Skip to main content

Ballard Center

BYU Marriott’s Ballard Center for Social Impact is the world’s largest university program focused on social impact.
data-content-type="article"

Giving Back Through Education

April 20, 2020
Jill Piacitelli didn't always know she wanted to work in the social impact field. Now she's giving back as she steps into a teaching role at the Ballard Center for Social Impact.

overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

Making a Real Impact

March 24, 2020
Students at the Ballard Center for Social Impact at BYU Marriott are continuing to lead the way in the social impact field through the creation of a new student-led association.

overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

11 TED Talks That Can Change the World

March 16, 2020
The TEDxBYU forum is known for its inspiring speakers and thought-provoking speeches. For viewers interested in social impact, the following eleven talks address social issues in a novel, hopeful way.

overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

The Man Behind Neptune

March 09, 2020
As Marx Acosta-Rubio biked down the streets of Florida, he was shocked by the trash he saw. Garbage lined the beaches, covered the roads, and littered the sidewalks. This would serve as the inspiration for a potentially groundbreaking new product.

overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

A Semester with Walmart

March 04, 2020
The summer of 2020 will bring big things for Katelynne Hinckley flying to Walmart's worldwide headquarters in Arkansas. Read more about the process and experiences that landed her a dream internship.

overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

Ballard Center Announces Name Change

January 31, 2020
As the calendar recently turned a page to a new year and decade, the Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance at the BYU Marriott School of Business has something new for 2020.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

Smart Minds in the Same Room

January 16, 2020
When Isaac Blake served a mission Argentina in 2013, he experienced a vastly different economy and culture from what he was used to in his affluent Boston neighborhood.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

Ballard Center Hosts Ninth Annual Peery Film Festival

December 13, 2019
Hosted annually by BYU’s Ballard Center, the Peery Film Festival is presented to students to make them aware of a number of current social issues and invite them to consider possible solutions.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

Finding Your Edgar

November 11, 2019
Llamas, lunchtime, and a boy named Edgar played important roles in making Davis Smith, Cotopaxi's founder, the man he is today. Read more about his address and his challenges at the Changemaker Club's September event.

overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

Quiet Persistence Pays Off

November 05, 2019
Kimball Crockett was qualified for the position he applied for, so getting turned down was a surprise. He didn't let that stop him though, and today he's a world traveler.

overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

From Mix-Up to Memorable

September 26, 2019
Will Pham never meant to get involved in the Ballard Center. A minor mistake in class schedule put him in the Do Good. Better course--and changed his college career.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

New Ballard Center Club Fills Gap in Social Impact

September 04, 2019
The Social Impact Professional Association, or SIPA for short, provides students pursuing a career in social impact with career services to help them land their dream job.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

What an Engineer Gained from Doing Good. Better.

September 03, 2019
I've always had a desire to help those around me, but with such a taxing and time-consuming major, the thought of spending any of my extra hours outside of the library never seemed realistic or beneficial until I got involved at the Ballard Center.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

Myth Busted: Business and Social Good Can Coexist

August 30, 2019
I am a philosophy major at BYU but an entrepreneur at heart. While in college, I started my career in real-estate investing, learning how to flip houses and lease vacation rentals. It was both exhilarating and exhausting.

overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

Misan Rewane—2019 Social Innovator of the Year

August 29, 2019
Change often comes in waves of thought, courage, faith, and determination. As a woman seeking change, Misan Rewane learned to fight the issue of youth unemployment in her home country by creating waves of her own.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

Learning How to Live Like Ally

August 28, 2019
Just as my life was changed when I was nine years old, I now have the remarkable opportunity to take part in changing others lives who seek to improve the society in which they live.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

Y-Prize Social Innovation Solution Competition—Hear From the Winners

August 27, 2019
The Y-Prize: Social Innovation Solution competition is an opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students at BYU to address a real-life problem that a current business faces by proposing a solution to be implemented by the company.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"

Finding My Future

August 27, 2019
Through my work with the Social Venture Academy, my perspective on social issues has changed, and it has created a pattern of learning and growth within my life.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=