INVST marks 20th year with gala, workshops
Former INVST students working with a nonprofit organization in the Sangre de Cristo mountains.
Photo courtesy of INVSTFormer INVST students working with a nonprofit organization in the Sangre de Cristo mountains.
A fundraising gala will celebrate the 20th anniversary of INVST, a program that helps educate and inspire young people to choose service careers focusing on humanity and the environment.
The March 13 gala at the Hotel Boulderado in downtown Boulder will feature dining and dancing, along with keynote speaker Hunter Lovins, the co-author of "Natural Capitalism." Lovins has helped scores of industries and governments go green and was named Time Magazine's Hero of the Planet in 2000.
Seating is limited for the 6:30 p.m. to midnight event, which costs $100 per person. Guests must RSVP by Friday, March 5, by calling 303-492-7719 or by visitingwww.colorado.edu/communitystudies/gala.
That same afternoon, Skill-Share Workshops will allow alumni and community partners to teach one another about the expertise areas they have developed in their careers or fields. Nine different workshops will be offered from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Koelbel Business Building, Room 100, on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus. The free event includes lunch.
Several founders of INVST (International and National Voluntary Service Training) founders will conduct workshops:
- Gaia Mika, former CU psychologist and instructor, will be offering a workshop on eco-psychology.
- Â Jim Scarrit, retired professor and former INVST director, will present on how faculty can integrate students who come from various levels of experience in leadership, social justice and political inequality issues in the same classroom conversations.
- Jim Downton, retired professor, will present a workshop on creativity.
- Scott Myers-Lipton, who earned his Ph.D. at CU-Boulder and helped create INVST, will discuss his work involving students at San Jose State University in grassroots organizing and advocacy for people who are poor.
Friday, March 12 events include a community service project and reunions, while the Sunday, March 14, plans include a group hike and vision meeting.