{"id":46965,"date":"2026-05-12T10:49:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/?p=46965"},"modified":"2026-05-12T10:49:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:49:20","slug":"investing-in-what-matters-sagrado-students-turn-the-classroom-into-a-philanthropic-boardroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/investing-in-what-matters-sagrado-students-turn-the-classroom-into-a-philanthropic-boardroom\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cInvesting in What Matters\u201d: Sagrado Students Turn the Classroom into a Philanthropic Boardroom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The academic initiative promotes experiential learning through community investment, leadership, and social responsibility.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos by the Communications Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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By Institutional Communications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What began as an elective course became a transformative experience for a group of six students at the Universidad del Sagrado Coraz\u00f3n, who spent a semester serving as a philanthropic board to award $56,500 in grants to nonprofit organizations in Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the course \u201cSocial Change: Philanthropy Lab<\/a>,\u201d offered through the School of Business and led by Professor Anitza Cox Marrero, students evaluated proposals, analyzed social needs, and made real community investment decisions. The process culminated in a symbolic grant presentation ceremony held at the TV1 studio in the Ferr\u00e9 Rangel School of Communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the event, students announced the allocation of $28,500 to Hogar Ruth and $28,000 to Happy Foundation, organizations selected after the students identified domestic violence and the wellbeing of older adults as priority focus areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hogar Ruth<\/a> provides protection, guidance, and support services to survivors of domestic violence and their children. The funded initiatives include the Emergency Shelter Program, which offers 24\/7 safe housing for women survivors of domestic violence and their children, and Mariposa Montessori, a trauma-informed educational program that provides psychological services, daily meals, and enrichment activities for survivors\u2019 children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Happy Foundation<\/a> supports the wellbeing of older adults through social kitchen initiatives, community farming, and infrastructure improvements in elderly care homes. The selected proposals aim to increase weekly meal distribution, expand services to more than 350 seniors, broaden dignity-centered interventions in underserved homes, and open and operate a second community farm in Morovis to increase agricultural production for rural communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Students Joseph Cruz and Ignacio Rodr\u00edguez share the proposals that were chosen from both nonprofits.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Stephen Su\u00e1rez Otero and Camila Rivera Vega present the board members and their way of working.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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For Stephen Su\u00e1rez Otero, a Business Development student and treasurer of the student board, the experience reshaped his understanding of leadership and service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never planned to take a class like this, but it changed my life. It awakened a sensitivity in me that I didn\u2019t have before, and now I want to help more people without expecting anything in return,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Camila Rivera Vega, an Interdisciplinary Communications student with concentrations in Business Development and Theater, said the course taught her that social impact is not tied to public recognition, but rather to a willingness to serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe course is about giving something tangible to someone who truly needs it. I learned that you don\u2019t need to be well known to make a difference,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Cox explained that the academic model is designed to help students learn through real experiences in community collaboration and decision-making. Since 2023, the course has directed nearly $240,000 to nonprofit organizations in Puerto Rico, including Caras con Causa, Centro In\u00e9s, Causa Local, Solo por Hoy, Vitrina Solidaria, and Ni\u00f1os de Nueva Esperanza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Professor Anitza Cox Marrero explains the course dynamic for “Social Change: Philanthropy Lab”.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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During the ceremony, Chief Development Officer Cassandra Vega highlighted that initiatives like this reflect an educational approach centered on developing socially conscious citizens committed to addressing the country\u2019s most pressing challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For her part, Sof\u00eda Mart\u00ednez \u00c1lvarez, Executive Director of Tit\u00edn Foundation, praised the students\u2019 commitment throughout the semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe celebrate students who stopped being observers and became protagonists. Students who made decisions based on criteria and data, but also with sensitivity. Puerto Rico needs leaders with social awareness who understand that philanthropy is not about giving away what is left over, but about investing in what matters,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This course is made possible through the collaboration of Tit\u00edn Foundation and Darjo Foundation. Sagrado is the only university in Puerto Rico and outside the continental United States to offer this philanthropic academic experience through a partnership with The Philanthropy Lab. Rooted in Sagrado\u2019s \u201clearning by doing\u201d philosophy, the course allows students to apply classroom knowledge to real-world challenges while developing leadership, empathy, and a commitment to social impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The academic initiative promotes experiential learning through community investment, leadership, and social responsibility. By Institutional Communications What began as an elective course became a transformative experience for a group of six students at the Universidad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":46951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5294,3676,3695],"tags":[5443,5442,3731,5365,5110],"class_list":["post-46965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics-affairs","category-business","category-featured","tag-philanthropy","tag-philanthropy-lab","tag-sagrado-en","tag-sagradoedu","tag-universidad-del-sagrado-corazon-3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46965"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46988,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46965\/revisions\/46988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}