Social Innovation Fellows Bootcamp

a 2-day Design Thinking workshop

Nov 08 - 09, 2025

A 2-day workshop designed for students and innovators to amplify their change-making mission with entrepreneurial skillset

Program Date: Nov 08 and Nov 09, 2025 - 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Venue: Miami Dade College - Padrón Campus, 627 SW 27th Ave, Miami, FL 33135, Room 3103 (Building 3


Registration Deadline: Nov 05, 2025 by 11:59pm, or the maximum capacity is reached

Program Structure

The entire workshop is delivered using Experiential Learning Pedagogy, which means as participants you will be engaging in hands-on activities rather than learning only theories. Get a chance to specifically work on your respective project ideas (if any) or pick a problem statement under the context of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

  • 9 - 9.30 am Breakfast and Registration

    9.30 - 10 am Introductions to the Human centered design concept and setting the culture

    10 - noon Problem identification using human centered design approach

    12- 1 pm Lunch

    1 - 2 pm Primary market research using Empathy

    2 - 230 pm Defining the Entrepreneurial Opportunity in response to your chosen “World Problem”

    330-5 pm Creative Ideation for your chosen problem statements

  • 9 - 9.30 am Breakfast and Recap from Day 1

    9.30 - 10 am Creativity and Innovation

    10 - noon Final Design Sprint for Idea Formulation and Prototyping

    12- 1 pm Lunch

    1 - 230 pm Prepare final presentations and learning Storytelling techniques

    230 - 3.30 pm Final pitching and receiving feedback

    3.30 - 4.00 pm Awards, Feedback and Post Program Keeping in touch planning

But, wait - What are the

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals i.e. UN SDGS?

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

Who Is This For

Miami Dade College Students, alumni, staff and members of the community.

Top skills you acquire

  • Complex Problem Understanding and Breakdown

  • Cause and Effect Analysis

  • Idea to Prototyping

  • Stakeholder Mapping and Market Research

  • Human Centered Design

  • Creative Problem Solving

Check out this cool video on Design Thinking

Role of Young People in making a Global impact

Flaunt your skills with a Digital Certificate on LinkedIn

Upon completing our program, Ycenter will provide participants with a verified certificate that can be showcased as a LinkedIn badge, highlighting your achievement and new skills. This badge not only enhances your professional profile but also signals to potential employers that you've gained valuable, hands-on experience in innovation, sustainability, design thinking and entrepreneurship.

Meet the Miami Dade Host Partner

  • Sandra Louk Lafleur

    MIAMI DADE COLLEGE DIRECTOR, Changemaking Education and Social Innovation

    Sandra LaFleur is Director of Changemaking Education and Social Innovation at Miami Dade College (MDC) focused on the college's changemaking ecosystem across eight campuses for both curricular and co-curricular opportunities. Her past experiences have focused on strategy setting, operational planning, organizational growth and change management, program/product design and execution, innovation and research, talent, and communications. She was national vice president of Program for Summer Search and national associate vice president of research, evaluation, and innovation for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. She is a national board chair for the Children's Literacy Initiative, a national board member for The National Mentoring Partnership, and a local board member for both the Awesome Foundation Miami and Rising Up Adventures. She earned a BS in Sociology/History from the University of Miami and an MS in Sociology from Florida State University.

Meet the Facilitation Partners

  • Dhairya Pujara

    Founder, CEO at Ycenter

    Started his first company at the age of 19, Dhairya has always been about using technology for humanitarian impact. He is Biomedical Engineer and has experience of living in 3 different countries across 3 different continents.

    He has been a global public speaker with invitations from the United Nations, World Bank, World Economic Forum, Social Enterprise World Forum, SXSW, TEDx and top universities and organizations in 15+ countries across 4 continents. His work has been featured in magazines like Entrepreneur, INC, nominated for Forbes 30 under 30 and several other media publications like BBC radio, Huffington post, Philadelphia Business journal to name a few. He has received a visa reserved for individuals of extraordinary abilities from the US immigration services.

Partners for the Program

Miami Dade College (MDC) is the largest public community college in the United States, offering over 300 degree pathways, including associate and bachelor's degrees, career certificates, and apprenticeships, all within an affordable and accessible "open access" environment. With multiple campuses, outreach centers, and virtual learning options, MDC serves a diverse student body, aiming to transform lives and promote workforce development through valuable real-world knowledge and support. 

About Ycenter

Ycenter is a Global Experiential learning and Innovation consulting firm. We build programs for university, innovation and incubation centers. We work with Fortune 500 companies and governmental agencies on using human-centered design thinking to solve complex social and business challenges. Ycenter programs have offerings have been benefited by participants and organizations in 30+ countries across last 12 years.