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2005
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By Kate Greene
What percentage of this year's incoming class is interested in social enterprise?
There isn't an easy way to sort out the interests of students. We do know that we put 20% of the admitted applicants into contact with the Net Impact club, and that 20% of enrolled students are also interested in Net Impact activities. Of course, Net Impact covers a wide range of interests from socially responsible business to nonprofit and public management.
How do you evaluate prospective students without a "brand name" company or organization on his or her resume, which is often the case for people coming from non-traditional business careers, such as nonprofit?
A brand name does help us to evaluate a candidate, no matter which sector he or she may come from. We still have many applicants, however, that have worked at small organizations. As part of the screening process, we still ask for hard copy letters of recommendation on letterhead to make sure that these applicants come from legitimate firms.
I also know a lot about the nonprofit sector. Prior to SOM, I worked for an executive search firm that only had nonprofit clients, so I know more than the household names in this sector. We make admissions decisions as a team because each member brings a different perspective and range of experience to the table.
I noticed that SOM has been recruiting at the Idealist fairs this year. What has changed in recruiting?
Last year we went to one Idealist fair. We got a lot of traffic at our table, and it was inexpensive for us to attend. This year we're going to the Idealist fairs at all the major cities. What's nice is that we're together with the other Yale schools, like the Law School, the Divinity School, and the Forestry School (FES). Plus we can plan other travel around the fairs. We used to have more of a New York focus, but now we want to increase our presence across the country.
We're also starting to get undergrads interested in applying to SOM. The admissions office is one of the sponsors of the "Starting Bloc" conference at Yale. "Starting Bloc" is roughly the undergraduate equivalent of Net Impact. Even though these students may not apply to business school for a few years, we think it's valuable for them to see what it's about. The best way to recruit students is to bring them on campus.
Has anything changed as a result of the new leadership of Joel Podolny?
We're getting positive feedback from prospective students about the new dean. They're responding to the ads in the Wall Street Journal and different interviews with him. The admissions office is certainly energized by this.
What about interest in social enterprise among joint-degree and executive students?
The SOM-FES joint-degree appeals to individuals in the social enterprise sector, and we have seen a huge growth in this program over the last five to ten years. This year the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation awarded a $1.5 million grant for scholarships for joint SOM-FES students. Also, a lot of the students in the executive program are interested in health care policy - they want to help resolve the nation's health care crisis.
Established at Yale in 1982, the three-year program awards master's degrees in both business administration and environmental management and prepares students to work in the increasingly interconnected realms of business and environment by combining training in environmental science with traditional leadership and management skills.
The grant will fund tuitions, fees, stipends, and summer environmental fellowships for six joint-degree students. Students who receive the scholarships will commit to working in the biodiversity conservation field in Latin America following graduation. It will also fund a visiting professorship at Yale for scholars and practitioners working in the Andes/Amazon region.
According to Professor Garry Brewer, creator of the original joint-degree program and currently Director of the Environment Management Center, "The students and faculty who benefit from this grant will create an even greater benefit in the biodiversity conservation efforts in the Andes/Amazon region and throughout Latin America."
Other benefits are already evident and flowing - especially toward the large and growing needs of improving organization effectiveness in non-governmental (NGO) and non-profit conservation and environmental organizations. A brand new "Organization Effectiveness" seminar that focuses on these types of organizations began in September 2005 and is already drawing a large and enthusiastic following. This seminar draws on Yale's long-standing interest in and commitment to the "third sector," but in this case it shines light on its increasingly important international and environmental aspects.
Website: http://emc.som.yale.edu/
Bright Horizons was selected by Fortune magazine in January 2005 for the 6th time as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For in America". Bright Horizons was one of five corporate recipients of the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership presented by President Bill Clinton.
Ms. Mason also co-founded Horizons for Homeless Children, a Boston-based organization that serves the needs of homeless children throughout the Boston area and the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children which serves children in need across the country.
Prior to Bright Horizons, Ms. Mason managed large-scale refugee relief operations overseas. She served as co-country director of Save the Children's emergency program in Sudan, serving 400,000 famine and war victims. She also directed a large feeding program for children in Cambodian refugee camps along the Thai border. She co-authored the book, Rice, Rivalry, and Politics (University of Notre Dame Press), which analyzes the relief operation in Cambodia, based on her experiences there. Ms. Mason has worked as a business consultant for Booz, Allen, and Hamilton in New York and Paris.
