We get this a lot, and this is mostly our own fault. Our definition of entrepreneurship is ever-changing, and thus, so is our org. Here’s our latest attempt at describing our "why" and introducing ourselves to you.
Spark is a family of students who organize events and initiatives to create entrepreneurial opportunities at USC. We see entrepreneurship as the pursuit of bringing any idea to life, whether it’s artistic, business-oriented, academic, or anything in between.
In building the ecosystem and platform for USC entrepreneurship, we’ve created a wide range of projects — from the first-ever student-led course at USC to an 8-week fashion design incubator. Spark has also run all-women hardware hackathons, several years’ worth of startup career fairs, and a startup accelerator.
How do the initiatives operate?
Each semester, Spark’s Board Members organize themselves into committees that handle its many rotating initiatives. Though we have some ongoing strongholds, like Founders and Project Launch, new initiatives emerge every semester as USC’s entrepreneurial ecosystem evolves.
Note: “Board Members” are defined as the students who’ve successfully passed through our application process and help build the umbrella org that is Spark.
Learn more about our current initiatives at: Our Initiatives
- 🎯 What does it mean to apply to Spark?
- 🫂 What does it mean to join Spark?
- 📜 Values we hold dear in Spark:
"At our core, we believe that any student of any background can create something great, whether they're an artist, an entrepreneur, or something completely new." — Abigail Africa (Sparklet F19)
Back in 2014, a small group of students realized that, at the time, no place or curriculum on campus taught anything about “groundwork, prototyping, or getting heads together and trying to make sh*t that you could test immediately.” There were a handful of folks who were in the know — but it felt silo and everyone was working independently in their own "secret garage." USC had no entrepreneurial presence. If there was, it was isolated.
There was no place on campus where interdisciplinary minds could collaborate and learn from one another, while also aiming to make an impact on campus.
🎯 What does it mean to apply to Spark?
You don't have to apply to Spark's board to participate in any of our initiatives. Participation in every Spark's event and initiative is open! Some of our initiatives involve some hard work and competition, though, like 1000 Pitches.
"Applying to Spark" means applying to be part of the leadership board that guides the student-led entrepreneurial environment at USC. We organize events, projects, and initiatives + work with administration to create entrepreneurial opportunities at USC.
🫂 What does it mean to join Spark?
We call new Spark members "Sparklets." During their first semester, Sparklets join two of the currently active committees and help actualize the team’s visions. Additionally, every new class of Sparklets participate in Spark Labs, an initiative aimed at giving them the personal and professional tools to grow, explore, and play.
When you join Spark, you become part of Spark's family. At the moment, that's roughly 40 USC undergraduates across a range of racial and cultural identities, majors, minors, personal interests, and professional goals. Spark's alumni live all over the world doing all sorts of things – building the future of the internet, solving climate change, helping humans remember better, and crafting the next generation of hardware.
While most of our alumni have founded startups or taken jobs in technology, Spark's interests have become increasingly diverse in the last few years – a trend that Spark's founding members had hoped to encourage with the mission to showcase the entrepreneurial spirit in all disciplines. Our next graduating classes include filmmakers, gerontologists, educators, politicians, writers, activists, artists – and maybe even you!
Although we come from very different backgrounds, we share several important things: a heart for our community, a love for our campus, a desire to learn from other people and individual senses of personal entrepreneurship. Most of all, we share a drive around our mission to make entrepreneurial opportunities available to all USC students.
Our mission is to foster entrepreneurial thought and action across communities of all backgrounds and interests within and beyond USC.
We also developed a list of values to help us shape the pursuit of our mission. An early influence in our values brainstorm was Patrick Lencioni, an expert on teams who frequently writes for HBR. He explained that "values can set an organization apart by clarifying its identity and serving as a rallying point for members." Here are some values we hold dear in Spark:
📜 Values we hold dear in Spark:
- The mission is paramount. Our mission is the reason we do everything. We need to constantly interrogate our actions — “How does this serve our mission?”
- Everyone is a founder. Anyone can start anything. The founder's energy is about ownership of, agency over, vision for, and responsibility for an idea.
- We’re not corporate. We’re just a group of young people at the end of the day, so our processes can grow and shift flexibly as our vision changes and as USC changes.
- But don’t forget about opportunities for personal growth. Sometimes, it’s best to let someone learn and grow instead of doing the job for them. Our commitment to our own members’ chance to grow and learn is what makes it possible for us to serve our mission and improve as an organization.
- Spark is your Spark. Every member has an equal stake in Spark. If you think that the org should move in a specific direction, the chance to lead the change is always yours to take.
- We’re a family. Getting vulnerable allows you to have deep relationships with others. No matter what you need — homework buddies, a place to stay, a hot meal, or a person to confide in — you’ll find it in Spark.
- Fellowship takes work. Building the family can look effortless, but sometimes it requires persistence, consistent outreach, patience — even forgiveness. And it’s always worth it.
- Intention sits at the heart of all action. Always ask for context before jumping to a conclusion about how decisions were made. This helps increase communication and trust in Spark.
- An electric sense of purpose unites us. In all things, it’s important to remind each other why we do things — whether that’s for the mission, for USC, or for each other.
As we mentioned at the very beginning of this post, we mentioned that every semester in Spark looks a little different. The most accurate way to identify Spark is with our mission—not the consistency of our work from semester to semester. We know this might create some ambiguity around what Spark will shape up to be each semester, but we keep it that way on purpose. It helps us stay flexible, creative, and ambitious.