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An Invitation to Join #ChangeTheNow

In 2018 Georgian College, Canada’s first Ashoka Changemaker College, wanted to know if they could mobilize students from kindergarten to Post Secondary into a movement, effectively building a region of Changemakers. It was from here that #ChangeTheNow began.

Do Good to Do Well

#ChangeTheNow was created on the beliefs that small acts can lead to big change and collaborations can turn into largescale movements. We believe together students’, educators’ and communities’ ideas can spark systems shifts that make will make our communities greener, healthier, safer, stronger and more inclusive!

Will you join us in creating the positive change and contribute to 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals?

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UN Sustainable Development Goals

Join a Community of Changemakers

When you join #ChangeTheNow, you will enter into a global community of virtual changemakers, championing real-life positive social change in their local communities. Your goal will assemble an #ChangeTheNow Innovation Team and then chart your own changemaking journey, in bringing a social innovation idea to life.

Recent Activity

  • Profile picture for Aswin Vinodu
    posted in "Well Being Challenge - SDG#3, Fall 2022" 2022-12-14 15:42:26 -0800 complete_your_hcdt_stage_pitch_reflection_99

    🤔 Reflection question

    What did you learn about publicly sharing your ideas that you will carry with you in your future of work?

    Aswin's Answer

    I've discovered that everyone has opinions, some of which are constructive and others which are not. Be open to learning from criticism in order to advance.

  • Profile picture for Aswin Vinodu
    posted in "Well Being Challenge - SDG#3, Fall 2022" 2022-12-14 15:41:01 -0800 complete_your_me_we_reflection_99

    🤔 Reflection question

    After completing CTN, what new awareness do you have for yourself (ME) and your community (WE) and what is one action you might take to continue to explore it?

    Aswin's Answer

    I discovered that we all have our own biases after completing CTN. Working in a team also helped me see my own and my teammates' strengths and flaws.

  • Profile picture for Aswin Vinodu
    posted in "Well Being Challenge - SDG#3, Fall 2022" 2022-12-14 15:39:44 -0800 complete_your_hcdt_stage_prototype_test_reflection_99

    🤔 Reflection question

    How might the prototype & test stage help you with overcoming a fear of failure or challenging your assumptions about what is ‘right’?

    Aswin's Answer

    By acknowledging my own biases or weaknesses as well as the perspectives of others and how they could affect a desired result. Additionally, it aids in enhancing those areas where one is more successful while encouraging the person to use failure or a challenge to one's preconceptions as motivation rather than as a burden.

  • Profile picture for Aswin Vinodu
    posted in "Well Being Challenge - SDG#3, Fall 2022" 2022-12-14 15:38:51 -0800 complete_your_hcdt_stage_ideate_reflection_99

    🤔 Reflection question

    How might ideation help you develop your active listening skills to brainstorm and reflect on ideas effectively with your team?

    Aswin's Answer

    Ideate will assist in enhancing my listening abilities so that I can be more creative and contribute ideas to brainstorming effectively.

  • Profile picture for Aswin Vinodu
    posted in "Well Being Challenge - SDG#3, Fall 2022" 2022-12-14 15:37:15 -0800 complete_your_hcdt_stage_define_reflection_99

    🤔 Reflection question

    How might you explain the value of you having a systems-thinking mindset when attempting to define and understand a complex problem?

    Aswin's Answer

    Such a mindset makes it possible to recognise one's biases, comprehend that it takes amity over time to solve a complicated problem, and be able to identify specific regions within it.

  • Profile picture for Aswin Vinodu
    posted in "Well Being Challenge - SDG#3, Fall 2022" 2022-12-14 15:34:35 -0800 complete_your_changemaker_in_residency_week_reflection_99

    🤔 Reflection question

    What session inspired you the most during Changemaker in Residency Week, and why?

    Aswin's Answer

    A particular highlight of the first and second sessions was learning more about CCSI and its effects on the global society.

  • Profile picture for Arman Preet Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 14:38:59 -0800 complete_your_me_we_reflection_72

    🤔 Reflection question

    After completing CTN, what new awareness do you have for yourself (ME) and your community (WE) and what is one action you might take to continue to explore it?

    Arman's Answer

    We should give full attention towards our goals by doing hard work in life. Moreover, I learned about the quality education that we should not discriminate .My main focus is that we should give and take equal respect from others.