She is a graduate of the Yale School of Management, Cornell University, and the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. She is the 1996 recipient of the Ernst & Young/USA Today "National Entrepreneur of the Year", one of Business Week's 1997 "Best Entrepreneurs," and one of Working Mother Magazine's 1998 "25 most influential working mothers in America."
Ms. Mason is the author of The Working Mother's Guide to Life, published in November 2002 by Random House. Ms. Mason serves on the boards of The Boston Globe, Whole Foods Market, Mercy Corps International, an emergency relief and development agency, and the Massachusetts State Department of Early Care and Education. She chairs the Yale School of Management Advisory Board, and is a trustee of Yale University.
After Dean Podolny welcomed participants and guests, Will Ginsberg, the CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, started the day with opening remarks. Ginsberg noted some changes and challenges that foundations would face in the 21st century, such as tightening standards of accountability driven by Sarbanes-Oxley, along with possible revisions to the tax code which might make philanthropy less attractive to potential donors. While acknowledging that these changes seem unlikely, Ginsberg reminded attendees of the political and legal environment in which philanthropy will always operate within inside the U.S.
The morning's panels ranged over a wide array of topics including: an introduction to philanthropy, new models of venture philanthropy, international giving, and corporate philanthropy. Over lunch, attendees had the opportunity to enjoy more informal conversations with speakers in small groups, and the room was filled with the buzz of over a dozen enthusiastic conversations.
After lunch, Prof. Sharon Oster introduced Bill Drayton, the founder of Ashoka, who gave an inspiring and thought-provoking challenge. Drayton laid out the severity of the inequities facing us as a global society, including a chart showing that the bottom half of the world population (in terms of income) currently controls less than 5% of the resources. Social entrepreneurs, Drayton affirmed, have innovative solutions to close this gap, and provide critical resources to those in need. The task that Drayton set for the audience of future business and philanthropic leaders is to find effective ways to get resources to these individuals in much more cost effective ways, developing new financial instruments and institutions for this purpose.
After another breakout session of panels, the conference concluded with a closing speech from Sally Osberg, the President and CEO of the Skoll Foundation. Created by E-Bay founding president Jeff Skoll, the Foundation brings the same energy, drive, and innovation to philanthropy that its founder did to the online marketplace. Sally Osberg challenged the assembled students and philanthropists with the assertion that we are the future of philanthropy, and the time to take leadership is now. It was a stirring conclusion to a day of new ideas, lively debate, and renewed focus for registrants and speakers alike.
The Future of Philanthropy was sponsored by the Yale School of Management's Program on Social Enterprise through a generous gift from an anonymous donor, the SOM Steering Committee, and by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. Additional support was provided by the Graduate and Professional Student Senate, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy and the SOMAA. In-kind support was generously provided by La Piazza, the Courtyard by Marriott at Yale, Judies European Bakery, Hull’s University Art Supply & Framing, Nica's Market, Balducci's, Koffee, Too?, Moka, and AlphaGraphics.
For more information, please visit http://students.som.yale.edu/clubs/bottomline/philanthropy
Program on Social Enterprise Hosts "Entrepreneurial Solutions to Child Welfare Challenges" Conference
On October 25th and 26th, over 70 leaders from the child welfare, business, and academic fields gathered on the SOM campus to learn and collaborate at the "Entrepreneurial Solutions to Child Welfare Challenges" Conference.
Hosted by the Yale School of Management's Program on Social Enterprise in partnership with Stewards of Changeª (led by alumnus Daniel Stein, SOM '87) and the New America Foundation (led by Mary Bissell, Yale College '90), the conference was an unprecedented event: it marked the first time such a diverse group of stakeholders (including judges, corporate leaders, policy gurus, foundation directors, professors and both public and private non-profit child welfare leaders) gathered together to work on creative solutions to long-standing problems in foster care and related family services.
Specifically, the focus of the conference was to explore how greater innovation and business sector involvement could be used to solve challenges in the child welfare field.
