Civic and Social Responsibility Essay

The Project, The Project Management Field, and the Community
Individuals have a civic responsibility. They have a duty to actively participate in actions and efforts that impact the community positively (Tennessee State University, n.d.). These include addressing societal problems, showing stewardship, questioning government policies, political advocacy, and so on. This is what civic engagement is all about. The Project, a collegiate competition organized by the Project Management Institute, Western Michigan Chapter (WMPMI), provides an ideal example of civic engagement. The project brought together teams of students from educational institutions to work on a real life business challenge with the help of team champions and professional project managers as mentors (WMPMI, 2017). Using actual or fictional companies, each team employed best practices to develop an executable project plan that would be judged by a panel of business leaders. The actual project selected for the competition was to plan for the process of applying for a B Corporation or B Corp certification. By bringing together a professional organization, colleges, and business leaders, the project had a positive impact on the project management field and the community. The institute provided an opportunity for students to enhance their project management knowledge, network with business leaders and professionals, and to learn about B Corp certification. The project was, therefore, of immense value to students.

Impact of the Competition

As mentioned earlier, civic engagement is about impacting the community is a positive way. Whether it is healthcare, education, or environmental conservation, every community has its own needs. The needs touch on different stakeholders within the community, including children, parents, families, students, businesses, and so forth. The Project addressed a crucial community need as it involved college students. As part of the community, college students require experiences that connect them to the real world. Out-of-class experiences help college students to relate the knowledge acquired in class with real world scenarios. Professionals and business leaders can play a crucial role in fulfilling this need. Through the competition, students got a chance to learn about project management as well as improve their communication skills, teamwork abilities, and professional profile. The project, therefore, can be viewed as an initiative of giving back to the community. With the coordination of WMPMI, executives, business leaders, and professionals came out to mentor college students in their professional journey. As Kelly Talsma (PMP, VP Education WMPMI) puts it, it is not every day that college students get an opportunity to have feedback from business leaders (WMPMI, 2017). For students, therefore, interacting directly with business leaders was a valuable experience -- a defining experience in their career life. The project positively affected the community by not only connecting students with professionals, but also…