Celebrating the 1st UN Sustainability Entrepreneurship Short Course Cohort
Last week, we presented the final work of the UN Sustainability Entrepreneurship Short Course. But the end of this course is just the beginning for our participants. We designed this course with one core idea in mind: to give a voice to individuals who deeply understand their community's challenges and how to find resources and solutions rooted in their culture. Instead of simply teaching sustainability and entrepreneurship, we focused on creating a course where the frameworks and assignments would empower them to express their ideas, dreams, and ingenuity.
“When we speak of sustainability, we cannot overlook how important it is to include and listen to all voices, especially those usually excluded from this type of discussion, such as the voices of the poor, migrants, indigenous people, and the young.” — Pope Francis
As we built this course, our focus was on amplifying voices, transferring power, and equipping participants with practical tools that meet their real needs. The urgency of their causes is too important. Our goal was to create a shortcut—not to make things easier, but to support them with the right tools to drive meaningful change.
A big thank you to our students, mentors, and supporters who made this possible and extremely special! It has been a privilege to support them on this journey and, most importantly, to learn from and be inspired by them. Their feedback and commitment during these six weeks have been invaluable, helping us improve the course for future communities across the Pacific Islands. We look forward to seeing the impact these innovators will make.
Faith Chang, Voris D. Crooms, Myleba Carbonell, Annette Santos, Kaitlin Priem, Jean Malolo, Caue Suplicy, Faith Chang, Tiko Ledua, Cort Isernhagen, Yumi Cristosomo, Kelly King, Constancio Paranal III, Helen Turner, Ian Kitajima, Catherine Brockway, Jamie Lui, Donavan Kealoha, Tiffany Huynh, Jeff Mikulina, United Nations CIFAL Center of Honolulu, CIFAL Global Network, Chaminade University of Honolulu
