Commitment: 8 hours/week for 10 weeks from September 23, 2019 – December 13, 2019 (start and end dates are flexible)

Keywords: Impact Analysis, Impact Investing, Local, Philadelphia

Background

The Wharton Social Impact Initiative (WSII) recognizes the vital role that capital markets and business can play in tackling the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges.  As the nation’s poorest big city, Philadelphia shares many of those same global challenges.  Among other outcomes, innovative investments in Philadelphia businesses can play a role in equitable wealth creation and income growth for minorities, women, and other communities, strengthen local food systems and access, and drive educational achievement.

At the same time, financial markets have experienced an explosion of demand to apply private capital in new ways to social and environmental issues, including but not limited to impact investing.  WSII is partnering with investors and entrepreneurs to pilot-test our Impact Analysis Accelerator, an initiative to provide entrepreneurs with the impact analysis they need to prepare themselves for additional funding.  If successful, the project will be scaled locally and globally.

Project Description

WSII’s Impact Analysis Accelerator closely mirrors the operations of an accelerator, working with entrepreneurs who are considering their next round of funding.  As such, institutional-quality work product is expected. The project is managed by one of the industry’s pioneers, a consultant to WSII with fifteen years of experience in venture capital and other investing disciplines; WSII team members with expertise in impact management will co-lead.  The project is an exclusive program involving a very small cohort of high-performing students from multiple disciplines.

Students will conduct comprehensive analysis and research, including state-of-the-art impact analysis, and application to innovative forms of capital including Program Related Investments (PRIs).  There will be exposure to WSII staff, Wharton and Penn faculty, impact investors, entrepreneurs, and to partner institutions. Teams may consist of MBA, Undergraduate and other Penn graduate students.  The main activities will be:

• Impact Analysis (primary activity):
  • Putting on the hat of an investor, to prepare an entrepreneurs for investment, including learning and applying impact-specific, alternative methods for strength and risk assessments.
  • Conducting impact assessment, including state-of-the-art frameworks and methods
• Strategy: As the project is in beta-test, advise on scaling the project both locally and globally.

Fellows will be expected to accomplish the following throughout the course of the project:

• Advise client/investor, business executives and partner institutions, in person and in writing, at a professional level
• Conduct and document impact assessments
• Prepare and deliver impact analysis and presentations to clients

Work will be completed remotely when possible, and at times in the WSII offices or an allocated space. There will be mandatory weekly check-ins and training sessions with the project leader and other project Fellows.

Qualifications: We are seeking a diverse range of candidates that meet most/all of the following attributes and skills:

Graduate Students (MBA / PhD)

• Current Wharton / Penn student
• 2+ years’ experience in consulting, research, measurement, analysis or assessment of social and/or environmental impacts
• Impact Investing experience highly preferred, but not required
• Ability to commit a minimum of 8 hours a week to this project (required)
• Strong research, written, and verbal communication skills
• Strong time management and interpersonal skills

Undergraduate Students

• Current Wharton / Penn student
• Ability to commit a minimum of 8 hours a week to this project (required)
• Strong research, written, and verbal communication skills
• Strong time management and interpersonal skills

Fellowship Award & Requirements:

• Fellows are eligible for a taxable Fellowship award
• $1,000/semester for graduate students
• $12/hour for undergraduate, with a maximum of $1,500/semester

Participation in the WISE Fellowship and receiving the financial award is contingent upon the following:

• Successful completion of the project activities listed above
• Participation in WISE Fellowship programming
• Completion of the end-of-semester survey for each semester participating in the WISE Fellowship, and a 500-word blog post or other form of media on any social impact topic, to be potentially published on the WSII website

To apply: We will be accepting applications and conducting interviews on a rolling basis.  Submit your resume via this application by 11:59pm on Monday, September 9th.  Only candidates moving to the interview round will be notified.

 

Questions: Contact Yuri Seung at syuri@wharton.upenn.edu.

 

About Wharton Social Impact Initiative

Wharton Social Impact Initiative (WSII) is Wharton’s cross-disciplinary center for research, training, and outreach to strengthen business-based solutions to social and environmental challenges. Our mission is to build the evidence, talent, and community to advance business solutions for a better world.

Commitment: 8-10 hours/week for 10 weeks from September 23, 2019 – December 13, 2019

Keywords: Assessment, Education Program Design, Impact Measurement, Local, Philadelphia, Project Management and Design, Strategic Thinking

Background

There are 13 schools within a 5-mile radius of the Philadelphia Zoo’s impact focus (Mantua, Belmont, East Parkside, Fairmont and Brewerytown).  Most of those schools are low-performing and only 35% of them receive science education before high school.  Last year, the Philadelphia Zoo partnered with the Morton McMichael School, in the Mantua section of West Philadelphia, to pilot their science education program with 7 & 9th graders.  This year, the Zoo will expand their program to run for the full academic year, including younger grades of K-4.  The Zoo would like to better understand how to assess impact for this education initiative, and how they might scale and replicate this approach in other schools.

