The Carey Projects is an initiative created to honour the memory, celebrate the vision, and continue the work of Carey Davis, a Munk One alumna.
Carey believed in taking concrete, practical, and local actions to make real impacts on some of the world’s most daunting problems. Following Munk One’s commitment to learning by doing, since 2020 the Carey Projects has funded small teams of undergraduate students as they take their ideas beyond the classroom.
Big ideas, real impact
We are made by and surrounded with information. Narratives string together facts, and make the work that compels us compelling to others. They make sense of the overwhelmingly steady stream of good news, bad news, failures, and successes. The Carey Projects are interventions that tell stories. They make impacts, but they also make examples.
Modeled on the Sustainable Development Goal Intervention from MUN 105, once a year student teams research and develop a project proposal for a panel of experts. One proposal is then selected to be funded for a year-long pilot phase, during which time the student team works together with a mentor to bring their ideas into the world. In the spirit of highlighting the kinds of work that Carey would have done and valued herself, we aim to elevate:
- Unconventional Thinking: The changes the world needs require us to challenge reigning assumptions;
- Passion: Fall in love with the work. Know your problem deeply. Feel the significance and the excitement of working toward something;
- Practicality: Big ideas are necessary, and so too are the identifiable steps that take us from here to change. The goal is to make impacts that are self-sustaining at a scale that can be seen and felt;
- Persistence: Making a difference means we have to dare to fail, to try again, and to fail again. Problem solving is an iterated process;
- Humility: Problem-solving is also a collective process. The Carey Projects work with people, not for them nor at them. Interventions need to arise from the ground-up, in constant conversation with the stakeholder communities they aim to benefit.
Do great work, tell the world
We are made by and surrounded with information. Narratives string together facts, and make the work that compels us compelling to others. They make sense of the overwhelmingly steady stream of good news, bad news, failures, and successes. The Carey Projects are interventions that tell stories. They make impacts, but they also make examples.