University of Michigan
Stephen M. Ross School of Business
700 E. University St., K3510 West
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234
Phone 734.763.4214
Email businessimpact@umich.edu
© 2021 Regents of the University of Michigan
Welcome new and returning students! We hope your summer was empowering and invigorating, because we have a lot of opportunities coming up for you. As part of our mission to make students aware of impact opportunities across campus, we welcome students to our 6th annual Business+Impact Showcase at Ross. Students will have a chance to meet with over 30 organizations and map out their U-M impact journeys. The event will also feature a “Mission & Mocktails Room,” and other fun, engaging activities.
The +Impact Studio at the Ross School of Business is a campus hub for impact creators and innovators. Launched within the Business+Impact Initiative in 2019, our mission is to bring impactful ideas to life using business knowledge, design tools, and research expertise. The +Impact Studio encompasses a collaboration space, an interdisciplinary graduate course, a design lab for impact-focused ventures and projects, and workshops and events. Our model activates the vast expertise and research insights from across campus to support the development and launch of powerful, impactful concepts.
180 Degrees Consulting is the world’s largest consultancy focusing on social enterprises, nonprofits, and international focused Fortune 500 companies. We provide organizations around the world with high quality and affordable consulting services. 180DC works with organizations to develop innovative, practical, and sustainable solutions for the challenges they face.
At the 180DC Michigan branch, we are driven by a passion to help these organizations solve unique challenges so they can make the greatest social impact in their respective communities. Our members share a common goal of taking part in consulting work that is not only challenging, but meaningful and rewarding. Finally, more than a student organization, we are a family that spends time together through a variety of social events throughout the year.
We accept applicants at the beginning of both Fall and Winter semesters. To learn more about joining, please visit our website!
Michigan Ross seeks to build a better world through business. Business+Impact is the central hub for these efforts, providing ideas and solutions to address the global challenges of our generation. We aim to embed impact deeply into every core activity of Ross, including teaching, research, and outreach. As such, impact is not a silo, but an integral part of the DNA of our business school.
Ross already has a strong reputation for impact, with centers and institutes focused on worldwide challenges, and one fifth of incoming students expressing an interest in impact careers. But as we go forward, in addition to our existing programs and Impact Gateway, we will pursue the creation of a new +Impact Studio for coworking, a social innovation series to disseminate impact research, and deeper engagement with Detroit.
Business+Tech
is building a stronger and more connected tech community at U-M and beyond. We generate innovative context to expand tech literacy and curate action-based learning opportunities to advance tech competency. Open to students from all schools/colleges, our programs incorporate competitions, panels, speakers, and networking events that support those looking to pivot into tech or start a career at a tech company. Interested in learning more? Email Emilee Studley, Business+Tech Program Manager at studleem@umich.edu.
The Center for Positive Organizations is the leading global center for the science of designing and sustaining thriving organizations. Located in the Ross School of Business, we are the launchpad for those looking to build thriving organizations and careers. We offer world-class curriculum, learning experiences, and programs that lead to work filled with meaning and positive contributions. Our students gain the knowledge, tools, and resources to change the business world for the better. We are a Center of visionaries and revolutionaries.
To learn more about our student programs, visit the Students section on our website by selecting “Students” from the “Learn” dropdown menu.
We are the UM student chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. CCL is a nonprofit, grassroots-focused international organization. Its mission is to create the political will to pass climate policies, such as the Carbon Fee and Dividend, which we see as the best first-step to solving climate change. (Read more about the national organization and its policy proposals here.)
The goal of our student chapter is to create the political will on campus for climate change solutions. We accomplish this through grassroots outreach, education, partnerships, media, and lobbying. Our approach to advocacy centers around nonpartisanship, respect, and pragmatism.
Ultimately, we use these advocacy efforts to build positive relationships with our elected officials so that we can move the needle on climate action at all governmental levels.
As a member of this student group, you can be part of the solution to climate change while gaining experience as a politically active citizen.
Find more resources and sign up for our mailing list here.
The Community Case Competition (formerly known as the Community Consulting Club) is one of the Ross School of Business’s most unique and popular student clubs.
Each year, CCC oversees 5 to 10 consulting projects involving UM students to utilize their business acumen to help local social enterprises and non-profit organizations address challenges such as strategic planning, marketing, operations, financial management, and human resources.
