The Education Network That Will Change the World
Imagine combining education, philanthropy and social change. This concept seems revolutionary in itself, but when the principle of networks is applied to this triple threat, entirely new possibilities become available. A new online education nonprofit, Philanthropy University, aims to do just that. Established with help from University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Philanthropy University calls itself a “first-of-a-kind educational initiative” that will give “change maker[s]…the learning, resources, and community [they] need to change the world.”
Philanthropy University offers courses such as “Essentials of Nonprofit Strategy”, “How to Scale Social Impact”, and “Financial Modeling in the Social Sector”. These courses are taught by professors from Stanford University, Haas Business School, and Cornell University, respectively. The online education platform allows experts and professors from all over the country and world to share their knowledge with other users, both students and other instructors. This type of online knowledge sharing creates an interesting network that links different roles within education, specifically, students and teachers. Some social networks involve connections that are characterized with either plus signs (+) or minus signs (-). Rather than positive or negative characterizations, the edges in the education network created by Philanthropy University connect teacher to teacher, teacher to student, or student to student. Though each relationship includes different education roles, they all involve giving and receiving some sort of knowledge, which allows for immense power. Often times, the exchange of knowledge only happens in classrooms purely out of convenience, but the network Philanthropy University creates allows knowledge to transcend the limiting boundaries of distance. Now, any person could take Cornell Univeresity Professor Erik Simanis’s course on financial modeling, regardless of their location. The knowledge that Philanthropy University mobilizes is particularly special, because it is supposedly knowledge meant to give people the tools to create positive change. Each of the edges in Philanthropy University’s has the potential to be the root of an idea that may transform the world.
Each individual edge holds potential, but the network as a whole entity holds limitless possibilities, as it allows for new connections that might not have been possible without such a network to form. Philanthropy University’s online network allows motivated philanthropists from around the world to connect with each other.
Philanthropy University: https://novoed.com/philanthropy-initiative