  • Profile picture for Arman Preet Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 14:38:01 -0800 complete_your_hcdt_stage_pitch_reflection_72

    🤔 Reflection question

    What did you learn about publicly sharing your ideas that you will carry with you in your future of work?

    Arman's Answer

    When we openly express our opinions and ideas; it enables the individual to expand their network of contacts. They can gain an in-depth knowledge that they can use to other tasks connected to their line of work by exchanging thoughts and expertise with others.

  • Profile picture for Arman Preet Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 14:37:04 -0800 complete_your_hcdt_stage_prototype_test_reflection_72

    🤔 Reflection question

    How might the prototype & test stage help you with overcoming a fear of failure or challenging your assumptions about what is ‘right’?

    Arman's Answer

    Together, we'll fight back against failure and make every effort to succeed. By providing encouragement, we will help each other feel more confident.

  • Profile picture for Arman Preet Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 14:36:15 -0800 _complete_your_hcdt_stage_ideate_reflection_72

    🤔 Reflection question

    How might ideation help you develop your active listening skills to brainstorm and reflect on ideas effectively with your team?

    Arman's Answer

    I always pay close attention to what the other person has to say so they can sense respect for their opinions and ideas. Additionally, as we listen to someone, we learn more about a variety of topics.

  • Profile picture for Arman Preet Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 14:35:11 -0800 _complete_your_hcdt_stage_define_reflection_72

    🤔 Reflection question

    How might you explain the value of you having a systems-thinking mindset when attempting to define and understand a complex problem?

    Arman's Answer

    I properly understand the issue before seeking the assistance of experts in order to find a solution. Additionally, more experienced people are better equipped to handle difficult situations. Mindset get strong when solve more problems.

  • Profile picture for Arman Preet Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 14:34:13 -0800 complete_your_hcdt_stage_empathize_reflection_72

    🤔 Reflection question

    After learning about how to empathize with the people affected by your SDG’s social issue, how you might apply empathy to working with the members on your CTN Innovation Team?

    Arman's Answer

    We ought to respect the opinions, beliefs, and values of others. By carefully listening to them, we can demonstrate our respect for them. Then, we should share our opinions.

  • Profile picture for Arman Preet Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 14:32:49 -0800 complete_your_changemaker_in_residency_week_reflection_72

    🤔 Reflection question

    What session inspired you the most during Changemaker in Residency Week, and why?

    Arman's Answer

    The most interesting session was about the pitch. We showed our full contribution by sharing ideas on that topic.

  • Profile picture for Arman Preet Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 14:31:44 -0800 create_your_team_canvas_72

    🤔 Reflection question

    What did you personally learn about the process of creating your team canvass?

    Arman's Answer

    I gained a lot of knowledge from the team canvas, including information about high-quality education, LGBTQ discrimination, strengths, various activities, and limitations.

  • Profile picture for Arman Preet Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 14:30:57 -0800 complete_your_mobius_strip_reflection_72

    🤔 Reflection question

    After completing the Mobius Strip exercise, what do you feel are next steps towards contributing to the community you care about?

    Arman's Answer

    After doing the Mobius strip exercise, I become aware of my abilities and shortcomings in relation to social and communal issues.

  • Profile picture for Naz Bell
    posted in "Inclusive Design and Mobility Challenge – SDG #11, Spring 2022" 2022-12-14 14:00:42 -0800 complete_your_hcdt_stage_pitch_reflection_104

    🤔 Reflection question

    What did you learn about publicly sharing your ideas that you will carry with you in your future of work?

    Naz's Answer

    I learned about how important planning your storyboard can be and how may different parts go into making a strong and moving story that many people can understand and feel involved with. I will take with me the importance of creating a message that people can connect with widely and deeply. This will benefit me as a future changemaker because it will help me share my ideas publicly with confidence and without fear of failure.

  • Profile picture for Naz Bell
    posted in "Inclusive Design and Mobility Challenge – SDG #11, Spring 2022" 2022-12-14 13:53:15 -0800 complete_your_hcdt_stage_prototype_test_reflection_104

    🤔 Reflection question

    How might the prototype & test stage help you with overcoming a fear of failure or challenging your assumptions about what is ‘right’?

    Naz's Answer

    The prototype and test stage help us to overcome fear of failure by acknowledging when an idea isn’t feasible and moving on to a new idea. By not being married to one idea we aren’t let down when it doesn’t carry through.