Teams of- 4-6 students from different backgrounds will work through a 10-week engagement for their nonprofit partner. Students will gain invaluable experience working together to understand the client’s problem, define the scope of the project, conduct research and analysis, and generate valuable recommendations while local non-profits receive expert business advice that they otherwise would be unable to afford.
The CCC provides a unique combination of training and education, practical consulting experience, and the opportunity to make an impact on the local community.
Club Benefits:
Contact information:
Slack channel: #ccc-2023
Email: communitycc@umich.edu
The Design + Business (D+B) Club is a Ross student organization focused on education, practical application, and career development in design thinking fields. The mission of D+B is to provide a multidisciplinary community for graduate students interested in using design methodologies to lead organizations and facilitate innovation.
Launched by Ross School of Business MBA students in 2010, the Detroit Initiative at Ross connects University of Michigan students with Detroit’s vibrant and evolving business landscape. Through on- and off-campus events, an annual Impact Conference, student-run consulting projects, and a mentoring program, DIR promotes the city’s assets and encourages University of Michigan students to experience, engage with, and commit to the revitalization of the Motor City.
The Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project is a university-wide program that connects neighborhood-based Detroit businesses with University of Michigan faculty-supervised student teams from 7 U-M schools to help students learn critical consulting skills while providing minority-owned businesses with free legal, financial, marketing, operational, design, and technology services. Through semester-long courses, an internship program, and year-round programs, we give students a chance to apply and grow their skills while supporting business owners’ visions for their communities.
The Energy Club at Ross (ECR) is a group of University of Michigan students who share an interest in energy. ECR promotes career development by providing a forum for education about all aspects of business in the energy sector. ECR offers opportunities for students to discuss and learn about subjects such as Solar, Wind, Utilities, Energy Finance, Energy Consulting, Sustainability, Energy Efficiency, Energy Policy, Cleantech, Energy Storage, EV Charging Infrastructure, and Transmission within both traditional and renewable energy sectors. Members receive counseling on career paths, access to career treks, opportunities to participate in consulting projects and VC fellowships, access to energy talks and panels, and additional opportunities to meet with a variety of energy companies seeking to recruit top MBA, BBA, and other University of Michigan graduate students. Click here to join.
The Erb Institute is a partnership between the Ross School of Business and the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) at the University of Michigan. The institute’s mission is to create a socially and environmentally sustainable world through the power of business. We do that through research, teaching and business engagement—all focused on preparing and supporting bold business leaders who can adeptly transform companies, industries and entire economies for systemic sustainability.
The institute was founded 25 years ago as a dual-degree program in which graduate students receive their MBA from Ross and their MS from SEAS. In 2020, the institute expanded its educational programming to undergraduate students with the creation of the Erb Undergraduate Fellows program. Today, the institute has grown to include scholarly and applied research on business sustainability, as well as direct business engagement to turn ideas into action through on-the-ground projects with companies, social enterprises and nonprofits committed to business sustainability.
The Ginsberg Center is a community and civic engagement center with a mission to cultivate and steward equitable partnerships between communities and the University of Michigan in order to advance social change for the public good. Based upon this mission, our vision is for inclusive democracy; thriving, diverse communities; and equity and social justice.
Since 2006, the Graham Sustainability Institute has worked to mobilize the passion of scholars, partners, and decision-makers, bringing world-class research to real-world sustainability challenges. Today, with a focus on climate change and water resources, we continue to facilitate engaged research, develop sustainability leaders, and inform policy and practice. Our emphasis on interdisciplinary, cross-sector partnerships leads to well-informed solutions that are practical, measurable, and widely applicable.
Graham’s Dow Distinguished Awards Competition provides student research funding of up to $30,000 over one calendar year for interdisciplinary graduate student teams to pursue applied solutions to sustainability challenges at the local, national, or global level.
The Graham Sustainability Scholars Program is a competitive sustainability leadership development program open to U-M undergraduates. Graham Scholars learn to incorporate sustainability into the campus, their lifestyle, their discipline, and the broader community through rich co-curricular experiences that include managing an interdisciplinary sustainability project with a local organization, honing leadership, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, and completing a sustainability-focused summer field experience.
Graham will be accepting applications for both programs soon! Please contact ahaddad@umich.edu for details.
