At Ross:
+Impact Studio Winter All-Campus Open House
Fri, Jan. 17 @ 2 – 4 pm
RSB, 2nd Floor Executive Residence
The campus community is invited to visit B+I’s campus hub for design and impact, +Impact Studio. It is a collaboration space and fosters community for those passionate about designing for impact. The +Impact Studio located on the second floor with entrance through Blau Hall at 700 East University. Drop by and see the space, take part in some fun creative activities, and invite your friends! Snacks will be provided.
Eight MBC – Seigle Impact Track Teams Advance
Congratulations to these social entrepreneurs for moving on to Round Two of this competition, taking place on Fri, Jan. 24!
- Apply-U is a student-centered, user-friendly college admissions platform that ensures that every student persists throu the college admissions process and life-changing outcomes.
- For Dearborn is a multimedia platform that holds the mic to Arab and/or Muslim youth (ages 13-21) from Dearborn as they challenge the national narrative on Arabs/Muslims and discuss issues prevalent in the community.
- HalalFin is providing Islamic compliant financial tools to a wider market through the use of FinTech.
- HBCU-DAP provides resources, mentorship, and support for HBCU students on their journey to a doctorate degree.
- hEARt Listens is a socially engaged business that offers two complementary products: a training program that instructs students in emotional support skills and qualifies them has “hEARt supporters,” and a peer support chat platform upon which these supporters can anonymously connect with students seeking an empathetic ear.
- Lillian Augusta‘s biodegradable hair will revolutionize the $2.5B black hair care industry by providing a sustainable solution to the low quality and detrimental synthetic hair products currently on the market.
- Puente is a tech nonprofit that builds software to streamline date collection and analysis in international health.
- Revolin Sports is revolutionizing the sporting goods industry by creating high-performance, sustainable sporting goods for better play and a better planet.
The MBC – Seigle Impact Track is sponsored by the Mark and Robin Seigle Entrepreneurial Innovation Fund and co-managed by Business+Impact at Michigan Ross, the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, and the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies.
Use Design Thinking for Impact
Register now for the new graduate +Impact Studio, selected as a 2019 Poets & Quants “Most Interesting Class.” Taught by Ross professor Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, this 4.5 credit design thinking course will teach practical work skills in ethnography, ecosystem mapping, ideation, prototyping, and business model design, addressing two challenges:
- How might research insights and fintech address student debt burdens, financial inclusion and poverty alleviation, especially amongst the underserved? (UN SDGs #1 and #8: No Poverty, Decent Work and Economic Growth)
- How might water systems and other infrastructure be improved to better serve communities? (UN SDG #6: Clean Water and Sanitation)
To learn more, check out these resources:
Ross Event Highlights:
CPO: #OptOffCampus Lunch + Networking
Fri, Jan. 17 @ 11 am – 1 pm
Pizza House, Ann Arbor
ZLI: Internships Information Session
Wed, Jan 22 @ 5-6 pm
Ross, R0220
Sanger: Leadership Crisis Challenge (MBA)
Thurs, Jan. 30 @ 4:30-10 pm
Ross School of Business
Calling Future Open Road Fellows
Application Due
Mon, Jan. 27 @ Midnight
Open Road is an action-based entrepreneurship program developed by Ross students that gives small business owners extra hands in solving complex challenges. Ross sponsors teams of MBAs who trek across the United States during the month of May to take on projects with social entrepreneurs.
Apply for this program, if you are an MBA, at the application link below. Open Road @ Ross is a student club powered by Ford and supported by B+I.
Make an Impact with Your Internship
Round One Application Open
Apply by Fri, Feb. 14
Business+Impact’s Summer Fund awards competitive grants to Ross and Ford masters students and BBA juniors. Students completing internships in the nonprofit, public, or private sectors may apply if the organization has a clearly defined social mission. This year there will be two deadlines to apply: Friday, Feb. 14 and Friday, April 17.
Info and Application
One-Third Of Michigan Ross Full-Time MBA Class Of 2020 Donates To The Give-A-Day Fund, Receives $10,000 Match On Giving Blueday
During the University of Michigan’s Giving Blueday, the student-run Give-A-Day Fund at the Ross School of Business received thousands of dollars in donations from nearly 100 students, faculty, and staff, which unlocked a $10,000 matching grant from an anonymous donor.
So far in 2019, more than one-third of the Michigan Ross Full-Time MBA Class of 2020 have donated to the Give-A-Day Fund, which supports full-time MBA impact interns with funding from their fellow students.
Read More
Impact News & Notes
- The new face of climate activism is young, angry — and effective
- Companies don’t need permission from the Business Roundtable to be better corporate citizens
- A Water Crisis In Newark, A Lead Problem Echoing Flint
- Dishonest Behavior Damages the Ability to Read Other People’s Emotions
- Our Deepest Values Must Address Climate Change
- Six Members of Michigan Ross’ Full-Time MBA Class of 2021 Featured As ‘Real Humans’ By Clear Admit
- Michigan Ross Launches Women’s Empowerment Scholarship to Champion the Next Generation of the GCC’s Business Leaders
- Students Use Faculty Research To Develop Real-World Applications For Reducing Inequality At The +Impact Studio at Ross
- One Year Master’s Students Rase Awareness, Funds for an Inclusive Community Play Structure
- Program helps U-M students grow through community service
- The Detroit Labor Market: Recent Trends, Current Realities
- Detroit Economic Mobility Policy Fellows Use U-M Support to Tackle City’s Pressing Issues
- Poverty is a Story About Us, Not Them
- Erb Special Feature: Sustainability in Detroit
- Exploring Fintech’s Potential For Impacting Society Through The 2019 FinTech Challenge At Michigan Ross
At the University:

