By John Zebrowski

The new SOM curriculum is designed to support the integration of traditional business disciplines in order to create a learning experience that better prepares students for the problems facing management executives today. An important component to the new courses is the continuation of the school’s strong commitment to corporate social responsibility and environmental issues.

A study performed by a committee of staff, faculty, and students found that the level of social and environmental material presented to first-year students is greater under the new core curriculum than the traditional MBA coursework that preceded it. According to Julie Koo, executive director at Yale’s Program on Social Enterprise, the data from the study show that there is greater depth to the social content in the new core curriculum.

“In the past, there were a few courses that discussed these issues extensively, a great many that touched upon them, and a few that did not mention them at all,” she said. “In the new core, social and environmental issues have been integrated into the curriculum in a broader, deeper way. Rather than segregating discussion on these topics into one or two courses, they are discussed in depth throughout the core.”

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By Fawzia Ahmed, SOM’07

This year, I had the privilege of composing one of the school’s first social enterprise cases, on Achievement First (AF), a New Haven-based charter school management organization with schools in New Haven and New York.

My unexpected foray into case-writing began with an e-mail from Sharon Oster while I was a summer intern at AF, providing support to the organization’s leadership team on budget and strategic issues. In designing the capstone course for the new core curriculum, Integrated Leadership Perspectives, Professor Oster was including a module on nonprofit organizations. She had chosen Achievement First as her case, and wanted me to write it. Writing the case presented a great opportunity for me to probe deeper into a fascinating organization and to crystallize my thoughts on school reform issues, such as replicating high performing schools, political and funding challenges, and expansion that I had been thinking about all summer. My response to Prof. Oster’s e-mail was an enthusiastic yes.

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The class of 2008 embarked on internships in nonprofit management, corporate social responsibility, and nonprofit consulting.

	Chris Edell at the United Nations
	Amy Emerick at Teach for America
	Allyson Fish at Environmental Defense
	Abby Goward at Bank of America
	Katya Levitan-Reiner at Wellspring Consulting

Yale SOM offers many practical learning opportunities, as highlighted by Professor Sharon Oster in the last edition of the PSE Newsletter.

Highlighted here are three student projects with local nonprofits:

Farnam Neighborhood House by Kendra Lee, SOM’08
Christian Community Action by Sarah Rose Cohen, SOM’08
Visiting Nurse Services Health Care by Imani Brown

Executive MBA students, Chidi Achebe, M.D., M.P.H., David Esposito, M.D., Michael Giordano, M.D., and Jamie Sidore, worked with Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) Health Care, a non-profit organization that has been helping people in Connecticut live independently in their homes for over 100 years. VNA Health Care is focused on home care and wellness services. As Dave Esposito explained, “it was refreshing to work with a group that’s not so much concerned about profit, cash flow, and bottom line.”

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By Sarah Rose Cohen, SOM’08

Christian Community Action is an ecumenical social service organization that expresses faithful witness through providing emergency food, housing and support to those who are poor in New Haven, encouraging their efforts to attain self-sufficiency and working to change systems that perpetuate poverty and injustice. In 2003, CCA launched PIVOT, a job skills straining program that places ad funds members of their constituency into apprenticeships at New Haven companies, to help endow them with important job skills, and to launch them into stable job tracks.

For the past few years, CCA has been considering its options for establishing an earned-income venture (EIV). Such a project would enable CCA to provide some of PIVOT’s training apprenticeships in-house, and would provide the organization with a reliable, unrestricted source of cash flow (EIVs are currently a popular tool with many types of nonprofits because of this latter reason). The concept that emerged was Spirit Movers, a moving company that would serve the New Haven community, and would train and employ PIVOT participants.

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By Kendra Lee, SOM’08

Located in New Haven, Farnam Neighborhood House is a “home away from home” for many children in the community and provides recreational and educational facilities to children, teenagers, adults and families.

As a client of the Outreach program this year, FNH was interested in developing an alumni association and asked the Outreach team for assistance in getting the program started. The goal of the project was to create a sustainable program that would benefit the alumni and the children at Farnam. Once the Outreach team confirmed that it was feasible to develop an alumni association, they worked on a strategic plan to help Farnam create, market, and implement a variety of activities to start the program. On April 26, the Outreach team successfully presented their final ideas to the Executive Director and two board members of Farnam Neighborhood House.

Each year, the Community Service Club coordinates with FNH to help clean up Camp Farnam and get it ready for summer reopening. This was the (fourth or fifth) year that members of the club and SOM staff members trekked out to Durham, CT. April 27th was a rainy day, but students and staff successfully helped to clean cabins, recreation centers, and other camp spaces, ending the day with hot coffee and a barbeque lunch.

Read more about Farnam Neighborhood House.

We are pleased to introduce Kristen McKee, Senior Associate Director of Relationship Management in the SOM Career Development Office, to the PSE Newsletter community. Kristen joined the staff of the Career Development Office in January, and focuses on the nonprofit and government sectors, among others.

Prior to joining Yale SOM, Kristen served as a Senior Recruiting Associate for Cambridge Associates, an investment consulting firm that advises endowed nonprofit institutions. In another previous role, Kristen worked in the Organizational Development and Training department at Boston Medical Center, a nonprofit academic medical center. Kristen received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Providence College and her Master’s degree in Human Resource Education from Boston University.

Kristen is excited to build a bridge between SOM students dedicated to the nonprofit and government sectors and the employers seeking talent in this space. Says Kristen, “Working in the SOM Career Development Office is a great opportunity to connect two of my passions — helping nonprofits achieve their missions and helping promising students achieve their career objectives.” Nonprofits and government agencies interested in connecting with Yale SOM students should contact Kristen to discuss their recruting needs. Click here to learn how to contact Kristen.

Kristen takes over for Joanne Van Vlack, who has moved to a new role at the CDO as Associate Director, Analytics & Technology.

By Nadia Gomes, SOM’07

As Yale SOM’s new core curriculum ushers in a mandatory international experience, the stage appears set for the school to expand its name and social consciousness on an international level as well. The Global Social Enterprise Club has now mirrored this initiative successfully for the third year in a row.

This year’s spring break trip saw twenty-four enthusiastic SOM students visit Brazil for the on-site portion of their global pro bono consulting projects. Student backgrounds ranged from finance to technology to non-profit work, yet all participants shared the common goal of applying the skills gained through their MBA experience to the creation of social impact in a developing country. Brazil provided a fantastic base for this initiative, from its colorful culture to its welcoming people and potential client base. After a week of on-site project work, students had the memorable opportunity to tour the historic city of Salvador da Bahia and the Amazon location of Manaus.

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