MRU Changemakers

Anitopisi students and Catamount Fellows learning to set up Blackfoot lodge. PHOTO: Cordelia Snowdon-Lawley  

MRU is part of a global network of 42 designated Ashoka U Changemaker Campuses, recognized for our commitment to excellence in social innovation education. At MRU we empower our students to become engaged citizens by co-creating knowledge and equipping them with the skills, confidence, and networks, to tacklecomplex social problems. At MRU, we believe that everyone is a Changemaker. 

A Changemaker Campus operates in socially and environmentally conscious ways to address local and global challenges.The designation recognizes investment in the continuous development of individuals who see the value of higher education in making the world a better place.

The designation resulted from an extensive selection process that included a 360-degree campus scan, a site visit and three 70-minute panel interviews. It marks the culmination of a broader MRU Changemaker Campus initiative that began in 2015 with the development of the Changemaker Campus Roadmap. 

Launched in 2008, Ashoka offers the Changemaker Campus designation
to leading institutions in social innovation education.
These institutions share the vision for higher education to become the
next global driver of social change by transforming the educational experience
into a world-changing experience.

Changemakers are students, faculty, staff, administration, and alumni from any background, from any discipline, and from any political leaning who are working to address local and global challenges.

Changemakers have a deep sense of empathy, are self-aware, approach their work with humility, are committed to the common good, engage in deep listening, and act boldly to create inclusive, resilient communities.

The Changemaker Campus Initiative is amplifying MRU's capacity for changemaking. We are working together across disciplines and departments to foster an environment that supports all of us to engage in changemaking. Through our teaching, learning, research, scholarship, physical spaces, mentorship, and connections to one another, we are inspired and empowered to create meaningful change in partnership with community.

Trico Changemakers Studio
The Trico Changemakers Studio is a co-working, collaboration and learning space at the intersection of campus and community.

The institute teaches the next generation of changemakers by offering a high impact immersive learning experience with a focus on community offered research opportunities. This is supported by cohort-based Catamount Fellowship. 

Changemakers are growing as entrepreneurs and launching ventures through curricular and co-curricular programs that provide formal learning, mentorship, funding and access to a thriving community.

Changemakers from across disciplines are learning about the complex and profound nature of the challenges we face locally and globally, and how we can engage with these challenges effectively.

IES since its inception was a facilitator for research on sustainability. By reaching out across disciplines and strengthening partnerships with organizations and industry, IES strived for change in environmental stability. IES winded down operations in 2023 after a decade of being a champion of sustainability research at Mount Royal.  

Changemakers are creating a sustainable university through energy renewal, conscientious land use, waste reduction, and stewardship of green spaces.

The hub is a gathering place where students can learn more about sustainable development goals and help work toward the 2030 agenda. 

Changemakers are sharing experiences, engaging in dialogue, and creating connections across cultures.

Changemakers are deepening their cultural awareness and understanding through mentorship, connections with Elders and knowledge keepers, and other forms of cultural support.

The office aims to create a lens through which students can understand what decolonization and indigenization is. By doing so, the office desires to create an educational experience free from misinformation. 

The office works to uphold EDI and anti-racism principles at the university and implements practices, policies, and programs that support those goals. 

Changemakers are preventing relationship violence through a research-based program designed and facilitated by students for students.