November 2024 Newsletter
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Design Equitable Enterprises in the Winter Impact Studio Course
The +Impact Studio graduate course (BA670) prepares students to be architects of an equitable, just, and sustainable future. In Winter ’25, we focus on the green energy transition. We will be engaging with neighborhood partners in Detroit to design equitable and feasible business models for innovative green energy models that support communities. This course received an Aspen Business & Society Ideas Worth Teaching Award in recognition of its expansive purpose, innovative thinking, and integrated, multi-disciplinary approach.
Four MBAs Receive 2024-25 Skip and Carrie Gordon Scholarships
Business+Impact (B+I) is pleased to announce that Shailee Ghelani (MBA ’25), Ashraf Jaber (MBA ’25), Yashvi Patel (MBA ’25), and Alex Ricketts (MBA/MS ’25, Erb) are the recipients of the 2024-25 Skip and Carrie Gordon Scholarships for outstanding commitment to solving complex social challenges. The award comes with $7,500 for each recipient. Gordon Scholars serve as B+I Student Ambassadors for the 2024-25 academic year.
B+I’s 2024-25 Student Ambassadors
We are proud to announce our 2024-25 B+I Student Ambassadors — graduate and undergraduate students from the Ross School of Business and other peer schools who represent the student voice for the Business+Impact initiative. Many of these students have participated in our programs or received funding or scholarships from us, and have been actively involved in the numerous impact activities at U-M.
Podcast: Is ESG Just a Marketing Scam?
In this episode of Social Impact Design for Business, Niala Boodhoo, host of Axios Today, interviews Tariq Fancy, BlackRock’s first global chief investment officer for sustainable investing and founder of the Rumie Initiative. In this interview, Tariq discusses his experience working on ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) in an investment company and credibility issues facing US companies who embrace ESG.
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Making It: $napshots from the Artist Pay Project by Makeda Easter
Opening Reception
Fri, Nov. 15 @ 5-7 pm
Impact Studio
2nd Floor Executive Residence
All are welcome at an art opening about the lives and livelihoods of artists, featuring the exhibit artist Makeda Easter and local artist Katie Hammond doing live painting, a take and make activity, and refreshments. Hosted by the Impact Studio and the U-M Arts Initiative, the Artist Pay Project is a journalistic series that examines how artists survive and thrive through anonymous money diaries. Developed by 2022-2023 Knight-Wallace and the Ford Center for Racial Justice Fellow Makeda Easter, Making it: $napshots from the Artist Pay Project is a visually-immersive journey advocating for both the value of art in our society and higher wages for working artists. The exhibit will run November 15-December 13.
B+I Faculty Director Jerry Davis’ Personal Solar Story
Drive through many of Ann Arbor’s neighborhoods and you will see a fair number of houses where the owners have installed rooftop solar panels — at their own expense. Jerry Davis is one of the more recent of these homeowners, and the journey to get there meant that a lot of other things had to come first.
News out of B+I
DNEP’s Community Tech Worker Project Expands to Live6 with National Science Foundation Grant
The University of Michigan School of Information was awarded a $750,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to expand the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project’s Community Tech Worker (CTW) program from the eastside to Detroit’s northwest side by partnering with Live6 Alliance.
How Founder-Fellow Connections are Fueling the Impact Studio Fire
As November rolls around, the Impact Studio is reaching a key midway point in the semester. Fellows now float between Founders within each cohort to provide specific expertise as ventures encounter challenges.
Ross Events:
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BBSA: 49th ALE Conference |
ZLI: Women Who Fund Forum |
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:
GINSBERG CENTER
Foundations of Community Engagement
Wed, Nov. 13 @ 4:30 pm
and
Fri. Nov. 22 @ Noon
Online
Foundations of Community Engagement is an interactive workshop that introduces principles and practices of equitable, ethical community engagement. Participants will develop a deeper understanding of what the term “community engagement” means, as well as the many forms it might take – from research and course-based projects to philanthropy, activism, policy, and direct service. Across all these forms of engagement, participants will learn concepts and actions that promote equitable partnerships, center community-defined priorities, and disrupt entrenched power dynamics between universities and community members.
NET IMPACT @ ROSS
Social Impact Symposium
Wed, Nov. 13 @ 7-8 pm
R2220, Ross School of Business
Net Impact at Ross and Business+Impact are proud to present the Social Impact Symposium, Wed, Nov. 13 from 7-8 pm in Ross R2220, featuring panelists Jill Dannis of AWS, Kanika Rana of BCG and Ashley Starr of URBN in a talk about social responsibility. Dinner is provided and dress is business casual, but RSVP is required.
UM DEARBORN & UM DETROIT CENTER
Partnering for Neighborhood Resilience
Fri, Nov. 15 @ Noon – 2 pm
UM Detroit Center
3663 Woodward Ave, #150, Detroit
Join us for an interactive presentation and workshop that will feature UM-Dearborn students and alumni who have worked on a series of projects alongside Rescue MI Nature Now, a Detroit-based organization that focuses on converting vacant and blighted land into productive, sustainable and welcoming green space. The students will talk about their initial work on alley activation, the development of the urban acupuncture toolkit, supporting the development of Detroit’s first therapy forest, and teaming up to compete in the 2024 UNESCO Street Design Challenge.
