Last fall the Center for Business, Heath, and Prosperity launched Prosperity Scholars, a new transformative co-curricular program for students to advance learning and engagement in prosperity science and practice. We sat down with Liesel Madrian, President of Prosperity Scholars, to learn more about activities for the fall semester and plans for spring 2023. Liesel is in her 4th year at the University of Utah double-majoring in Health, Society and Policy and Psychology.
What is a Prosperity Scholar?
Liesel described Prosperity Scholars as a student group that is open to students from all majors and looking for students who are interested making an impact in their own community and beyond. Liesel remarked/stated, “It’s a place where students can meet new friends, network, learn about disparities in communities, engage in hands-on projects, and explore new ideas.” She described the group as “a family for students at the U – a community and place where you are doing impactful work”. The program also provides mentorship and advising on majors, potential careers, and internships. It is also a great resource for students to learn and apply new ideas outside of the classroom.
Fall Activities
During fall semester, the group was busy planning and recruiting members. One of their biggest accomplishments is gathering an incredibly talented group of core students with similar interests from diverse majors and fields of study. Madrian noted the group has set up a solid structure with numerous committees to keep everything operational and provide leadership opportunities for members. They also hosted a retreat in Park City to get to know each other, work to plan the structures and activities, and, of course, have some fun away from campus.
Spring and Beyond
Madrian stated, “One of our biggest initiatives is to partner with the team working on the West Valley Community Health Center to assist in creating a report about the community it will serve. We are excited to gain real-world experience in exploring the health disparity issues West Valley experiences. The contributions will be meaningful and will contribute to the University’s project.” Professor Stephen C. Alder, Executive Director of the Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity and faculty advisor for Prosperity Scholars has been in contact with the West Valley Community Health Center team to connect the group to ensure the scholars are providing the most helpful information.
Another project the scholar group will be focusing on is providing feedback for student space in the Impact and Prosperity Epicenter building which is currently under construction. Madrian notes, this is an opportunity for students to give feedback on something in real-time that will be impactful to future students.
Map the System is the other big initiative the group is engaged in. Last year, the University of Utah sent its first team to the University of Oxford’s global competition that asks student groups to use systems thinking to analyze some of the most complex problems the world faces today. Madrian was a part of the team from last year and says, “It was a great networking and learning opportunity to engage with the community and professors at the U. We are taking advantage of this opportunity again with a team of 4-5 students.”
Join Us
Madrian invites all interested students to stop by one of the group’s regularly scheduled meetings on most Tuesdays of the month or reach out to the group’s coordinator, graduate student Laurel Peacock. A schedule for meetings can be found at Eccles.link/bhp on the calendar page.