  • Profile picture for Anmoldeep Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 09:19:52 -0800 complete_your_me_we_reflection_71

    🤔 Reflection question

    After completing CTN, what new awareness do you have for yourself (ME) and your community (WE) and what is one action you might take to continue to explore it?

    Anmoldeep's Answer

    I am now aware that I can work effectively in groups, and I like to lead a team. I have good leadership skills and I own the capability to direct my team members. I have a good approach and can share my thoughts concisely and briefly. I always doubted that I cannot work in a team as I won’t be able to make a connection. But during this placement, I worked on my fear and challenged myself to lead my whole team. I was successful to do it and now I have all the confidence needed to be a part of a team and take over any kind of responsibilities. The awareness I got for my community is that our own solutions are someone good but not feasible. Looking at the big picture it is not possible to apply them. So, we must get a deeper understanding and think collaboratively to ponder upon different elements to come up with important and feasible solutions which can be helpful to all the stakeholders, we don’t want a solution that can help one but would become a burden for another. This awareness has given me the confidence to keep working on such issues with a collaborative approach.

  • Profile picture for Anmoldeep Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 09:18:41 -0800 complete_your_hcdt_stage_pitch_reflection_71

    🤔 Reflection question

    What did you learn about publicly sharing your ideas that you will carry with you in your future of work?

    Anmoldeep's Answer

    I learned how to confidently share my thoughts without the fear of judgment. Now I would be able to talk about my problems, where I am getting confused, and any possible solutions that I have in my mind. I must be prepared for the comments or questions which I can receive and how to respond to them appropriately. I can ask for feedback to understand what was perfect or where some improvement is needed. I must filter my thoughts before openly talking about them publicly. I can write down my thought prior to presenting them so that I can present them in a proper sequence and won’t forget anything if someone interrupted me in between or asked a question about a particular part of my ideas.

  • Profile picture for Anmoldeep Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 09:16:42 -0800 complete_your_hcdt_stage_prototype_test_reflection_71

    🤔 Reflection question

    How might the prototype & test stage help you with overcoming a fear of failure or challenging your assumptions about what is ‘right’?

    Anmoldeep's Answer

    The prototype stage is an interesting step to thinking about a solution to the problem we are dealing with. I usually struggle with the fear of failing which compels me not to try the solutions in my head. But while working with my team, I have to opportunity to get feedback from them and make necessary changes to make it work. As all of us would be working collaboratively, we can understand and figure out what can be the possible consequences of any action. Then only we can think of a perfect prototype to deal with the issue. As I would be presenting my personal ideas for a good prototype, I have to research thoroughly on it so that I can answer any questions my teammates can ask me. So, I will be well prepared beforehand. This would make me feel more confident about what I am going to do. Hence, I would not have fear of getting failed because I would know that at least I tried and I can challenge myself to do better next time.

  • Profile picture for Anmoldeep Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 09:14:54 -0800 _complete_your_hcdt_stage_ideate_reflection_71

    🤔 Reflection question

    How might ideation help you develop your active listening skills to brainstorm and reflect on ideas effectively with your team?

    Anmoldeep's Answer

    Ideation can help me to generate all the possible ideas underlying the issue we are addressing. I would be able to think of several ideas and issues which contribute to our SDG problem. We did an activity called fast-idea generator in which we used pictures and short sentences to display our individual ideas and connect them to each other’s ideas. Hence, we were able to brainstorm with stakeholders and all possible problems they are facing, what can be the reasons and how they can be solved. At the end of it, we were left with a Mural filled with ideas. Then we worked together to classify all those ideas into different priorities based on their importance and feasibility So that we can focus on the one which is most crucial and leave the rest.

  • Profile picture for Anmoldeep Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 09:13:04 -0800 _complete_your_hcdt_stage_define_reflection_71

    🤔 Reflection question

    How might you explain the value of you having a systems-thinking mindset when attempting to define and understand a complex problem?

    Anmoldeep's Answer

    Having a systems-thinking mindset is extremely crucial in this step as in order to become an effective changemaker, I have to be able to understand and comprehend the big picture. I must identify several elements of that system. After that, I must understand the key relationship within the system to reveal the patterns of behavior that can be positive. All these steps are crucial to solving a big and complex problem like quality education. I can look T THE system with multiple stakeholders to allow me to see the problem from various perspectives to gain a better understanding of the issue.

  • Profile picture for Anmoldeep Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 09:10:36 -0800 complete_your_hcdt_stage_empathize_reflection_71

    🤔 Reflection question

    After learning about how to empathize with the people affected by your SDG’s social issue, how you might apply empathy to working with the members on your CTN Innovation Team?

