Online registration is now open for the first-ever “Within Reach” conference, which will take place from April 12-15, and cover topics surrounding the elimination of world hunger from an interdisciplinary lens.
The completely virtual conference, titled, “Within Reach: Zero Hunger,” will be hosted by MU’s Brady and Anne Deaton Institute for University Leadership in International Development. The event is free for MU students with an exclusive discount code.
The conference will commence over Zoom at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, April 12, with opening remarks from Dr. Brady Deaton, MU chancellor emeritus and co-founder/director of the Deaton Institute.
“This is the first year that we, on our own, have developed a major [international development] conference like this,” Deaton said. “I give Summer LaRose, [Deaton Scholars program director], and Holly Enowski, [Deaton Institute director of strategic partnerships], all the credit for getting this thing going. We sat down and had a strategic planning session, and decided by golly, we could pull this off.”
Throughout the week, Deaton said that the conference will feature “a very exciting program” with distinguished keynote speakers and expert panelists such as Catherine Bertini, 2003 World Food Prize Laureate, and Ertharin Cousin, former director of the United Nations World Food Programme.
Other speakers include Roger Thurow, Chicago Council on Global Affairs fellow and former Wall Street Journal foreign correspondent, as well as Robert Bertram, chief scientist in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security.
Regarding student opportunities, Enowski said that upon registration, students will have the opportunity to submit their resume for personalized feedback.
There will also be a live student pitch competition on Monday, April 12, from 6 -7 p.m. for students worldwide to present projects and ideas for businesses and nonprofit organizations aimed at alleviating world hunger. Written proposals are due March 28, and finalists will be notified shortly after the deadline.
According to the submission form, “pitches should describe community program, social business, or new nonprofit concepts that break the mold, clearly moving the needle toward eliminating hunger.”
Winners of the competition will receive award packages and seed funding to help put their project ideas into action.
Research flash talks will allow students who have completed or are currently working on interdisciplinary research, to share their ideas at the conference. Topics can include but are not limited to: agriculture, public health, international development and humanitarian causes. Final abstract submissions are due by March 28.
Journalism students in particular are encouraged to apply by March 28 to be Within Reach: Zero Hunger conference Social Media Ambassadors. If accepted, they will create promotional content and digital coverage of the event. More details about the position, as well as the submission form, are available on the Deaton Institute website, under the Within Reach: Zero Hunger tab.
Networking sessions sponsored by The National Peace Corps Association and Universities Fighting World Hunger will give students a chance to gain insight into Peace Corps applications and participate in entry to mid-level professional networking.
“This conference is organized by students, for students,” Enowski said. “Every little aspect, every single detail, is put together with the end student in mind.”
According to the Deaton Institute’s website, student conference registration cost is $5, while other attendees pay $10. Enowski said that MU students can exclusively bypass payments and register for free, sponsored by MU with the discount code “2021MUWITHINREACH.” Even though the conference is free for MU students, registration is still required.
Deaton hopes students will walk away from the conference with new ideas and perspectives to put their ideas into action and make a difference.
“We hope they’ll go with a renewed sense of what higher education should be, and how it can contribute to making this world a more liveable and better place for all of us,” Deaton said.
For more information on the conference, visit: https://deaton-institute.missouri.edu/withinreach/
_Edited by Sophie Chappell | schappell@themaneater.com_