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
Social Work Course to Examine Intersection of Religion, Ethics and Poverty
Register for SW796, Section 003
Winter 2020 Term
Poverty and wealth have long been a concern of the world’s religions, and challenging question for ethicists. This course examines the shape that this concern takes in a variety of religious traditions and ethical systems throughout history and in the present day. Taught by SSW professor Trevor Bechtel, this course is offered Tuesday nights Jan. 14 to Feb. 11.
More Info
Enrollment Petition for non-SSW students
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN EdX
Effective Community Engagement Course
Register at Any Time
Now more than ever, people are seeking ways to affect change in their communities — both locally and around the world. This course is for anyone — from novices to experienced practitioners — who wants to work more effectively with community members and organizations, Prepare in advance or take this course simultaneously to get the most out of your experience by engaging with communities ethically, respectfully, and sustainably.
More Info


U-M RACKHAM GRADUATE SCHOOL
Two Graduate Student Summer Travel Fellowships
Application Deadline
Fri, Jan 31 @ 11:59 pm
These fellowship awards provide financial and logistical support of $5,500 to fellowships focused broadly on addressing, evaluating or improving global labor standards and monitoring. Two fellowships will be awarded. The University of Michigan President’s Advisory Committee on Labor Standards and Human Rights (PACLSHR) helps support fellowships that contribute to the University’s effort to improve international labor standards.
More Info
In the Impact Community:
MBAs Invited to Volunteer for Tax Aid Groups
Accounting Aid Society of Detroit
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance of Washtenaw County
Accounting Aid Society is a volunteer income tax assistance program that’s been successfully offering tax and financial services to taxpayers and small businesses in Detroit and southeast Michigan for the past 45 years. Qualified students can serve as Volunteer Tax Preparers or run a Low Income Tax Clinic (LITC)
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance of Washtenaw County provides free tax preparation to low-income individuals and families. Volunteers can serve as Intake & Exit Specialists, Tax Preparers, or Quality Reviewers.


MBArk 2 Boulder Conference
Jan. 2-4, 2020
Boulder, CO
MBArk2Boulder is an exciting new event that debuted in 2019, in between academic semesters, hosted by the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business. It features presentations by many of the legendary leaders of the natural and organic foods industry and Leeds faculty, as well as workshops, a food sampling fair, a job fair, and fun networking activities – all nestled in the living food laboratory and winter wonderland that is Boulder, Colorado.
U-M community invited to join Equity Challenge
January 6-26
Washtenaw County
United Way of Washtenaw County (UWWC) has a vision that by 2030 your zip code will no longer determine your opportunity in life. At present in Washtenaw County, it does. We have work to do and invite you to join the conversation to be part of the change and lend your power to fuel a social movement. Join United Way on a virtual self-guided learning journey examining the history and impacts of racism and how it shapes people’s lived experience in Washtenaw County. Along the way, you’ll also receive examples and tools on how to undo racism and build racial equity and justice.


Applications being accepted for Cordes Fellowships
Application Deadline:
Thurs, Jan. 30
If you are an exceptional social entrepreneur or nonprofit leader engaged in building sustainable solutions to poverty and injustice globally, the Cordes Fellowship provides an opportunity to participate as a full Delegate at the Opportunity Collaboration in Cancun, Mexico in October. The purpose of the Cordes Fellowship is to open doors, minds and networks for emerging social entrepreneurs and nonprofit executives; enrich OC with new, emerging leaders; and infuse OC discussions with a diversity of perspectives.
Info and Application