This project is scoped for one semester, but this or a similar project will likely extend into Spring 2020.

Project Description

Fellows will work together to complete the following project deliverables:

• Identify components of the program that can be evaluated using impact metrics; propose what metrics should be used to measure impact. The Fellows will present their findings in a research report and propose a tool to measure impact—an “impact scorecard.”
• Assist the Zoo in identifying ways to standardize the program in order to replicate the model in 13 possible schools in surrounding neighborhoods. The Fellows will create a strategic plan for expansion, including a checklist of necessary components for a successful expansion.

Activities will include:

• Research on early childhood/childhood education programs and best practices for measuring impact
• Growth strategy consulting
• Writing report(s) on findings
• Creating presentation(s) on findings
• Providing strategic recommendations to the client

Wharton Social Impact Initiative (WSII) will hire up to two Wharton Impact Student Experience (WISE) Fellows for this project.  Fellows will have ample opportunity to interface with the Zoo’s Director of Strategic Initiatives as they complete their projects.  Project scope activities will be completed remotely, with weekly or bi-weekly check-ins with WSII staff and the Zoo (“the client).

Qualifications: We are seeking a diverse range of candidates that meet most/all of the following attributes and skills:

• Current Wharton/Penn graduate student or highly qualified undergraduate student
• Must be able to work independently to complete the Project Scope
• Strong research skills with an ability to think through new avenues of research
• Ability to organize work product and deliverables so they are client ready
• Growth strategy consulting and/or education development experience preferred
• Knowledge and experience with impact measurement a plus

Fellowship Award & Requirements:

• Fellows are eligible for a taxable Fellowship award
• $1,000/semester for graduate students
• $12/hour for undergraduate, with a maximum of $1,500/semester

Participation in the Social Impact Fellowship and receiving the financial award is contingent upon the following:

• Successful completion of the project activities listed above
• Participation in WISE Fellowship programming
• Completion of the end-of-semester survey for each semester participating in the WISE Fellowship, and a 500-word blog post or other form of media on any social impact topic, to be potentially published on the WSII website

To apply: We will be accepting applications and conducting interviews on a rolling basis.  Submit your resume via this application by 11:59pm on Monday, September 9th.  Only candidates moving to the interview round will be notified.

Questions: Contact Yuri Seung at syuri@wharton.upenn.edu. 

About Wharton Social Impact Initiative

Wharton Social Impact Initiative (WSII) is Wharton’s cross-disciplinary center for research, training, and outreach to strengthen business-based solutions to social and environmental challenges. Our mission is to build the evidence, talent, and community to advance business solutions for a better world. 

About the Philadelphia Zoo

The region’s leading family destination and one of the area’s foremost conservation organizations, Philadelphia Zoo is home to nearly 1,300 animals, many rare and endangered. Leveraging its platform as America’s first zoo, Philadelphia Zoo is working double-time to educate more than 1.2 million annual visitors about animal and environmental conservation via a first-in-the-world animal travel and exploration trail system, called Zoo360, that offers animals more room to roam, and KidZooU — a new KidZooU children’s zoo and education center that serves as a model for children’s zoos nationwide.

Commitment: 8 hours/week for 10 weeks from September 23, 2019 – December 13, 2019

Keywords: Community Wealth Building, Local, Neighborhood Trust, Philadelphia, Real Estate, Revitalization

Background

Shift Capital is working with local and national foundations and a broad coalition of community partners to create and implement an innovative approach to a real estate-based neighborhood trust in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood. The immediate objectives of the trust are to revitalize the commercial corridor along Kensington Avenue and to create a model for community stabilization and wealth building. Ultimately, the trust will help ensure that ownership and control of these properties remain in the hands of the Kensington community.

WISE Fellows will support ongoing research into operating models of similar place-based and community controlled initiatives that are leveraging real estate to meet community needs. The output of the project is likely to include a set of case studies outlining best practices of these organizations, and an analysis of how these best practices can be incorporated into the operating model for the Trust.

Project Description

Fellows will work together to complete the project deliverables:

• Create landscape reports of practitioners and other neighborhood trust models that have incorporated key elements of Shift Capital’s proposed operating model. Fellows will research the following topics:
  • Nonprofits and enterprises with a similar mission that incorporate robust and innovative community engagement in their activities.
  • Other cities and/or organizations focused on place-based redevelopment that are proactively addressing and mitigating displacement risk.

