Monday, September 8
Virtual information session on travel-based practicums
Sunday, September 14
Student interest and scholarship applications due
Friday, September 19
Students notified of their course selection and scholarship results
Wednesday, September 24
Course application into the Global Center portal due
Tuesday, October 14th
Global Center commitment and full application deadline
KROC 523i
Social Entrepreneurship & Sustainability in Colombia
Instructor: Dr. Patricia Márquez
January 12 - 21, 2026
Since 2016 Peace Accord, Colombia has undergone substantial cultural, economic, and social transformations. This course offers students the opportunity to engage directly with business leaders and key influencers who have played an integral role in these changes.
Focusing on the intersection of entrepreneurship, sustainability, and social impact, the course provides tools and frameworks for understanding how enterprises in Latin America can drive economic growth while fostering positive social and environmental change.
Through company visits – ranging from multinationals and B-Corps to social enterprises – and interactions with entrepreneurs, students will gain insight into Colombia’s unique opportunities and challenges. By the end of this course, students will have a broadened understanding of innovative business models designed to achieve sustainability, peace building, and social change.
Equipped with practical knowledge, students will leave this course prepared to launch and lead ventures that create profit and positive social impact in emerging markets worldwide.
KROC 524
Social Innovation Practicum: Local
Instructor: Karen Henken
This immersive, field-based practicum bridges theory and practice through a client-focused team project supported by in-class learning, site visits, and community research. Working with a San Diego–based nonprofit or mission-driven business, students apply social innovation strategies to tackle real-world challenges and create actionable solutions.
Students serve as hands-on consultants, developing practical insights into nonprofit management, leadership, and community engagement. The course introduces key social innovation frameworks while building transferable skills in project management, communication, and analytical problem-solving.
In addition to producing tangible impact for the client, students expand their professional networks through collaboration with nonprofit leaders, community partners, and peers—gaining both experience and connections that will serve them well in diverse career paths.
Spring Project
Community Resource Center Encinitas
Students will support the Community Resource Center’s Food and Nutrition Center in strengthening access to fresh, nutritious food amid major policy shifts affecting food labeling (AB 660) and SNAP/CalFresh benefits. With more than one in four San Diego County residents experiencing food insecurity, this project focuses on identifying gaps in food rescue and distribution—particularly for fresh produce.
Students will map current sourcing channels, explore partnerships with growers, retailers, and landowners, and design a collaborative ecosystem connecting food banks, nonprofits, and agricultural partners. Deliverables include options for an innovative purchase-or-donation model and a practical logistics approach to improve food access across North County. This project is suited for students interested in food systems, community resilience, and social impact partnerships.
KROC 593i
Engaging with Others: Peacebuilding & State-Society Relations in China
Instructor: Dr. May Farid
May 9 - May 20, 2026
With the political shift of the last two decades, the majority of the world’s population now lives in nondemocracies. How do peacebuilders engage with these regimes and populations? This course enables students to gain firsthand insight into one of the major potential conflicts of our time, and into the inner workings of a state and population that, for better or worse, will have a decent impact on global security, climate change, and the global economy over the coming decades. Students will explore three areas during this course: China’s government, society, and global impact.
We will engage with policymakers and state-adjacent institutions to explore China’s political system as it relates to Great Power politics, including its foreign policy, decision-making processes, and centralization of authority alongside localized discretion.
Second, we will explore Chinese society and learn to disaggregate it from the state, visiting social organizations and NGOs, studying its shifting economic structures and vibrant entrepreneurship, and exploring its rich intellectual traditions of harmony and global order.
Finally, we will explore China’s engagement in global peace building, international aid, and foreign investment. As China’s impact in SE Asia, Latin America, and Africa grows, we speak to actors across the state-society divide who are working to make this engagement more just, peaceful, and environmentally sustainable.
KROC 593-04
Social Action: Tijuana River Sewage Crisis
Taught by Professor Sarah Federman
In this course, students will engage in a semester-long social action project focused on the Tijuana River Sewage Crisis. Students will conduct research, develop conflict maps, and analyze the local context. They will learn how to build coalitions, collaborate on an intervention, and engage with diverse stakeholders. The course includes planning and implementing a social action initiative, assessing its impact, and reflecting on outcomes. While assigned readings will provide theoretical grounding in nonviolent social action, students will help shape the process and direction of the course.
KROC 593-03
Peace & Justice Infrastructure: Philanthropy, Nonprofits, and Resourcing Social Change Work
Taught by Jake Wild Crea
This practicum explores how money, power, and purpose intersect in efforts to create social change. Students will engage directly with local philanthropic and nonprofit leaders to understand how resources move through the social sector—examining both the realities of how philanthropy works today and emerging models for more collaborative, effective approaches. Through site visits, dialogue, and applied analysis, students will critically assess the infrastructure that supports (and sometimes constrains) peace and justice work, and explore what more generative systems of resourcing could look like.
KROC 524
Local Social Innovation Practicum
Instructor: Professor Karen Henken
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Project review and prep for practicum Monday, May 4 |
12:00 – 1:30 PM |
90 minutes in person Kroc School KIPJ 247/Zoom |
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Saturday June 6, June 20th, July 25th |
1:00- 4:30 PM |
In person Kroc School. Team project work. |
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Monday, June 15th |
5:30-8:20 PM |
In person Kroc School- launch of project in-person with client |
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Monday July 6th |
5:30-8:20 PM |
In person Kroc School- in depth project status review |
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Monday, June 29th, July 13, July 20 |
5:30-8:20 PM |
Zoom |
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Week of July 27th |
Time TBD- in person client presentation |
Client site |
This immersive, field-based practicum bridges theory and practice through a client-focused team project supported by in-class learning, site visits, and community research. Working with a San Diego–based nonprofit or mission-driven business, students apply social innovation strategies to tackle real-world challenges and create actionable solutions.
Students serve as hands-on consultants, developing practical insights into nonprofit management, leadership, and community engagement. The course introduces key social innovation frameworks while building transferable skills in project management, communication, and analytical problem-solving.
In addition to producing tangible impact for the client, students expand their professional networks through collaboration with nonprofit leaders, community partners, and peers—gaining both experience and connections that will serve them well in diverse career paths.
Summer Projects
Business for Good San Diego
Students will act as strategy consultants to a coalition of local business owners advancing an inclusive, sustainable economy. Work includes mapping San Diego’s mission-driven business landscape, conducting member interviews, and assessing what small businesses need from a policy- and advocacy-focused network. Students will analyze effective membership and revenue models, then craft a refined value proposition, messaging, and practical membership recommendations. Deliverables may include updated tiers, program ideas, and outreach tools. Ideal for students interested in social entrepreneurship and inclusive economic development.
Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute
Students will support the development of a new Center for Excellence in Marine Aquaculture by creating a partner and sponsor strategy focused on sustainable ocean stewardship. The project includes mapping the blue-economy ecosystem, identifying HSWRI’s unique value, and sourcing mission-aligned partners across sectors. Students will develop partnership concepts—such as sponsored research or workforce pathways—and create materials to guide outreach. Ideal for students interested in climate and ocean solutions, nonprofit revenue models, and cross-sector collaboration.