Key issues that surfaced during the two days of discussion included:
- How child welfare organizations and businesses can form successful, mutually beneficial and long-lasting public-private partnerships
- The ways in which privatization can or cannot be used to improve services for children and families
- The critical impact that businesses can have on reducing the risk of abuse and neglect by implementing family-friendly business policies, including but not limited to emergency leave, maternity/paternity leave, health care, child-care, psychological health, substance abuse recovery, or other policies
- The need for prevention-focused solutions in addition to (or instead of) foster care-focused solutions
- The possibility of improving program effectiveness by utilizing traditionally private sector marketing and quality-management techniques
- The need for improved management training for leaders in the child welfare field, and
- The extent to which innovation can or should be pursued in a social services field constrained by legal decisions, nationally fragmented policies, and high risk aversion.
"By bringing these various groups together, the conference opened up a productive dialogue regarding how we can best leverage business capabilities in order improve the lives of children and families," shared Mackey, who also helped to plan the conference. "I was really excited to be a part of what hopefully will be just the start of significant progress in the field."
Funding for the conference was generously provided by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Casey Family Programs.
How much do you really desire a designer handbag or an exclusive watch but feel guilty purchasing it? Maybe you should donate to the United Way or spend a weekend building homes with Habitat for Humanity. According to a new research study, "Licensing Effect in Consumer Choice," consumers who act or feel altruistic are more likely to subsequently splurge on luxury goods.
The study, conducted by Ravi Dhar, Director of the Yale Center for Customer Insights and Professor of Marketing at the Yale School of Management, and Uzma Khan, Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Marketing Research.
According to the study, this phenomenon called the "licensing effect" illustrates that by engaging in - or merely expressing a preference for - a virtuous behavior creates a positive self-concept that acts as a license to purchase a luxury or a more indulgent product. The boost in self-concept helps offset the pang of guilt and negative self-attributions consumers often feel when buying expensive or frivolous items. It becomes easier to justify the purchase of a luxury good after the performance of a charitable act.
"Consumers are often looking to justify their choices," said Dhar. "Performing a charitable act makes you think, 'I am a good and helpful person.' That positive self-concept is enough to liberate you from the guilt and responsibility associated with choosing a luxury like designer jeans over a necessity like a vacuum cleaner."
The marketing of luxury goods has changed over time depending on the social climate. The "I'm worth it" approach was followed by the "heirloom" approach of passing the expensive item onto children. Currently marketers of luxury products frame the purchase as a necessity in an attempt to reduce consumers' negative feelings.
Dhar and Khan's findings suggest that another way to reduce resistance is to highlight other decisions consumers make that are likely to boost their self-concept. The marketing implications are even greater for online and catalog retailers who can control the sequence of events customers go through leading up to a purchase. "Providing customers with the opportunity to perform licensing acts before browsing might increase the likelihood of purchase," said Dhar. "For online retailers, this can be as simple as offering a list of charitable causes a customer can donate to."
Not all charitable acts produce this effect. In fact, Dhar and Khan found that the licensing effect does not work if the virtuous behavior is externally motivated. For example, performing community service as a penalty for a driving violation does not increase consumers' willingness to buy luxury goods.
The Yale Center for Customer Insights at the Yale School of Management is a research center that studies the behavior of customers and marketplace dynamics. The Center welcomes inquiries from organizations interested in research partnership and sponsorship opportunities. For more information contact Eugenia.hayes@yale.edu.
By Alicia T. Johnson
On September 22, 2005, over ninety students participated in SOM's annual Meet the Other Firms program. The purpose of the event is to provide an opportunity to share internship experiences and career possibilities in social impact focused positions and organizations.
The four-hour event was organized by SOM's Net Impact Club with the support of the Career Development Office. It featured both formal panels and informal networking opportunities in which second years shared their experiences with one another and first year students.
The evening was particularly helpful for first-year students such as Lizzy Repass. "Second-year students applied their MBA skills in such diverse sectors. It was wonderful to hear how they are making a difference in fields that are not as common for MBA students to enter."
Student panelists represented a diverse group of public, private, and non-profit organizations in both domestic and international settings. Panel topics included the Arts, Community Development, Corporate Social Responsibility, Education, Environment, Healthcare, International Development, Philanthropy, and Socially Responsible Investing. Within these topic areas students held positions in finance, investment management, consulting, and marketing. Some employers included Nike, The United Way, TechnoServe GE Capital, and the World Health Organization.
Panels were shaped as small group discussions. They provided an honest exchange of questions and answers around issues such as internship quality, contacts made during job searches, and insight into how the experience fit within future career plans.