PLANET BLUE
Sustainability Honors Cords
The Excellence in Sustainability Honors Cord program is designed to recognize students who went above and beyond to advance their knowledge, skills, and practice of sustainability ethics while studying at the University of Michigan. The acceptance to the Excellence in Sustainability Honors Cord program will allow students to receive an Excellence in Sustainability Honors Cord for graduation, join an exclusive alumni LinkedIn network, and be part of a sustainability spotlight series.
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
School of Social Work Event
The School of Social Work hosts a wide range of important social impact events that engage students, community, and Social Work leaders.
FORD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
Policy Speaker Events
“Who’s Afraid of Gender”
Wed, Nov. 13 @ 3:30-5 pm
Weill Hall, Annenberg Auditorium
The Ford School of Public Policy hosts a diverse array of timely, meaningful events that engage students, community, and public policy leaders.
SCHOOL OF INFORMATION
A2 Data Dive Leadership Board Application
Apply by Wed, Nov. 20 @ 11:59 am
A2 Data Dive is a student-led initiative at UMSI that hosts an annual data hackathon for good. A2 Data Dive is coordinated by student leaders who work with community partners to prepare the data and lead students in conducting data analysis on the day of the event. The University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI) Engaged Learning Office (ELO) is seeking motivated students interested in joining the leadership board of the next A2 Data Dive, which will be held on February 20, 2025.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN DEI
2025 MLK Spirit Awards
Nominations due
Fri, Nov. 29
The Central Campus Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Spirit Awards program honors undergraduates, graduate students, and student groups on central campus who best exemplify the leadership and extraordinary vision of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Nominees and awardees will be recognized at the Awards Ceremony, which will highlight the various ways in which our students have worked to carry on the spirit of Dr. King. The Central Campus MLK Spirit Awards program coincides with the MLK Symposium.
WILLIAM DAVIDSON INSTITUTE
The Climate Entrepreneurship Exchange
Climate Entrepreneurship Exchange is an 8-week, innovative extracurricular virtual exchange certificate program that fosters climate entrepreneurship among undergraduate students in Michigan, Egypt, Libya, and Morocco. The program promotes cross-cultural collaboration and communication while equipping participants with knowledge and skills necessary to create climate-conscious businesses.
LSA
Semester in Detroit
Semester in Detroit accepts undergraduate students from all schools and departments at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, UM-Dearborn, UM-Flint and Grand Valley State University. All students, from First years to Seniors or Super Seniors are eligible to apply. Applicants should have a strong interest in the city of Detroit and in questioning dominant narratives; engaging with challenging new perspectives on contemporary issues; and building community with one another, SiD faculty and staff, and community members at internship sites and beyond.
In the Impact Community:
Road to Resilience: Lead with Abundance
For too long, nonprofits have been stuck in a cycle of ‘just getting by.’ But what if we shift our focus and start leading from a place of abundance and resilience? Welcome to Road to Resilience! This is your go-to spot to build the financial confidence you need to lead boldly. It’s especially for those of us who might be experts in our mission but feel a bit out of our element when it comes to the numbers.
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Desai Internship Program
Desai employs a group of ten paid student interns for each 13 week cohort who complete projects for all participating startups. Students who have a passion for startups and are ready to help real companies grow fast will thrive in this program.
ProsperUS Detroit Entrepreneurs Training
In collaboration with neighborhood organizations, we offer training and education that supports entrepreneurs realize their potential, develop a business plan, and take action on the next steps with their dreams. Through engaging with this program, we support entrepreneurs as they strengthen their skills as leaders, potential employers, and change agents in their communities.
D-Prize
Regular Application Due
Sun, Nov. 3
Can you design a new business or NGO that delivers a proven poverty intervention at scale? Submit your design for a new organization that solves one of our Distribution Challenges below. We will award the most promising teams with up to $20,000 USD to launch their new organization wherever extreme poverty exists. Challenges include Health, Water, Education Agriculture, Livelihoods, Energy, and Public Services.
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Centering Justice
Wed, Nov. 20 @ Noon – 1:30 pm
Virtual
The Centering Justice goal is to move participants from awareness to action by connecting them with others who are practicing the work of deep democracy. As a result of shifting from intention to impact, people feel moved from individual insight to collective power. Through engaging conversations with guests, practical resources and tools, and sharing experiences, participants will leave with skills, strategies, and courage to challenge oppressive systems.
ICM Mosaic Fellowship Application
Application due
Mon, Dec. 2 @ 11:59 ET
The Mosaic Fellowship, a program of the ICM Institute, provides high-performing first-year graduate students with the opportunity to be a Summer Associate at one of ICM’s member funds – the leading private capital funds investing for positive impact and superior returns. All students with at least one year remaining of a 2+ year graduate degree program are eligible to apply, and we strongly encourage applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds and experiences per the mission of the Mosaic Fellowship. Read more about Mosaic alumni here and FAQs here.