a leadership and innovation program - MiddCORE

MiddCORE
A LE ADE R S H I P AN D I N N OVATI O N PROG R A M
SUMMER PROGRAM | SIERRA NEVADA COLLEGE | LAKE TAHOE
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OVERVIEW
MiddCORE is a four-week summer
program for current college students
and recent graduates who want to
develop the skills, experience, and
confidence to be successful in life
and work.
MENTORS are
what make MiddCORE
different. Every day
students have access
to leaders from today’s
successful businesses,
such as:
Netflix
Marc Randolph, Cofounder
T
hrough an intensive daily schedule
of small group classes, panel
discussions, and mentor-led workshops, students develop essential mentor
networks as well as skills in teamwork,
innovation, trial-and-error exploration,
networking, and practical problem solving.
The program is highly collaborative and
hands-on, and students work closely with
each other and more than 40 mentors
from varying fields and professions.
YouTube/Google
Suzie Reider,
Managing Director
JPMorgan Chase
Mary Pang,
Managing Director
During MiddCORE, students
participate in several strategic
partner challenges, working
with peers to solve actual
business problems posed by
mentors. They also work on
their own innovation challenge
to develop a new product or
service or a new way to address
a social problem.
IDEO
Tom Raith, Creative Director
Travelocity
Terry Jones, Founder
Peet’s Coffee and Tea
Dave Burwick,
President and CEO
See’s Candies
Kelly Kennedy, CFO
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Opposite: mentors Blake Glenn (left), founding partner of Curious Industry, and Chastity Lord, chief external
officer of Achievement First, work with students on a real-life business challenge. Above: mentor Lisa
Condino, regional coordinator of VSA Vermont, helps a student think through her innovation challenge idea.
Graduates leave MiddCORE
with a strong foundation of
leadership and innovation skills
that prepare them for future
successes: they’re ready to solve
problems, ready to perform as
part of a team, ready to have
an engaged and meaningful
life. Students who complete the
course earn one course credit
from Middlebury College.
WHAT TO EXPECT
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Middlebury
College credit
(three credit hours)
52
skill-centric,
hands-on classes
20
hours developing
your own
innovation challenge
40
mentors from top
companies and
organizations
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SKILLS
Throughout MiddCORE, students
work actively and intensely
to understand, apply, and develop
essential skills and strengths.
B
y participating in specifically designed
sessions and hands-on workshops,
students develop skills in:
A TYPICAL DAY
• Leadership
• Public Speaking
MiddCORE is filled with
energizing and inspiring
experiences that change
with every day.
• Strategic Thinking
• Failing Forward
Breakfast with mentors
• Collaboration
• Negotiation
Guided reflection
• Idea Creation
• Financial Literacy
• Design Thinking
• Crisis Management
• Ethical Decision
Making
• Networking
Launch of
Strategic Challenge:
Google/YouTube
Suzie Reider,
Managing Director of
Brand Solutions, Google
• Empathy
• Visual
Communication
MiddCORE also incorporates daily
opportunities for students to reflect on
their experiences while exploring their
personal strengths and weaknesses
relative to their goals and aspirations.
Lunch with mentors
Innovation Challenge:
Where Do Ideas
Come From?
Marc Randolph,
Cofounder, Netflix
Top: students from Brown, Williams, and Middlebury collaborate in a brainstorming session on idea
creation. Bottom: Isabela Sá, who works in design, research, and strategy at IDEO, works with students
on the process of design thinking.
Dinner with mentors
Multicultural
collaborations
evening talk
José Antonio Meade
Kuribreña, Foreign
Secretary of Mexico
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MiddCORE PRODUCES RESULTS
94%
felt MiddCORE gave
them skills to be confident
in the workplace
95%
felt more confident in
public speaking
91%
thought MiddCORE was
one of their most important
undergraduate experiences
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EXPERIENCE
Working in groups and one on one
with mentors, students learn to
apply the skills they are acquiring
each day in real time.
