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(Backgrounds of Establishment and Activity Continuation/Why We are Needed)
Our society is facing numerous difficult social tasks such as religious/ethnic/military confliction, WMD, terrorism, dictatorship, racism, poverty, destruction of nature, natural disasters, lack of effective support for developing countries, human rights protection, etc. Fortunately, some brave activists are already taking actions to solve certain social issues depending on their interest, but the number of change-makers is totally not enough. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult (maybe impossible) for a single person to take action to solve various types of social issues, but that does not mean that he/she can ignore the problems that he/she is not directly related. Therefore, our society is strongly/immediately requiring more change-makers who have passion, vision, knowledge, and compassion to solve social issues in the COVID-19 era.
In July 2015, VIA Next Innovators was founded by Japanese members who completed the ESI/DSI program offered by VIA (Volunteers in Asia), a non-profit 501(c) organization based in San Francisco, United States. In partnership/cooperation/discussion with VIA, VIA Next Innovators aims at developing/maintaining/expanding a strong professional network of social innovators that will help our society and allow people to reach their potentials. By taking such actions, we will contribute in order to lead the global society in a good way.
As an organization with the viaprograms.org domain, VIA Next Innovators will support and assist VIA (Wikipedia article).
(Vision and Mission/What We Will Do)
Our vision is to contribute to our global society by increasing and connecting social innovators in Japan.
(Social Innovators: People who help our society and citizens reach their potential through creative and empathetic action.)
Mission 1: ESI/DSI Participant Recruitment Assistance
Mission 2: Alumni Engagement Assistance, Mission 3: Take Action
For more details, please check our outlook document and supplementary files attached to this page.
【What is Social Innovation ?】
【What is ESI/DSI ?】
ESI/DSI are programs focused on social innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership, design thinking, etc. The program includes intensive workshops at the Stanford d.school. Participants come from various top Asian universities such as UT, Kyoto, Keio, Kyushu, Osaka, Sophia, Peking, HKUST, MUST, etc.
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Neither the name of VIA Next Innovators & VIA Programs nor the names of its contributors/members may be used to endorse or promote products derived from these documents without specific prior written permission.
(DISCLAIMER)
THESE DOCUMENTS ARE PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THESE DOCUMENTS, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.