Our Mission
We live in an era of rapid change, incredible unpredictability, and intense disruption. From the climate crisis to artificial intelligence, the future presents numerous challenges and opportunities. The LSE Generate Schools Programme aims to address these by:
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Empowering Change: Equipping young people with the tools, knowledge, and confidence they need to thrive in the future.
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Fostering Curiosity: Inspiring students to realise their potential to make a positive difference and approach new challenges with curiosity.
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Encouraging Creativity: Empowering the next generation to think like entrepreneurs, fostering autonomy, and nurturing creative and critical thinking.
Programme Highlights
Every programme is tailored to align with and complement schools’ learning objectives, working across a range of year groups. Operating in both primary and secondary settings and spanning state, independent and international schools, we harness the expertise of our international founders from across 20 LSE Generate Global Hubs from the UK to Mumbai to New York.
Following the process of building a business from scratch, we equip students to make well-balanced decisions, resolve conflicts in an empathetic manner and demonstrate excellent social relationships and responsibility. We help to hone critical thinking skills and creative talents; and through the nurturing of inquiring, independent minds, we encourage young people to think differently and to develop the courage to take risks - in turn building resilience.
Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a springboard and a catalyst, we encourage students to tackle and solve multidimensional issues through research-rich skills development and both reverse and peer-mentorship.
Mentorship
Mentoring sessions are a cornerstone of our programme. LSE student and alumni founders and role models provide transformational guidance by sharing their expertise and experience, enabling students to navigate the challenges as they develop their ideas.
Core Curriculum:
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Bootcamp 1: Introduction to social enterprise models, design thinking principles, and the UN SDGs. Students identify a problem, map out stakeholders, and engage in a 'Founder Challenge' with LSE entrepreneurs
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Bootcamp 2: Deep dive into problem-solving using design thinking. Students brainstorm innovative solutions and evaluate their feasibility
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Bootcamp 3: Prototype testing and development. Students learn to communicate their ideas effectively and prepare a compelling pitch
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The Grand Finale - Demo Day: The programme culminates in a Demo Day, where students pitch their social enterprise ideas to a panel of LSE founders, staff, and industry experts. Awards and internships are given for outstanding presentations, innovative ideas, and impactful solutions
Our Innovation Experiences
These standalone offerings are interactive and designed to engage and develop essential skills, and include:
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Design Thinking: Learn to solve real-world problems through creative solutions and collaboration, using Design Thinking principles to envision and prototype innovative ideas.
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Negotiation Principles 101: Hone your skills through role-playing scenarios, such as the First Job Negotiation, to learn the art of negotiation in both personal and professional contexts.
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Team Building & Communication: These interactive sessions use games inspired by playground activities to enhance team building and communication skills, serving as effective icebreakers or collaborative exercises.
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The Psychology of Power: A workshop using a fantasy-based game to teach concepts of power dynamics and information asymmetry in an engaging and immersive way.
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Stereotypes and Biases: An interactive workshop that challenges dominant perspectives and biases, developing critical thinking through historical and contemporary examples like money and democracy.
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Design Your Career Like an Entrepreneur: This interactive workshop aims to equip students with an entrepreneurial mindset and toolkit to design meaningful and future-proof careers.
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Create Your Personal Theory of Change: Learn to apply the theory of change methodology to your life, helping you to identify passions and translate them into impactful careers.
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Become a Permissionless Apprentice: This session empowers students to bring their ideas to life by adopting a mindset of pursuing opportunities without waiting for permission.
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Futures Literacy 101: A mind-bending workshop that teaches students how to use the future to rethink the present, preparing them to plan and interact with societal complexities.
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Empathetic Leadership: An interactive session exploring the importance of empathy in leadership, using role-playing activities to develop and apply empathetic skills to real-world situations.
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Failure Fair: An intimate seminar where students share and learn from our mistakes, fostering leadership and resilience by removing the stigma from failure.
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Founder Challenge: Students collaborate with LSE alumni entrepreneurs to solve real business problems, gaining real-world problem-solving skills and entrepreneurial insights.
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The DIY Panel: An interactive panel discussion with LSE alumni entrepreneurs, where students explore various topics and gain perspectives on entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship.
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Building a Resilient Professional Identity: A panel discussion that guides students on navigating careers in a rapidly changing world, whether they have specific goals or are generalists.
Impact
Our impact is measured using research and tools co-created with LSE’s Department of Finance. Students and teachers report significant benefits, including enhanced collaboration, innovative teamwork approaches, and practical problem-solving skills, as well as confidence about the future, and enthusiasm to make positive change.
Testimonials
Students and educators have praised the programme for its engaging content and transformative impact:
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"I truly believe this scheme has taught me so much about social enterprise and has inspired me to make a social impact while being a creative entrepreneur." - Year 12 Student
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"The programme was brilliant – the sessions were so well thought out, and the students' confidence grew with every session. How lucky they were to have worked with the fantastic minds of the experts you lined up for them." - Head of Careers
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"I enjoyed solving a problem relevant to my own life." - Year 12 Student .
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“We were privileged to see how much care and attention our mentor gave the students, in such a positive way and how he devoted such a huge amount of business advice to their endeavours.” Head of Economics
Get Involved
Join us in shaping the future by participating in the LSE Generate Schools Programme. Contact us to learn more about how your school can benefit from our innovative workshops and mentorship opportunities, or click here.
Ready to inspire and empower your students? Interested in mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs and changemakers? Contact us for more information.