According to one first-year participant, the panels provided "frank answers to questions that I've been waiting to ask, but with everyone's busy schedule haven't yet had the opportunity. It was also a great way to identify second years with similar interests to mine."
Throughout the evening, volunteers from the Class of 2006 also staffed industry and sector specific tables to answers questions about job searches, and career experiences in a one-on-one setting.
In observing the networking room, Sara Eisenstat '06 noted "Second years are having just as much fun hearing about their peers' experiences as the first years are - maybe more."
The Net Impact Club would like to express our sincere thanks to the many first and second-year students who made this evening such as success. We would also like to thank the alumni who helped many of us to obtain such fabulous internships!
SOM's Most Recent Graduates Connect Business and Society!
"CHF's Management Associates Program prepares associates for leadership
roles in our field offices by rotating through various departments at
our headquarters. Yale SOM gave me a solid focus in general management
that serves me well in my new role. It will continue to do so as I transition
abroad."
-Eric Guetschoff, Class of 2005
Here is a sampling of where some of the Class of 2005 have accepted positions
with non-profit or socially responsible organizations:
Nonprofit Sector
- Peter Ammon, Yale University Investments Office
- Andon Baltakov, Strategic Planning, Associated Press
- Siddhartha Chowdri, Managing Director, ACCION International, Bangalore, India
- Josh Chuang, Assistant to the Director, Yale University Art Gallery
- Phoebe Cummings, Baton Rouge General Hospital
- Eric Guetschoff, Management Associate, CHF International
- Hannah Blitzer, Community Development Analyst, Citibank
- Joyce D'Addio, Sr. Marketing Manager, Upromise
- Lee Green, Associate, Redstone Strategy Group
- Brooke Patterson, Consultant (Government), IBM Global Services
- Jeffrey Possick, Assistant Vice President, GE Energy Financial Services
- Danielle Bosquet, Analyst, Government Accountability Office
- James Fergusson, Investment Officer, International Finance Corporation, Environmental Finance
- Heather Fernandez, Business Associate, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Erica Navarro, Program Examiner, Office of Management & Budget
- Lillian Wasvary, Foreign Affairs Officer, U.S. State Department
By Caroline Tsai '06 and Barry Wynn '06
For children suffering from the chronic implications associated with renal failure, cancer, diabetes, burns, and/or trauma, life appears to bring one obstacle after another. For the unfortunate whose parents cannot afford constant medical care, supervision and a sterilized environment, the likelihood of overcoming chronic illness is minimal at best. For the fortunate who are relegated to a daily routine of dialysis or the uncertainty surrounding an organ transplant, hope is often a hard thing to muster. It is amidst these challenges that the Marang House was founded in 1998 by Dr. Pieter Ernst, to provide medical care in a non-institutional environment to sick children in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In March 2005, the Yale SOM Global Social Enterprise Club brought 27 students to Johannesburg to engage in pro bono consulting projects with over a dozen NGOs, including the Marang House. We worked with Director Joan Swanepoel to enhance and develop funding strategies. During our time there, the children of the Marang House endeared themselves to their American visitors. In particular, they wrote us colorful letters describing their future aspirations once they overcame their current predicament. They confided in us about the challenges they faced at school and how they missed their families. And they bombarded us with questions about American pop culture ("Have you met Usher? Do you watch Days of Our Lives?"). We left feeling optimistic that any philanthropist who encountered our funding proposal would happily contribute to an organization with such an extraordinary mission and special group of people.
Sadly, only two weeks after the SOM visit, one of the youngest residents at the Marang House, 8-year old Tshepo Lebajoa passed away due to a brain hemorrhage. In an instant, we felt the impact of the reality that the Marang House faces every day Ð that these children are combating life-threatening illnesses that have no compassion for youth or innocence.
A few months later, the Marang House was dealt its harshest blow. On July 29, Dr. Pieter Ernst, the founding physician of Marang House, was shot and killed in a senseless robbery. In an emergency meeting, the Marang House Board agreed that they needed to buy the House, currently owned by the Ernst family trust, and to make every effort to keep its doors open. Since the tragedy, the Marang House has been striving to drastically escalate its fundraising efforts to maintain long-term sustainability.
GSE is committed to helping raise awareness about the Marang House. For more information, please visit the GSE website or email us at:
Website: http://students.som.yale.edu/clubs/gse/marang
Email: gse@som.yale.edu