The work that comes before the work

Working on the future of the planet takes more than science and policy. It takes people who stay clear, steady and open while the ground keeps moving.

That capacity starts on the inside. Before anyone reshapes a system, they meet themselves.

Being the Change (CGF 194) is built for that moment. It comes from ASU's Rob Walton College of Global Futures, the same academic home as Conservation Futures Academy, and it works on the person doing the work before it touches any field.

Why does identity matter in conservation work?

Conservation and global-futures work asks a lot of the people who do it: long timelines, competing interests, results that take years to show. The people who carry that without burning out tend to share something. They know who they are, and they can widen that sense of self enough to work across deep differences.

The course starts from a simple claim. Identity, more than intelligence, decides whether a person builds others up or wears them down. A clear, wide sense of self is what lets someone lead through change instead of being knocked around by it.

What does the course cover?

Over 8 weeks, Being the Change moves through identity, purpose and five patterns of changemaking. You separate the roles you carry from the story you inherited and the person underneath. You look at how a narrow sense of self turns the world into us and them, and how a wider one makes room to create.

You finish with a clear, concrete sense of the purpose you want to live and the work you want to do. The field skills come later, from courses across the Academy. This one builds the foundation they stand on.

Who leads the course?

Being the Change is led by Mentor Dida, the global futurist in residence at the Rob Walton College of Global Futures. He came to the role after years at Ashoka, the global network of social entrepreneurs, where he led Youth Venture and scaled the Spiritual Changemakers Initiative worldwide, and he co-founded Changemaker Allies. He grew up in Kosovo, where he co-founded a nonprofit to expand opportunity at home. You work through the course as guided practice alongside a group of other changemakers.

Who is it for?

ASU serves people across the full learning arc, from career discovery to executive leadership. Being the Change fits earliest in that arc. For a student or early-career professional drawn to conservation and global futures, it is a strong place to start, well before any technical training.

Read the full story in the Universal Learner Courses newsroom or enroll in Being the Change (CGF 194)