T
he STRATEGIC PARTNER
CHALLENGES are an integral
part of the curriculum and expose
students to one-on-one learning from
professionals in a wide range of fields.
Students work closely with mentors and
Middlebury College faculty to problemsolve actual issues and challenges facing
today’s companies and organizations.
Examples of how students have worked
with strategic partners include:
• Collaborating with the chief external
officer of Achievement First to develop a
nationwide campaign promoting networks
and resources for first-generation college
students
• Gathering marketing insights on
millennials for the COO of Life is good
• Working with the strategy team at Seventh
Generation to promote a cold-water wash
movement among American consumers
Former Governor of Washington Christine Gregoire works with students on the specific challenges facing
the U.S. Government today.
98%
could approach
strategic challenges in
new, creative ways
79%
felt MiddCORE
opened their eyes to
new career pathways
1 in 5
students pursued their
innovation idea after
MiddCORE
The INNOVATION CHALLENGE is another way students
explore their entrepreneurial capabilities. Each student works
individually to develop a product or service or identify a
solution to a social problem.
AFTER MIDDCORE, many students go on to pursue their
Innovation Challenge ideas:
Allison Grogan,
MiddCORE 2014,
explored the idea
of women being
able to check their
drinks for date-rape
drugs and quickly
got the attention
of biochemists and
other potential
stakeholders.
Nick Libbey,
MiddCORE 2012,
turned his idea
for using video to
share stories into a
company based in
St. Paul, MN, that
helps clients use
video storytelling for
marketing purposes.
Suzanne Calhoun,
MiddCORE 2012,
developed an idea
for savory spreads
using Vermont
products and in one
year started her
company, Suzanne’s
Sweet Savories.
from a 2014 alumni survey
“I am still blown away by the quality
and quantity of the mentors.”
—Kathleen Elkins, MiddCORE 2013
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CONFIDENCE
MiddCORE graduates are
prepared to be leaders on
whatever life path they choose.
I
n just four weeks of team-based hands-on
learning, MiddCORE students gain a stronger
sense of who they are and what they’re capable of. They also develop capacities for trust,
leadership, collaboration, and empathy. They
often find themselves in situations completely
new to them and gain enriched perspectives that
shape the way they look forward.
“Before MiddCORE, I never thought of myself
as a risk taker, an entrepreneur, or even an
‘idea guy,’ but I’ve learned that I can be
all those things.”—Alec MacMillen, MiddCORE 2013
Most importantly, MiddCORE creates a safe
and supportive place for students to take risks
and move outside their comfort zones. “failing
forward” is a common and celebrated practice
in which students and mentors recognize their
failures and emphasize what they learned from
their experiences.
With the rise of
start-up companies,
the confidence to turn
an idea into action is
an invaluable skill for
today’s young people.
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APPLY NOW
MiddCORE is for highly motivated
college students and recent graduates
who want to build leadership
and communication skills with
an entrepreneurial mindset.
S
tudents should be comfortable
in collaborative settings and be
prepared for forty hours a week of
hands-on learning. MiddCORE graduates
receive one college-course credit (or the
equivalent of three semester-hour credits).
Limited financial aid is available.
Dates
June 11–July 9, 2016
Tuition, room, and board
$9,500
Scholarships available
“I only wish I’d done it sooner.
The skills I’ve learned are as applicable to
my life as an undergraduate as they are
to going out into the workplace post college.”
—Molly Talbert, MiddCORE 2013
Apply Now at
www.MiddCORE.com
Middlebury’s MiddCORE is held at Sierra Nevada College,
located at LAKE TAHOE in Incline Village, Nevada.
Mentor Mike Kiernan, an emergency room physician, discusses the powerful and persuasive art of storytellling.
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PRINTED ON 100% RECYCLED PAPER.
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A PPLY N OW AT W W W. M I D D CO R E .CO M
Spend four weeks this summer
gaining the skills, experience,
and confidence to be successful
in life and work.
MiddCORE
20 Old Chapel Road • Middlebury, VT 05753
802-443-5672 • MiddCORE.com
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Middlebury College