Michigan Ross Expands Storied Board Fellows Program with Support from Golub Capital
ANN ARBOR, May 29, 2025 – Business+Impact (B+I) at the Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business is pleased to announce a substantial expansion of its Board Fellows Program (BFP) supported by Golub Capital.
Business+Impact at Ross administers one of the first Board Fellows Programs in the U.S., founded in the late 1990s. As part of its BFP expansion, Business+Impact will design and launch dedicated board training and matching programs for alumni and elevate assessment data and storytelling to demonstrate large-scale impact.
“We launched the Golub Capital Nonprofit Board Fellows Network with the goal of accelerating progress across the nonprofit ecosystem by deepening the pool of impactful nonprofit board members,” said David Golub, President of Golub Capital. “With today’s announcement, we are proud to now sponsor Golub Capital Board Fellows Programs at 11 distinguished business schools. These programs will train hundreds, and soon thousands, of future nonprofit directors every year.”
Other schools supported with new funding from Golub Capital this year include the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin, the UCLA Anderson School of Management, and The University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Michigan Ross’ Board Fellows Program currently serves 60 students and 39 nonprofit organizations a year. During its entire 25-year history, it has placed roughly 800 UM students as non-voting members on the boards of approximately 300 regional nonprofits. As well as attending board meetings, students also complete a strategic project for the board of the nonprofit.
Haley Billey, Associate Director of Student and Community Engagement for Business+Impact says, “With this generous gift, Business+Impact can accelerate the tremendous success of the program. We will increase the size of the student cohort, establish innovative alumni programming, and enhance research to assess the program’s impact.”
The program already enjoys great success and appreciation from its participants. Audrey Fok, a recent MBA student at the University, says that the BFP, “let me experience what may have only been a door opened to me decades later and gave me a chance to start thinking about perspectives of an executive team and interact with so many people outside of my current professional network. It reinforced my desire to serve in the future and gave me the confidence to seek those opportunities.”
About Golub Capital
Golub Capital is a market-leading, award-winning direct lender and experienced private credit manager. We specialize in delivering reliable, creative and compelling financing solutions to companies backed by private equity sponsors. Our sponsor finance expertise also forms the foundation of our Broadly Syndicated Loan and Credit Opportunities investment programs. We nurture long-term, win-win partnerships that inspire repeat business from private equity sponsors and investors.
About the Golub Capital Social Impact Accelerator
The Golub Capital Social Impact Accelerator sponsors philanthropic initiatives where the Firm’s investment is expected to have a multiplier effect on the impact of nonprofit organizations. The two signature programs of the Golub Capital Social Impact Accelerator are the Social Impact Labs and the Nonprofit Board Fellows Network.
The Golub Capital Social Impact Labs at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business engage the next generation of business leaders and academics to accelerate progress across the nonprofit ecosystem.
The Golub Capital Nonprofit Board Fellows Network develops MBA candidates and alumni at leading business schools to serve as impactful nonprofit board members through classroom and experiential learning.
About Business+Impact at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business
Business+Impact is a school-wide initiative at Michigan Ross dedicated to serving the greater good through business. We bring together stakeholders across sectors to put impactful research into practice, and uplift the role of business in society. This work is accomplished through the following future-focused areas and programs: Design and Innovation through our Impact Studio, Community and Corporate Impact through the Nonprofit Board Fellows Program and Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project, and Research in Action through our work convening stakeholders and fostering cross-sector partnerships and multidisciplinary collaboration.
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Media Contact: Glenn Bugala, gbugala@umich.edu