August 2025 Newsletter
Golub Capital Nonprofit Board Fellows Program Info Sessions
Make an impact and hone your skills through an action-based leadership experience! Golub Capital Nonprofit Board Fellows are U-M graduate students of all disciplines who serve on a nonprofit board while leading a strategic project and building community with other mission-driven leaders. Interested students should register for one of the following information sessions to learn more about the Board Fellows Program and receive application information. Applications will be due Friday, Sep. 5th at noon.
You must attend an info session below in order to apply to the program for 2025-26:
Meet Impact Centers & Student Clubs from Across Campus at the B+I Showcase
Thurs, Sept. 4 @ 11 am – 1 pm
Ross School of Business
Sixth Floor, Tauber Colloquium
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 8th annual Business+Impact Showcase at Ross. U-M students will have a chance to meet with over 30 organizations and map out their impact journeys. The event will also feature other fun, engaging activities.
Build a Venture in the Impact Studio Incubator – Applications Open
Apply by
Fri, Sept. 5 @ Noon ET
Calling all current U-M students! Do you have an idea for a venture that you want to bring to life? Want to explore the entrepreneur’s journey from concept to scale? If so, we want you! Come join our vibrant collaborative community in the Impact Studio incubator. We partner with BCG, Ann Arbor SPARK, and other ecosystem partners to provide mentorship and resources for students to launch their impactful ideas.
The Impact Studio Founders Program helps impact-driven creators and innovators bring impactful ideas to life that build a sustainable and just world for all! Using business knowledge, design tools, and research expertise, our experienced and interdisciplinary coaches and fellows roll up their sleeves and work alongside founders to accomplish great things.
Applebaum Impact Design Fellows are part of an interdisciplinary cohort working to support the Impact Studio Founders Program & prototype studio concepts.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT BOTH PROGRAMS
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Impact Internship Stories from Around the World
This year, Business+Impact’s Summer Fund financially supported the summer impact internships and experiences of 27 U-M students. We’re proud of what we’ve made possible through the years for summer interns interested in working with social impact and sustainability companies.
Cara Clay (MPP ’26), Divyam Tiwari (MBA ’26), and Addison Richmond (BBA ’28) have worked at social impact organizations this summer, all around the world! We caught up with them at the places they’re working for an interview and photos.
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Thurs, Aug. 28 @ 4:30-6:30 pm
Casa Dominick’s
812 Monroe St., Ann Arbor
Business+Impact is excited to welcome all MBAs to a kickoff Happy Hour at Dominicks, celebrating the beginning of the academic year and renewing friendships while refreshing ourselves. New and returning MBAs interested in impact are invited to gather at this special event featuring sangria, sponsored by Business+Impact.
Attendance limited.
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Impact Tabling Events Where You Can Meet Us!
Business+Impact will be taking part in a number of tabling events during the next month where you can meet us and find out more about our programs and our mission:
- Incoming BBA Tabling Event
- UMSI Employment and Networking Fair – Thurs, Aug. 28, 11am – 1 pm
- B+I MBA Impact Happy hour – Thurs, Aug. 28 4:30-6:30 @ Dominick’s
- Taubman College Welcome Picnic
- B+I Showcase – Thurs, Sept. 4 @ 11am – 1 pm @ Tauber Colloquium
- UMSI Cross-School Resource Fair – Tues, Sept. 9, Noon – 1:30 pm
- Social Work Resource Fair
- Earthfest – Tues, Sept 30 10am – 2 pm @ The Diag
- One Year Masters Open House – Thurs, Oct. 9, 4 – 6 pm
- Virtual Centers & Institutes at Ross FTMBA Event – Thurs, Oct. 16, 3 pm
Featured Fall ’25 Impact Courses Across U-M
Are you still looking to round out your class schedule for Fall ’25? You can still add or change courses during the next month. See our highlights of the best impact courses offered in Fall ’25. Feverishly researched, our listing points you in the right direction for impact at Michigan Ross, and across campus. Courses in social impact and sustainability, as well as social justice and world issues are shown. A complete list of Fall ’25 impact courses is in our Impact Roadmap.
Work with a Detroit Small Business
Business+Impact’s Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project (DNEP) matches students enrolled in 11 different U-M courses with Detroit local businesses as part of its Motor City Multipliers program. View the catalog of classes students can enroll in — or workshops open to all — on our website.
Ross Events
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| Ross: Reaching Out MBA’s Prospective MBA Summit Wed, Aug. 20 @ 11:30 am – 6 pm Zoom |
Weiser: Real Estate Conference 2025 Fri, Sept 12 @ 9 am – 5:30 pm Ross School of Business |
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SPOTLIGHT
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Joi James (MBA ’23) of finding joiThis month, we are shining the light on finding joi, a holistic wellness service curating psychologically and physically safe spaces for Black womxn and femmes. finding joi’s founder Joi James (MBA ’23) is committed to destigmatizing conversations about mental health in institutional spaces. Joi has supported leading private foundations, academic & research institutions, and city government systems to develop explicit strategies that center social/racial justice through the lens of mental health and well-being. |
Map Your U-M Journey with the Impact Roadmap
The Business+Impact Impact Roadmap (UMImpactRoadmap.com) provides you with a single location for all social impact on the U-M campus. Here you’ll find all of the events, courses, people, and key partners working to use their learning to make a real impact in the world.
