The UCSD Rady School of Management launched a new social entrepreneurship workshop that aims to inspire youth from underprivileged backgrounds to pursue their visions of social innovation.

The first lecture of five was on Jan. 26, the final lecture was on March 23 and the participants will present their initiatives on June 1.

The workshop was developed by the Consulate General of Israel Los Angeles, the UCSD Rady School of Management, the San Diego County Office of Education, the Anti-Defamation League and the Ken Jewish Community.

The program was geared toward students of Jewish and Latino background. Seventeen high school participants in the San Diego County attended the Jan. 26 lecture, given by Rady School associate professor of behavioral sciences and marketing Ayelet Gneezy, who is also the faculty chair of the U.S.-Israel Center of Innovation and Economic Sustainability.

Following the final lecture on March 23, the students were split into groups of two to three to begin constructing social initiatives of their own with Rady MBA students serving as mentors.

Director of Academic Affairs at the Consulate General of Israel Los Angeles Joshua Hoyt views the project as a collaborative effort toward honing future leaders in social innovation.

“There’s a real push on the part of students at UCSD to see the next generation of undergraduate students succeed,” Hoyt said. “The MBA students are guiding the participants to be minded towards their own success and to be thinking about pursuing education.”

The students will continue working on their social initiative projects throughout April and May in preparation for a concluding event on June 1, where they will get to present their social initiatives to a panel of judges for a $1,000 award to facilitate the winner’s future implementation.

Deputy Consul General of Israel Dr. Uri Resnick thinks encouraging students to pursue projects geared toward social improvement is significant to developing relations with worldwide communities.

“We think that the power of grass-root movements, innovation and social entrepreneurism and the wonders that it has done in Israel can be implemented anywhere, like in the communities here,” Resnick said.

Among the planned attendees  at the event are Resnick and the Consul General of Israel and David Siegal — who will be representing the Southwest United States and awarding a $1,000 prize to the winning  initiative.

Having monitored the progression of the workshop, Resnick hopes to duplicate it again at UCSD’s Rady School of Management, as well as other surrounding communities.

“This is a pilot project that we’ve begun at San Diego,” Resnick told the Guardian. “We envision it becoming institutionalized and repeated at the Rady School of Business. We currently have another project that we’re implementing in the San Fernando Valley with the goal of beginning similar projects like this elsewhere.”