philanthropists who would be an extension to their advisory board.”
Dr. Groh said the SIL would be open for changemakers from across the globe. Dr. Dowland said, “It can be a great platform for all the changemakers who started out small…and set an example that can be followed in other campuses in Bangladesh or even across the globe.” The discussion also emphasized the importance of the impacts of student-led social projects in Bangladesh and on spreading the word. Participating students sang “Amra korbo joy” and Anonnya Banik shared her life’s journey.
The SIL has already launched two events -- The Global Wall of Goodwill collaborating with people from around the world and a movie screening event on world mental health day. It announced an upcoming project “Letter to Stranger”, a platform to anonymously share feelings to destigmatize mental illness, with the motto “every voice matters, and we want to make sure that they are being heard”.
The SIL is also working on piloting a virtual reality therapy project “Inside Global” alongside engaging with Open Society University Network, which focuses on collaborations among universities, institutes and think tanks around the world towards teaching, research and other forms of exchanges.