Top 6 Takeaways from a Conversation with Social Impact Leaders

According to Maria Kim, '12, President and CEO of REDF, a Los Angeles nonprofit that invests in businesses focused on expanding job development programs for people striving to overcome serious employment barriers, “It’s a beast.” Nonprofit does not mean lighthearted or easy. In fact, nonprofits are ‘businesses that just happen to reinvest their funds in a different way.’

Starting a new social impact venture is challenging too, all the more while balancing personal commitments. According to Mairose Doss, '22, COO of Dawi Clinics in Cairo, Egypt, internal motivators help her find a way to make it all work. “Passion and determination that you want your company to succeed makes you really stretch yourself mentally and physically. Seeing your vision come to life and the impact it has on people just keeps fueling this.”

There is no hack to managing time or effort – it is hard work. “It was more of an agility test.” Determining which parts of your life need time and attention at each moment of each day requires conscious thought and proactive management.

2. Serving under-represented groups in developing or remote areas requires a different set of demands.

Frances Deram, '22, Head of Business Development & Operations for ESF Explore in Hong Kong, recommends that people interested in this type of work must be strong and be willing to do their best, knowing that they might not always get it right. Resilience is critical - and it takes hard, consistent work. “You will need to put in extra time and effort to cultivate not only language skills but also a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the people and culture around you. Be bold, as we say at Booth.”

3. An MBA can provide essential skills that support social impact work.

For Kim, Booth provided the quantitative skills necessary to ‘punch at the weight of a CEO’. Just as is the case for any business, evaluating opportunities for social impact ventures based on quantitative analysis helps provide objectivity and a rational framework for decision making.

4. The benefits of the Chicago Booth network transfer to the nonprofit arena.

The Booth network starts with classmates and extends beyond years and borders. Kim says, “When I hit obstacles, I reached out to the Executive in Residence alumni that participate in the program. I had multiple coaching sessions with them and these were amazing. I'd unpack everything I was going through and they would help me categorize. What's the next step? How should I think about things? It was an informal board of directors, if you will.”

5. Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation is a great resource for those interested in social innovation work.

The Rustandy Center is the destination at Chicago Booth for people interested in tackling complex social and environmental problems. According to Caroline Grossman, '03, Executive Director of the Rustandy Center, “We work with students in the EMBA program across all campuses to create opportunities that meet you on your social impact journey where you are.”

Students interested in starting a new venture can elect to participate in the Global New Venture Challenge, which is part of the Executive MBA program as a capstone course. The Rustandy Center staff provides coaching and support to students as they develop their social impact businesses.

In addition, the Rustandy Center curates a slate of Executives in Residence who are highly experienced alumni working across many areas of social impact from civic impact to clean energy to impact investing. These alumni share their expertise and spend time advising and consulting students on their journeys.

6. To get started in social impact it’s important to be persistent, demonstrate your passion and jump in.

According to Caroline, “A way to start is simply to jump in and try something.” Students at Booth have opportunities to volunteer in social impact through programs such as the Grow Movement Volunteer Consultant program. Grow Movement pairs Chicago Booth students with founders in East Africa and Asia to advise small businesses in the areas of finance, marketing and operations. 

According to Maria Kim, “We are not going to wake up every day excited to come to work. But there are these days that I am just super, super excited and satisfied with what I am doing. I’m optimistic about the future and that sort of gives me a big push for the days where I’m not.”