The DO School

The DO School is an international educational institution offering various educational and executive programs to young leaders and organizations. By combining a hands-on method with blended learning sessions, the institution supports the spreading of social impact and innovation by committed individuals and organizations. The DO School was founded by Florian Hoffmann, who is also the co-founder of the Dekeyser&Friends Foundation.[1] The DO School grew out of a previous fellowship program, the D&F Academy. As of 2015, the institution operates in three different continents with premisses in Hamburg and Berlin, Germany as well as New York City, United States.

Programs

The DO School offers several different training programs for emerging social entrepreneurs as well as leading organizations. The opportunities vary in length, focus and target group.

The One Year Program

The DO School’s One-Year Program trains, coaches and empowers emerging social entrepreneurs to start their own social ventures. The students spend 10 weeks on a DO School campus completing a Challenge set by an organization as well as working through a curriculum that provides knowledge and skills needed for starting up. Previous challengers have included New York City's Mayor's Office, Jane Goodall, Christoph Poppen, Jens Lehmann and H&M Germany.[2] During the Challenge the students create the necessary social innovation for the issue concerned. Issues are mostly connected with the topic of sustainability. As a result, by the end of the 10-week period, the students have collaboratively designed a practical solution to the given problem.[3] In the following 10 months of the program, the emerging social entrepreneurs set up their individual social enterprises in their home countries, with remote guidance and support from the DO School team.[4]The school currently accepts up to 60 students per year over three different programs. In 2014, a Challenge took place each in Hamburg and New York City.

The Green Store Challenge


The Green Store Challenge challenged 17 young social entrepreneurs to design and create a Green Store prototype for H&M Germany that is sustainable regarding materials, energy, construction and other aspects.[5] Over the course of 10 weeks, they developed the Green Pop-Up Store[6] which was piloted from June 25 to July 9, 2014[7] on Mönckebergstraße in Hamburg, Germany.

The Sustainable Cup Challenge


The Sustainable Cup Challenge challenged 18 young social entrepreneurs to solve the problem of to go cup waste in New York City.[8] They responded by launching a ‘CupCycling’ program which offers coffee shop customers in the city the option of a reusable to go cup.[9][10] The initiative was piloted in Dumbo, Brooklyn from April 21 to April 23, 2014.[11][12] The pilot was positively received by the press and local public, leading to hopes that New York’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability will adopt the initiative as a long-term project.[13][14]

The most recent One Year Programs offered by the DO School are listed below in reverse chronological order.

Challenge Period Challenger(s) Challenge Description Location Number of Fellows
The Packaging Challenge 03/2015 - 03/2016 H&M Germany Find innovative ways to reduce waste and increase recycling along the transport routes of the fashion retailer H&M Germany.[15] Hamburg, Germany 20
The Green Store Challenge[16] 04/2014 - 04/2015 H&M Germany[17] Create a Green Store prototype that is sustainable in terms of materials, construction, energy and operation.[18] Hamburg, Germany 17
The Sustainable Cup Challenge 02/2014 - 02/2015 The DO School & New York’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability Develop and present a sustainable to-go cup, as well as the related campaign and infrastructure, for New York City.[19] New York City, USA 18
Peace Challenge 07/2013 - 07/2014 Scilla Elworthy[20] Creating an online campaign to raise awareness of, and promote, the efforts of peace-builders around the world. Hamburg, Germany 19

The Innovation Lab

The DO School Innovation Lab is a customizable leadership program that offers organizations skills and knowledge training for the enhancement of their organizational cultures, work satisfaction and effectiveness. The program is conducted in the form of workshop sessions.[21] The Intrapreneurship Program is part of the Innovation Lab and consists of a four-month training program that combines theoretical training sessions with practical hands-on work during an internal Challenge. The Intrapreneurship Program aims at teaching employees skills of team leadership while they are simultaneously working on a concrete project to attain the organization’s goals.[22]

The University Program

The University Program is offered to university students committed to the topic of social impact. The Program trains the students to be leaders and carry out entrepreneurial work. The first University Program - Leading for Impact - was offered exclusively for University of Oxford students by the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School and the DO School.[23]

The DO School Online

The DO School Online consists of an online platform supporting social entrepreneurs currently involved in DO School programs as well as alumni of all kinds. The platform also delivers the DO School Method to those who already have an idea for a not-for-profit or for-profit business and offers expert knowledge of all areas relevant to starting up. Experts involved include leaders such as Muhammad Yunus, Scilla Elworthy, Jean-Remy von Matt and many others.

