Big Ideas@Berkeley identifies and encourages students to develop solutions to the problems that matter most to them and their generation. In a year-long process of advising, skills training, mentorship, and seed funding, Big Ideas helps students translate their academic work and their diverse experiences into direct impact.
To date, over 11,000 students from 100 different majors have participated. Of the 550 social impact ventures launched through Big Ideas since 2006, nearly 50 percent are still in operation. With the training and the $3 million in seed funding that the program has invested in these students, they’ve gone on to secure more than $1 billion in additional investment, transforming their ideas into solutions that are now making an impact across the world.
This Fall of 2023, Big Ideas is launching a new effort devoted specifically to climate change challenges in California. It will employ the time-tested Big Ideas@Berkeley Methodology to provide training and seed awards to very early-stage, student-led projects focused on climate change innovations in California.
We encourage you to consider a gift to support Big Ideas@Berkeley students with a donation to the program’s Tackling California Climate Change effort — part of UC Berkeley’s weeklong campaign, kicked off during Earth Week, to “spotlight environment-focused projects on campus that are working to create a world where people and nature can prosper.” The campaign ends April 26 at 11:59 p.m.