Socially Engaged Design is human(ity) centered – not just user centered. We consider broad contexts through an equity-centered lens that impact the practice of engineering, including social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental factors that can completely change the design of solutions. Further, we push designers to analyze how their own identities and cultural context shape their approach. The Center for Socially Engaged Design provides students the necessary space and tools to think more critically about design. Whether you’re currently in a course, working solo, or on a co-curricular team — or you have an idea you’d like to explore, C-SED can help.
A club dedicated to ESG education, students have the ability to connect with professionals working in impact-related fields and those who use ESG metrics in their daily work. This club organizes a symposium which hosts these professionals at the Michigan campus to facilitate meaningful conversations regarding the role businesses can play in combating climate change and also progressing the use of ESG reporting.
Bio on maize pages: The Michigan Impact Investing Symposium provides Ross School of Business, School of Public Policy, Program in the Environment, and all other interested undergraduate students at the University of Michigan a space to learn about impact investing and the career opportunities that exist within it. For the past 2 years, we have put on a symposium featuring industry leaders to speak on panels, hold coffee chats, and provide other networking opportunities throughout the event. This year, in addition to the symposium, we aim to hold biweekly educational meetings to inform and empower our general members during the Fall 2023 semester.
Net Impact @ Ross
is a professional club and community for Ross students committed to driving social change. We are part of a broader international network of business leaders committed to responsible business models, policies and practices. Net Impact members seek to integrate this commitment into the mission, values, strategy and operations of organizations in which they are involved.
Planet Blue represents U-M’s deep commitment to sustainability in education, research, and operations. Together, we are advancing a universitywide culture of sustainability.
optiMize is a student-led community that offers workshops, mentorship, and funding for students to work on projects that make a positive impact. optiMize is open to all U-M students, regardless of college or campus. Get involved at optimizemi.org!
Poverty Solutions
is a university-wide presidential initiative at the University of Michigan that partners with communities and policymakers to find new ways to prevent and alleviate poverty through action-based research. In confronting the challenges of poverty, we know scholars don’t have all the answers. Yet we have an important role to play. We can bring data, evidence, and analysis to identify critical issues and evidence-based solutions. Working in partnership, we can inform concrete action that empowers families to live healthy and productive lives.
The Law School launched the Problem Solving Initiative (PSI) in Winter 2017.
What Kinds of Class Challenges do Students Work on?
Students in PSI classes:
PSI classes:
What is the format of PSI Classes?
Who Should Take a PSI Class?
Students should consider taking a PSI class if they:
The Program in the Environment (PitE) offers both a broad liberal arts education in environmental topics and the opportunity for students to pursue various lines of individual interest in considerable depth. Broadly speaking, PitE’s curriculum focuses on the complex interactions of human beings and their environment. To understand these interactions and learn how to create more rational and equitable forms of human habitation on this planet, PitE students develop a multidisciplinary perspective integrating the methods and approaches of the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
Situated within the nation’s top public research university, the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) has been a pioneer in environmental education, research, and activism for more than a century.
SEAS offers the nation’s most integrated and comprehensive environmental education for graduate students. Equity and justice are at the core of all that we teach, and all that we do, at SEAS. We recognize that mainstream environmentalism has its roots in racist ideologies and practices, which have caused irrevocable harm to Black, marginalized, Indigenous, and underrepresented peoples. Taking a holistic approach, we foster partnerships, initiatives, and projects that tap into the vanguard expertise of faculty across campus.
Project RISHI (Rural India Social & Health Improvement) is a nonprofit organization aiming to
promote the sustainable development and growth of rural Indian communities. We work with
Indian communities to identify and address pertinent issues impacting quality of life. Through
extensive field research (on the ground in India) and on-campus initiatives, we are able to
support our community partners. If you are interested in joining Project RISHI at the University
of Michigan, please find more information about our specific projects and application process on
our website. We’re excited to hear from you!
Propel’
s mission is to educate students at the University of Michigan on the intersection between positive business and social impact; and to work alongside local organizations, developing initiatives to maximuze their impact.
The Career Development Office (CDO) at Michigan Ross is charged with delivering world-best career services to its students. CDO partners with recruiters, academic programs, alumni, and clubs to help Ross students prepare for recruiting, develop connections, and leverage the power of the Michigan alumni network. Dedicated CDO Career Coaches are available to support students explore careers with impact and help them navigate and strategize for the internship and job search.