The DO School Start-Up Lab

In June 2014 the DO School launched a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), The DO School Start-Up Lab,[24] offering entrepreneurs from around the globe the opportunity to learn about relevant fields to starting up in a nine-week-long free online course. The course, offered on Iversity, a MOOC provider based in Berlin, Germany, was developed by the DO School with input from experts in the fields of Social Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation, Marketing, Finance, Leadership and more. Amongst others, these included Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus and Founder of the Oxford Research Group Scilla Elworthy.

Partners and sponsors

The DO School receives support from, and holds partnerships with, a variety of organizations.[25]

Amongst the DO School’s supporters are Newman's Own Foundation,[26] H&M Germany,[27] Dekeyser & Friends Foundation, and Nike.

Organizations in partnership with The DO School are Echoing Green, PlaNYC, Unreasonable Institute,[28] TED Fellows and American Friends of Bucerius[29] amongst others.

References

  1. ↑ Boersma, Maxine. "Entrepreneurs given a business plan". Ft.com. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "H&M Deutschland kooperiert mit der DO School". About.hm.com. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  3. ↑ Hall, Sophie. "Entrepreneurs: are they born or made?". Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  4. ↑ Dutt, Bahar (15 January 2015). "An alternative to polystyrene". Live Mint. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "H&M searching for innovation in sustainable fashion retail". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Van Houtem, Lisa. "H&M eröffnet Green Pop-Up Store". Brigitte.de. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Maurer, Bettina. "H&M Green Pop-up-Store in Hamburg". Textilwirtschaft.de. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  8. ↑ Krasny, Jill. "The DO School Wants to Make M.B.A.'s Obsolete". Inc.com. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Malito, Alessandra. "Brooklyn Students Ponder a Citi Bike for To-Go Coffee Cups". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  10. ↑ Murphy, Doyle. "'Citi Bike for coffee' program launches in Dumbo". NY Daily News. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  11. ↑ Brownstone, Sydney. "If We're Sharing Everything Else, Why Not Our Coffee Cups?". Fast Co. Exist. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  12. ↑ Richling, Billy. "Coffee Shop Introduces Rent-A-Cup to Combat Caffeinated Paper Waste". New York Observer. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  13. ↑ "New York's cup-sharing pilot project". CNBC. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  14. ↑ "Reusable Good to Go coffee cup introduced in Dumbo". News 12 Brooklyn. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  15. ↑ Ehamparam, Shegana (2014-10-03). "Packaging Challenge". Social Innovation Exchange. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  16. ↑ "The Green Store Challenge". The DO School. 2014-07-04. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  17. ↑ Ip, Melissa. "DO School partners with H&M to create green stores". Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  18. ↑ "The Green Store Challenge". The DO School. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  19. ↑ "Sustainable Cup Challenge". The DO School. 2013-09-15. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  20. ↑ "The tools for a radical new kind of leadership". The Guardian. 2014-10-03. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  21. ↑ "The DO School". Open Education Europa. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  22. ↑ "The DO School Innovation Lab". The DO School. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  23. ↑ "The DO School Leading for Impact". Saïd Business School. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
  24. ↑ "The DO School Start-Up Lab". Iversity. Retrieved 2014-07-30.
  25. ↑ "Supporters & Partners". The DO School. 2013-09-15. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  26. ↑ "Newman's Own Foundation | The Power of Philanthropy to Transform Lives". Newmansownfoundation.org. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  27. ↑ "H&M offers fashion and quality at the best price". Hm.com. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  28. ↑ "Unreasonable Institute". Unreasonable Institute. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  29. ↑ "DO School Collaboration with American Friends of Bucerius". Buceriususa.org. Retrieved 3 December 2013.