    Anmoldeep's Answer

    I will listen thoroughly to whatever my teammates will be discussing and talking about their experiences. Then I would put myself in their shoes and try to think from their perspective. This would help me to develop a good bond with my teammates. Only after that, we would be able to work as a team. I can understand how they might be feeling about a particular situation and how I can assist them. I would be able to understand our pains and gains and how to deal with them.

  • Profile picture for Anmoldeep Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 09:08:54 -0800 complete_your_changemaker_in_residency_week_reflection_71

    🤔 Reflection question

    What session inspired you the most during Changemaker in Residency Week, and why?

    Anmoldeep's Answer

    The empathy workshop session was my favorite one as we were taught how to empathize with a different set of people. I got to know the foundations of empathy and who we must empathize with. That session inspired me to comprehend situations by putting ourselves in others’ shoes. We did an activity during the session in which we were divided into pairs of two and given some time to share our stories and the other person had to listen and fill out the empathy form. It inspired me a lot as I understood that to understand someone’s problem, we must broaden our mindset. It inspired me to work on myself in order to deeply understand the problems going on in our world, I shouldn’t be thinking from my perspective only. As we brainstormed the stakeholders and role played as stakeholders, we understood the root causes and got more dedicated to work on it as we could relate ourselves to the conditions and problems which were emerging.

  • Profile picture for Anmoldeep Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 09:05:27 -0800 create_your_team_canvas_71

    🤔 Reflection question

    What did you personally learn about the process of creating your team canvass?

    Anmoldeep's Answer

    I got to learn more about my team after doing this activity. All of us have different skills and abilities and we learned that we can use all of them together throughout the placement. We wrote our goals for this placement and what we are expected to do. As we wrote our rules and activities we learned how everyone had different boundaries or rules which they want others to follow as well. Personally, I liked the part about writing down values and roles & skills. As it is the most necessary step to build a good understanding between the team members.

  • Profile picture for Anmoldeep Kaur
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 09:02:19 -0800 complete_your_mobius_strip_reflection_71

    🤔 Reflection question

    After completing the Mobius Strip exercise, what do you feel are next steps towards contributing to the community you care about?

    Anmoldeep's Answer

    After completing the “my mobius strip”, I felt very optimistic that all the problems in this world are interconnected. I enjoyed this activity as it compelled me to think about the problems I was neglecting till now. I got to know my strengths and my community's as well and also; I recognized the areas I have to work on.  This activity also allowed me to understand the path to bring out a change. I feel that I would be able to understand that no problem in this world should be categorized as big or small. Every problem has its own importance and should be addressed appropriately. Every problem deserves effort and creative solutions to deal with the issues.

  • Profile picture for tori geroux
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 08:58:08 -0800 complete_your_me_we_reflection_70

    🤔 Reflection question

    After completing CTN, what new awareness do you have for yourself (ME) and your community (WE) and what is one action you might take to continue to explore it?

    tori's Answer

    I am more aware about the impact I personally have on the people around me. I always thought that I was incapable of making a real change because I wasn’t of high status and didn’t think of myself as “influential.” However, since completing the CTN, I am more confident and have been given the courage to stand up and get my hands dirty in order to make a real change. I now know that it really does only take one person or one idea to make a difference and I am grateful for all I have learned throughout the modules and from my mentors and team members. One action I might take while I continue on this journey is doing more research about how I personally can help ensure that everyone has access to quality education and do my best at making sure I am a successful educator who treats all of the children under my supervision as equals and give them nothing but love and respect.

  • Profile picture for tori geroux
    posted in "Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education Challenge - SDG#4, Summer 2022" 2022-12-14 08:56:52 -0800 complete_your_hcdt_stage_pitch_reflection_70

    🤔 Reflection question

    What did you learn about publicly sharing your ideas that you will carry with you in your future of work?

    tori's Answer

    During the Pitch stage, I learned that there is no such thing as a bad idea and that it is better to throw a million mediocre ideas onto the table than no ideas at all. I also learned how to present my ideas in a way that grabs my audience’s attention without them feeling uninterested or overwhelmed. I loved how I was taught how to organize ideas into a narrative that is effective and get’s my main thoughts through the use of the storyboard template. I definitely will use that technique in my future workplace when I need to present my ideas and get the attention of my coworkers or even families.