The mission of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Michigan Ross is to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive Ross community. We work to fulfill this mission through direct engagement with Ross faculty, staff and students and partnerships across the University of Michigan and beyond.
Launched in September 2009 by a group of MBA students, the SVF invests in and supports innovative companies that place social impact at the heart of their business model. SVF fosters the growth of enterprises responding to societal needs that traditional markets have insufficiently addressed. As the first student-run social venture fund in the country, SVF provides an unparalleled action-based learning experience, which places equal importance on maximizing financial returns and socially/environmentally-driven venture investing and entrepreneurship. The fund is housed within the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Ross School of Business.
SVF invests in early-stage (Seed, Bridge, or Series A), for-profit enterprises within four circles: Climate, Community Development, Education, Health.
The Student Sustainability Coalition (SSC) promotes a sustainable campus culture at the University of Michigan by bringing people together to achieve social and environmental change. SSC is not a club or member organization—rather, we are a small group of students who work closely with the Graham Sustainability Institute, the Office of Campus Sustainability, Student Life, and the many student organizations across campus to advance sustainability. We are here to build connections, foster new partnerships, and amplify initiatives.
The Detroit Partnership
seeks to connect the students at the University of Michigan with Detroit-based community partners by facilitating service-learning opportunities and on-campus events. Beginning in 2018, The Detroit Partnership is now a student organization sponsored by the Ginsberg Center at the University of Michigan. Additionally, The Detroit Partnership is a government registered 501(c)(3) organization.
Our organization has two main service parts, our weekly programs and our major events. For weekly programs, we organize transportation for students to travel to Detroit once per week. Programs can range from tutoring children to teaching squash to helping adults get identification to apply to jobs! We have a program for everyone’s interests and aim to foster sustainable, educational relationships with our community partners. Our fall programs are now open!
For major events, we organize the largest single day of service at the University of Michigan. Detroit Partnership Day, also known as “DP Day,” occurs in late March or early April in second semester and brings hundreds of students and their respective clubs to Detroit to volunteer for a day. Additionally, we help put on “One Stop Shop” where we hold fundraisers to purchase toys and winter clothing for families in Detroit. While a member of the community shops, we help hold bags and guide them through the many sections of the store created inside of a Brightmoor church. Our internal planning team also participates in RCDC Day where we work on community revitalization projects such as weeding and gardening for one day.
The University of Michigan Detroit Center (UMDC) provides a visible symbol of our 200-year relationship with the City of Detroit. Conveniently located in the heart of the city’s cultural center on Woodward Avenue, the Center is a gateway for University and urban communities to mutually enrich each other through service, education, research, and cultural exchange.
The University of Michigan Solar Car Team is an entirely student-run organization that designs, builds, and races solar electric vehicles. Since its establishment in 1989, the team has built 17 vehicles, won the American Solar Challenge nine times, placed in the top three in the World Solar Challenge seven times, and won one international competition. The team is recognized as the most successful team in North America, and one of the most successful teams in the world. We accept all years and majors with no experience required, and have three non-engineering divisions where members can make an impact. The Business Division is responsible for fundraising, budgeting, and sourcing. They also work to develop and maintain sponsor relations with corporations around the world, large and small. The Operations Division works to ensure the team has the materials and resources required to build a cutting-edge electric vehicle. The Communications Division handles marketing, public relations, and produces media dedicated to generating interest in our team, solar racing, and renewable energy technologies.
At the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, unlocking the power of business to provide lasting economic and social prosperity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is in our DNA. We gather the data, develop new models, test concepts and collaborate with partners to find real solutions that lead to new opportunities. This is what we mean by Solving for Business—our calling since the Institute was first founded as an independent nonprofit educational organization in 1992. We believe societies that empower individuals with the tools and skills to excel in business, in turn generate both economic growth and social freedom—or the agency necessary for people to thrive.
The Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at Michigan Ross advances the knowledge and practice of entrepreneurship and innovation through academics, competitions, symposium, and global community outreach. The Zell Lurie Institute is the foremost resource for students as they pursue entrepreneurial endeavors and private equity careers.
University of Michigan
Stephen M. Ross School of Business
700 E. University St., K3510 West
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234
Phone 734.763.4214
Email businessimpact@umich.edu
© 2021 Regents of the University of Michigan