October 2023 Newsletter
+Impact Studio Fellows and Founders Announced
The +Impact Studio kicks off an exciting academic year and welcomes its newest cohort of Founders and Applebaum Impact Design Fellows! Hailing from six different degree programs across campus, this dynamic group of social innovators comprises a highly diverse mix of undergraduate and graduate students! While the Studio seeks to advance all facets of impact, giving much attention to ideas that address climate action and/or diversity, equity, inclusion & racial justice (DEIRJ), the primary emphasis for this year will be on advancing ventures that bridge the domains of mental health, ed-tech, health equity, climate action, and sustainable cities!
SEE PHOTOS OF THIS YEAR’S FELLOWS AND FOUNDERS
Business+Impact Announces its 2023-24 Board Fellows and Nonprofit Partners
Welcome to our 2023-24 Board Fellowship participants! This year’s Board Fellowship Program brings together 24 partner organizations and 36 students from 8 U-M schools. The Fellows will serve on the governing boards of these partner organizations for the academic year and complete a strategic project by April 2024.
SEE PHOTOS FROM OUR RECENT KICKOFF
READ ABOUT THE FELLOWS & NONPROFITS
Ross Launches New Concentration in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) for Full-time MBAs
Michigan Ross continues to innovate in the social impact space with its new ESG concentration. Modern businesses need leaders prepared to transform how enterprises engage with the natural environment and climate change, address the needs of a changing workforce, and provide increased accountability to investors and other stakeholders. The new ESG concentration prepares students to lead in each of the three pillars that support contemporary business and educates leaders to take on the major challenges of our time. The ESG concentration includes both formal coursework and optional co-curricular activities, including workshops (e.g., how to work with ESG data) and speakers. This program is due to be fully operational next year.
A More Just Future: A Keynote Address from Dolly Chugh
Tues, Oct. 31 @ 11 am – Noon
Ross School of Business
Robertson Auditorium
Dolly Chugh is a social psychologist and management professor at the New York University Stern School of Business and the author of A More Just Future: Psychological Tools for Reckoning with our Past and Driving Social Change. Business+Impact is proud to co-sponsor Dr. Chugh as part of Ross’ DEI speaker series.
EVENT INFO
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Exploring Employee Ownership: An Expert Panel
Fri, Nov. 3 @ 3-4 pm
Classroom R2210
Ross School of Business Building
Join us for an expert panel as we discuss employee ownership and explore questions such as: What is employee ownership? What are the best practices? How can we use these models to make a positive impact in our community? The expert panel features Loren Rodgers from the National Center for Employee Ownership, Karen Tyler-Ruiz of the Center for Community Based Enterprise, Roy J. Messing of the Employee Ownership Expansion Network, and Chris Miller from the National Coalition for Community Capital. This event runs an hour with optional mingling from 4 to 4:30.
RSVP HERE
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 ’24, this award-winning course will 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. The course is 3 credits, and will be offered to all graduate students on Wednesday mornings during Winter semester.
ESG Corporate Panel
Mon, Nov. 27 @ 5-6 pm ET
Virtual
Join us for a panel discussion about working in ESG. Ross alums and leaders in the ESG space will share their experience, insights, and recommendations around working in ESG and tips for recruiting.
RSVP HERE
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Impact Advantage Loan Repayment Assistance – Apply by Thurs, Nov. 30
The Ross School of Business Impact Advantage program provides educational loan repayment assistance to Ross full-time MBA graduates who pursue careers in nonprofit or public sector organizations.
Full-time MBA students who graduated in May 2022 or after will be eligible to apply for the Impact Advantage program and receive up to $7,500 per year for the first 5 years after graduation, towards Ross-related loan obligations. You must be in a full-time position at a public or nonprofit sector organization, and you’ll need to reapply each year for re-consideration.
Get Paid to Consult with Real Detroit Small Businesses!
The Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project, now part of Business+Impact, is seeking two students to serve as Workshop Leaders and Accounting Consultants. Students provide 1:1 financial coaching to Detroit entrepreneurs every other Friday on-site at community partner locations in the neighborhoods. In addition to hourly pay, travel time to/from Detroit is paid and mileage reimbursed. Receive training and mentoring from Ernst & Young partners, build relationships with inspiring business owners, and gain valuable experience that will set you apart from your peers! Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
SEE JOB POSTING
 SPOTLIGHT
Lily Hamburger (MBA ’16) is the Associate Director of the Business Support Network Office at Invest Detroit, a Detroit-based, mission-driven lender, investor, and partner that supports business and real estate projects that will ignite economic growth in Detroit and the region. We connected with her recently to find out about her impact journey and learnings along the way. |
Impact News and Notes
A “better food environment” for Black Detroiters opens in February
I-94 could host self-driving vehicle lanes between Ann Arbor and Detroit. Here’s how to learn more
‘Venice of Detroit’: climate costs imperil historic neighborhood
Jonathan Harris launches college scholarship for Detroit students
Research finds housing instability in Detroit hurts students
There Are No U.S. ‘Climate Havens’ from Heat and Disaster Risk – featuring Earl Lewis, Julie Arbit and Brad Bottoms
‘We’re cooking our cities’: These drones map 150-degree temperatures in urban areas – featuring Keenan Gibbons
SEAS alum dedicated to diminishing the threat of childhood lead poisoning
University of Michigan study finds only 36% of Detroit residents make a livable wage – featuring Gabriel Ehrlich
Record tornadoes, heat waves, wildfires: Climate disasters increasing everywhere including Michigan
Detroit Today: How Michigan plans to transition to 100% clean energy – featuring Liesl Clark
‘A dream come true’: In Flint, every pregnant person is about to receive cash through Rx Kids – featuring Luke Shaefer
‘Rationing justice’: Legal aid programs struggle to meet high demand
Anti-Racism Collaborative awards over $100,000 in Graduate Research Grants
U-M center gets $5M to study climate change impacts on water
Engaging students in math, U-M’s TeachingWorks lab will be offered in Detroit this month
Projects share $2.1M to aid firearm-injury prevention research
Michigan’s system to approve green energy projects is broken – featuring Sarah Mills
Why Rain Is Getting Fiercer on a Warming Planet – featuring Mohammed Ombadi
Parents prefer indoor physical education due to poor air quality: Research – featuring Susan Woolford
Partner Profile: Detroit Black Community Food Security Network
OVPR anti-racism grants awarded to seven research teams
Mayor Duggan’s Plan and Tax Revisions Empowering Detroit’s Urban Agriculture
What is income inequality doing to all of us?
Water conservation and access will be a yearlong focus at UMSI
At the University:
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ZELL LURIE INSTITUTE
Michigan Business Challenge – Information Session
Mon, Oct. 23 @ 5-6 pm
Blau Hall
Blau Colloquium
The Michigan Business Challenge is a campus-wide, multi-round business plan competition where student teams have the opportunity to win cash prizes totaling over $100,000, gain feedback from leaders in the business community, and expand their business network. This competition includes a Seigle Impact Track that features student businesses that identify a social/environmental issue. Attend this info session, followed by a “How to Pitch” workshop, to learn more.
FORD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
Policy Events
“The Injustice of Place” book talk and alumni reception – Tues, Oct. 24
Bill de Blasio: Are smart cities smart enough? – Mon, Oct. 30
Diversifying the STEM pipeline: Evidence from STEM summer programs for underrepresented youth – Tues, Nov. 7
Justice across generations: Reflections on race, law and family legacy – Mon, Nov. 13
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
Social Work Events
Alumni Webinar Series | The Ethics of Accessibility: Social Work Practice and Disability – Fri, Oct. 20
Practicing Cultural Humility in Working with the South Asian Community – Wed, Nov. 8
The Importance of Transit Equity – Thurs, Nov. 9
ENGAGE Community Engagement Showcase – Wed, Nov. 15
POVERTY SOLUTIONS
Poverty Solutions Speaker Series
Incarceration and its Aftermath: How Art Can Create Pathways to Reintegration and Healing – Wed, Oct. 18
Creating Green Energy and Equitable Enterprise in Detroit – Fri, Oct. 20
Creating Moves to Opportunity: Experimental and Mixed Methods Evidence on Neighborhood Choice – Fri, Oct. 27
Poverty Solutions Alumni Panel – Fri. Nov. 3
GINSBERG CENTER
Foundations of Community Engagement
Fri, Oct. 20 @ Noon
Wed, Oct. 25 @ 6 pm
Wed, Nov. 1 @ 6 pm
Tues, Nov. 7 @ 4 pm
Mon, Nov. 13 @ 6 pm
The Ginsberg Center offers multiple workshops to support students and staff who are working with communities through courses, student organizations, or independently. Learning in Community (LinC) is an educational workshop and training series focused on supporting those interested in community engagement, social justice, democratic engagement, advocacy, activism, and philanthropy.
In the Impact Community:
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Michigan Pre-College & Youth Outreach Conference
Fri, Oct. 20 @ 8 am – 4:30 pm
Wayne State University
OR Online
We are planning a variety of presentation formats and workshops, along with some wonderful invited guests, including a free Thursday night networking dinner the evening before the conference.
Our Keynote Speaker will be Andre Ebron, the Senior Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the United Way for Southeastern Michigan.
SOCAP convenes the most engaged and diverse impact investing community in the world. For more than 15 years, the SOCAP conference has been the flagship event and leading convener in the impact economy, gathering more than 100,000 people since our first event. This is the largest, action-oriented gathering where investors, entrepreneurs, and social impact leaders come together to accelerate progress against the world’s toughest challenges through market-based solutions.
2nd Application Deadline
Sun, Nov. 5
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.
Rally’s social enterprise accelerator aims to help local, national, and international entrepreneurs transform their early-stage work into sustainable ventures that create positive social, environmental, or economic change. The Winter cohort will meet from Jan. 22 – May 14, 2024 in Orlando, FL.
Upswell Summit 2023, powered by Independent Sector, will advance our singular mission by offering thought leadership that wrestles with issues plaguing our nation, workshops and panels that will strengthen your institutional, personal, and professional development, as well as time to invest and care for the most important person in the work – you. If you have any questions, please let us know at either info@upswell.org or 202-467-6115.