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Paris Dior, a 25-year-old Brown University student, started Visionaries Empowered Through Art when she was in high school.
"I learned that using art as a form of expression was a great way to get people talking about social issues, so my line of inquiry was, 'How can I use fashion and graphic design to create social change?' and I started making social justice-themed sneakers and T-shirts," she tells the Brown Daily Herald.
Now Dior is a Social Innovation Fellow at the Swearer Center, a two-year program that fosters students' social entrepreneurship skills through partnerships with local businesses and entrepreneurial community organizations, empowering them to launch ventures that drive meaningful change in organizations.
In her first year in the program, Dior interned at a Tea & Culture Shop in Rhode Island and learned how to run email campaigns, list products, and manage different parts of a venture.
Her second year is "more about using what we've learned, either continuing an internship from the first year or starting our own business," she says.
"Being in a cohort as a Social Innovation Fellow helps me know that someone sitting right next to me might understand how I can get to that next stage in building a venture," she says.
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Spotlight
When it Comes to Social Enterprises, Failure is the Best Platform for Innovation
In the world of social enterprises, failure is a cringe-worthy moment nobody wants to talk about. But, social entrepreneurs can benefit from their failures.