Wharton Social Impact Initiative presents a weekly round-up of events and news related to social impact topics.
Events
Wharton IGEL Book Discussion with Mark Tercek, President & CEO of Nature Conservancy
Apr. 15, 11.30 a.m, JMHH 8th Floor: Wharton Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership is hosting a seminar with Mark Tercek, President and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, about his latest book. Tercek is the author of the Washington Post andPublisher’s Weekly bestselling book Nature’s Fortune. A 24-year Goldman Sachs veteran, Tercek brings deep business experience to his role leading the Conservancy, where he champions of the idea of natural capital— valuing nature for its own sake as well as for the services it provides for people.
Registration is available online. Further questions can be directed to environment@wharton.upenn.edu. Lunch will be provided as well as a complimentary copy of Nature’s Fortune.
B-Corp Boom
April 16, Noon–1.30 p.m., JMHH G92: What do Method, Warby Parker, and Ben & Jerry’s all have in common? They are all certified as a B Corporation, a new hybrid incorporation used by for-profit enterprises who have shown their dedication to corporate social responsibility.
In this event co-sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Club and Wharton Social Impact Club, attendees will hear from Elizabeth Crampton from B Lab, the nonprofit behind the B-Corp, about it’s rise, what it means for businesses, and how companies can achieve the b-corp status.
Open to all, this lecture will be particularly helpful for students interested in corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, or launching a startup. Lunch will be provided, but an RSVP is required.
Impactful Thursday: Gloria Rabinowitz
April 17, Noon-1.30 p.m., JMHH 345: The Social Impact Club’s latest Impactful Thursday lecture series invites Gloria Rabinowitz to Penn. Rabinowitz is an entrepreneur and an angel investor who started her career in publicly traded companies where she held executive level positions. She invests with other women and men in woman-originated start ups. Her talk and Q&A session will focus on the impetus and vision for creating a business, initial challenges, raising capital, how to address balance 24/7 world of entrepreneurship, and other relevant issues for entrepreneurs. Lunch will be provided.
Impactful Thursdays are a series of biweekly educational talks and panels hosted by the WSIC to educate and facilitate connections among Wharton MBA students, alumni, academics, and industry leaders on a range of social impact topics.
Lunch and Learn with WSIC
April 22, Noon-1:15 p.m., JMHH G60: The Wharton Social Impact Club invites MBA students to a lunch workshop with veteran fundraiser and philanthropy consultant Jennifer McCrea, CEO of Born Free and senior research Fellow at the Hauser Institute for Civil Society at Harvard.
Participants will discuss the private sector’s role in philanthropy and social enterprise, using a case study from a global health project led by McCrea, a private sector-led initiative with the sole objective of ending mother-to-child transmission of HIV. She will also share her philosophy and very practical tips on how to raise resources for any cause.
Lunch will be provided, but an RSVP is required. MBA students only.
Wharton Social Venture Fund Info Session
April 23, 6-7:30 p.m., SHDH 107: For the first time, the Wharton Social Venture Fund, an MBA-led impact investing fund, will recruit Wharton undergraduates for the fall semester. This is a unique opportunity to gain high quality finance, research, and management experience, and to network with peers on a highly professional level. The nearly seven-year-old fund now operates within WSII’s impact investing initiative.
The club will host an information session, open to all undergraduates interested in venture capital, private equity, or social impact. For more information, contact Alexandra Iqbal: iqbala@wharton.upenn.edu
Impactful Thursday with Bobby Turner
April 24, Noon-1:30 p.m., JMHH 345: Join the Wharton Social Impact Club for another installment of the Impactful Thursday lunch and learn series, featuring a discussion with Bobby Turner, W’84. This event — typically open just to MBAs — is now open to all Penn students with an interest in social impact. Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP by Wednesday: http://whr.tn/1hl6XAS
Turner leads Turner Impact Capital, LLC, a mission-driven real estate investment management firm focused on social impact or triple bottom line investing – a strategy focused on providing strong financial returns for investors, fostering opportunities for residents of the communities in which it invests, and embracing environmental responsibility.
Should Advertising Have a Conscience? The Potential for Positive Social Impact in Advertising
April 24, 6-7 p.m., JMHH 340: How is social impact incorporated in corporate advertising? What are the benefits of corporate social responsibility? What are its effects? MUSE, the undergraduate marketing club at Penn, will host an interactive session with Catharine Hays, Executive Director of the Wharton Future of Advertising Program.
Hays will discuss the role and importance of social impact in advertising. Through the session, she will explore several engaging examples for students to analyze, including AXE’s controversial advertisement for its recently launched Peace One Day campaign.
All are welcome, though the event will be geared toward undergraduates. Contact liangyin@wharton.upenn.edu for more information or to RSVP.
News and Opportunities
Spend your summer doing meaningful work! Conduct groundbreaking research on impact investing, help to develop community impact programs in West Philadelphia, or engage with social entrepreneurs and civic innovators with the FastFWD partnership. Our social impact job board has eight new summer opportunities and internships posted now, but applications are due ASAP.
Introducing “Social Impact Strategy, Analysis, and Leadership“, a new social impact course for advanced undergrads and graduate students. Team-taught by the Center for High Impact Philanthropy, the course will include guest lectures from other leading faculty and social impact innovators. Students will gain knowledge of how to analyze opportunities for impact and potential for impact; explore frameworks to address strategic issues and key tasks faced by managers with a social impact mandate; gain tools for influencing others towards social impact, including a review of relevant research and real-world examples; and earn hands-on experience applying analytical skills, effective storytelling approaches, and stakeholder engagement strategies to different formats. Email Sarah Gormley for more information. Spaces are very limited and filling quickly.
This week, Jem Hudson, WG’10, Founder and CEO of Caldy Group, spoke to Wharton Magazine about how finance can and should be a force for good. She draws inspiration from Nobel laureate Robert Shiller’s book Finance and the Good Society, wherein the author argues that only fresh thinking and innovation will lead to financial solutions that can truly change the world for the better.
All business schools should wholly embrace and integrate social impact into their curriculum–that’s what Sunita Grote, WG’13, argued in a recent presentation she made about social impact trends on global B-school campuses.
FastFWD, our partnership with the City of Philadelphia and GoodCompany Group, is up for a Webby Award! The FastFWD website, created by local impact-focused design agency Here’s My Chance, is listed in the civic and urban innovation category; you can cast your vote until April 24.
Do you have a social impact event or news item you’d like us to share? Email your information to Allie Harcharek at aharch@wharton.upenn.edu. Please send timely information with at least a full week lead time prior to your event.