At the University:
UROP
Become a Community Partner
Community-engaged research activities through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) are in the spirit of the U-M’s mission. UROP invites nonprofit and governmental organizations serving communities within proximity to the U-M Ann Arbor including Detroit, Ypsilanti and Washtenaw County to propose projects involving research or creative activities for undergraduate students that will help the organization with its work to benefit a local community.
MICHIGAN HOUSING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Diversity & Inclusion Resource Fairs
Fri, Aug. 22 @ 2 – 4 pm
603 E. Madison, Ann Arbor
Transitioning into a new community can be a big step, and we at Michigan Housing are here to help! The Housing Diversity and Inclusion Resource Fairs are a great opportunity to start meeting other students or ask questions about life at Michigan. Come meet your community’s Diversity Peer Educators, explore multicultural resources, opportunities for involvement, and have some ice cream and snacks!
LSA
Interrogating the How and Why of Contemporary Workplace Discrimination
Wed, Aug. 27 @ 1:30 – 3 pm
R2230 Ross School of Business
Drawing on a current book project and nearly 1,000 workplace discrimination cases across 8 U.S. states, Vincent Roscigno highlights in this talk how contemporary race and gender vulnerabilities to discrimination are tied to ongoing legal loopholes—loopholes that confer leverage to employers—and how culturally resonant notions of the “ideal” worker continue to be activated in important, discriminatory ways, often using seemingly neutral bureaucratic standards.
OFFICE OF CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY
People + Planet: U-M Climate Resilience Roundtable
Fri, Aug. 29 @ 9 am – 12:30 pm
Matthaei Botanical Gardens
Climate resiliency is the ability to prepare for, and adapt to, the future. What does a good future look like for our shared ecosystem and for each of us as Wolverines? Join U-M sustainability practitioners, researchers, and the Matthaei Botanical Gardens for talks from experts and an interactive resilience planning activity.
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SPECTRUM CENTER
Pride Outside
Sun, Aug. 31 @ 2 – 4:30 pm
Ingalls Mall
A major part of Welcome to Michigan, Pride Outside is an annual welcome event for new and returning students of all genders and sexualities to celebrate the beginning of Fall semester. Join us on Ingalls Mall for lawn games, a drag show, shaved ice, t-shirt giveaways, resource tables, and more.
WILLIAM DAVIDSON INSTITUTE
Entrepreneurship Exchange
Applications are now open for the Entrepreneurship Exchange, a new virtual exchange program connecting undergraduate students from Michigan, Egypt, Libya and Morocco. Through this virtual certificate program, participants will gain practical experience in civic-minded entrepreneurship, working together over eight weeks to identify a challenge from one of their countries and work on a business solution to the issue.
In the Impact Community:
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Net Impact Community Innovation Challenge
The Community Innovation Challenge is seeking innovative ideas that leverage Cisco’s portfolio of products and services to drive both positive impact and the bottom line. This challenge invites students to explore the power of possibility by leveraging Cisco’s expertise in products and services to design a social impact program that addresses community needs and showcases how it can drive business outcomes for the company.
Certified Nonprofit Professional Track
A 6-month facilitator-led cohort designed to move social sector leaders to their next level of leadership. The cost of $1,800 includes tuition, all course materials, a complimentary ticket to Elevate – a virtual conference for social sector leaders, access to the learner profile portal, networking opportunities with a 12k-strong community, and a digital badge.
Detroit Month of Design
The 14th Annual Detroit Month of Design Festival is a citywide celebration of creativity that gathers designers and the greater community to celebrate Detroit’s role as a national and global design capital. Check out 175+ creatives, 80+ events, and meet 50,000 attendees in various Detroit neighborhoods throughout the month.
Board Brilliance
Thurs, Sept. 11 @ 9 – 11 am
NEW Center
1100 N. Main, Ann Arbor
Step into a transformative experience where board and staff members from all backgrounds come together to reimagine nonprofit governance for today’s challenges. During our time together, we’ll break down outdated structures and explore approaches that support resilience, shared decision making, and values-driven leadership.
Symposium on Public Policy for Nonprofits
Fri, Sept. 12 @ 1 – 4:30 pm ET
Virtual
The Symposium on Public Policy for Nonprofits, convened annually by Independent Sector, the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA), and Nonprofit Policy Forum, is designed to bring together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to explore key questions and issues related to public policy affecting nonprofits and philanthropy.
Ele’s Place Healing Hearts 5K
Sun, Sept 14 @ 11 am
6300 Interfirst Dr., Ann Arbor
Help raise awareness of and support for grieving children, teens, and their families who are grieving in Ann Arbor, and the surrounding southeast Michigan area. Ele’s Place Ann Arbor families and the community are invited to participate in this family-friendly event to honor, celebrate and remember a special person who has died. This event is an opportunity to put “one foot in front of the other” to help fund our peer grief support programs and ensure they remain FREE OF CHARGE to all who are in need of our services today, tomorrow and always. So, grab your walking/running shoes AND join us for the Ele’s Place Ann Arbor Healing Hearts Family 5K Walk/Run