When I entered Stern, I wanted to find a way to balance my business education with my interest in the social sector. After a lot of thought, I decided that I would focus my academic and professional efforts on traditional business while focusing the rest of my energy on socially-focused extracurricular activities. Luckily Stern offers a wide array of options for students interested in shaping their business education for a social mission:
Social Enterprise Association: I am a board member of the Social Enterprise Association (SEA), one of Stern’s largest student clubs. SEA is incredibly active on campus and offers students programming ranging from career development and networking opportunities to spring break treks and social events. SEA’s career development programming covers impact investing, corporate social responsibility, energy/sustainability, international development, social impact consulting, and education. SEA brings professionals in these industries to campus to share their experience and tips for recruiting. On the social side, SEA co-hosts Think Social, Drink Local with the Luxury-Retail Club. TSDL is part-fashion show, part-party, and part-fundraiser and is one of the best social events of the year.
One of my favorite SEA events is the annual NYU Social Innovation Symposium (SIS), a conference co-hosted by Stern, the Wagner School of Public Policy, and the School of Law. I am the chair of the SIS planning committee this year and am working with students from the three schools to plan the event. The conference highlights the potential of business, policy and law to create social change, and is attended by 300 business professionals, social enterprise practitioners, scholars, and students each year.
Board Fellows: I was looking forward to serving as a Board Fellow before I even applied to Stern. Board Fellows places second-year MBAs with a non-profit for the academic year. With the support of an advisor, students conduct a strategic project with the Board of Directors of the non-profit. I am working with one of my classmates to help a small non-profit expand and professionalize their board to support their growth and ambitious goals. Over the course of the year, we will be conducting a skills audit of their current board members, suggesting prototypes for new board members, and developing a recruitment and on-boarding process for new members. We meet each month with our advisor, who has over 15 years of experience in non-profit governance, to discuss our project. I would love to serve on the board of social enterprise after graduation so I’m hoping Board Fellows will be the perfect launching pad to board service.
I have found the social enterprise resources at Stern to be the perfect complement to my business training. As I mentioned in my first blog post, I also participated in the Stern Consulting Corps to help West Elm fulfill their Clinton Global Initiative Commitment. My classmates have also taken advantage of the Social Impact Internship Fund and the Social Innovation & Impact class offerings.