Activities will include:

• Landscape research and analysis, with a focus on highlighting operational models.
• Writing report(s) on findings
• Providing strategic recommendations to the client

Wharton Social Impact Initiative (WSII) will hire up to two Wharton Impact Student Experience (WISE) Fellows for this project.  Fellows will have ample opportunity to interface with Shift Capital staff as they complete their projects.  Project scope activities will be completed remotely, with weekly or bi-weekly check-ins with WSII staff and the Shift Capital (“the client).

Qualifications: We are seeking a diverse range of candidates that meet most/all of the following attributes and skills:

• Current Wharton/Penn graduate student or highly qualified undergraduate student
• Must be able to work independently to complete the Project Scope
• Strong research skills
• Project management, consulting experience preferred
• Economic development and or real estate experience a plus

Fellowship Award & Requirements:

• Fellows are eligible for a taxable Fellowship award
• $1,000/semester for graduate students
• $12/hour for undergraduate, with a maximum of $1,500/semester

Participation in the WISE Fellowship and receiving the financial award is contingent upon the following:

• Successful completion of the project activities listed above
• Participation in WISE Fellowship programming
• Completion of the end-of-semester survey for each semester participating in the WISE Fellowship, and a 500-word blog post or other form of media on any social impact topic, to be potentially published on the WSII website

To apply: We will be accepting applications and conducting interviews on a rolling basis.  Submit your resume via this application by 11:59pm on Monday, September 9th.  Only candidates moving to the interview round will be notified.

Questions: Contact Yuri Seung at syuri@wharton.upenn.edu.

About Wharton Social Impact Initiative

Wharton Social Impact Initiative (WSII) is Wharton’s cross-disciplinary center for research, training, and outreach to strengthen business-based solutions to social and environmental challenges. Our mission is to build the evidence, talent, and community to advance business solutions for a better world. 

About Shift Capital

Shift Capital is a real estate impact group dedicated to revitalizing urban neighborhoods by creating shifts in environmental, social and economic viability.  We deploy an inclusive and concentrated development model, which seeks to minimize the negative impacts of gentrification, such as displacement, while positively impacting communities suffering from inter-generational poverty.

Commitment: 8 hours/week for 10 weeks from September 23, 2019 – December 13, 2019

Keywords: Big data, Analytics, Public Policy, Philadelphia, Social Impact, Research, Urban Innovation, Statistics

Background

The Wharton Social Impact Initiative is working with Associate Professor Shane Jensen to understand how integrating big business and city data into decision-making can increase safety and contribute to vibrancy and inclusive economic development.

Project Description

We will hire 1 WISE Fellow to work in a multidisciplinary team of students on the Urban Analytics project.  The Fellow will support the team by continuing research on a specific topic:

• Vacant Lot Greening (Business Vibrancy): We will be studying the effects of vacant lot “greening” initiatives in Philadelphia. In these greening interventions, a subset of vacant lots in the city were converted to green space and we will compare these treatment lots to a set of control vacant lots to see if there are effects on crime and whether different types of nearby businesses and land use zoning can influence the effects of greening initiatives.

This semester, the Fellow will provide a sophisticated and balanced comparison of greened vs. control vacant lots and evaluate whether there are significant differences in crime.  Evaluate whether the effects of greening on crime are influenced by different types of land use zoning around vacant lots.

This research builds on existing work done by Dr. Jensen and his team by helping get their insights into a form most useful for practitioners and decision-makers.  The project will also create new insights to support ongoing work in this area.

Activities include:

• Participating in primary and secondary source data collection
• Synthesizing and analyzing data
• Writing report(s) on findings

The student team will work closely with WSII staff and will interface directly with Dr. Jensen and his research team.  Candidate must commit to on-site meetings/activities and bi-weekly team check-ins.

Qualifications

We are seeking a candidate that meets most/all of the following attributes and skills:

• Current Wharton/Penn graduate student OR highly qualified Wharton undergraduate student with strong experience and/or experience with statistical analysis and research
• Must be able to work independently or with other Fellows to complete the Fellowship Project Scope
• Knowledge of statistical software (ideally, R) and/or a programming language (e.g., Python or C++) required (an upper undergraduate-level, or graduate-level statistics methods course also encouraged)
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong project management experience and relationship management skills
• Although not required, we would prefer candidates who are interested in a two-semester engagement

Fellowship Award & Requirements:

• Fellows are eligible for a taxable Fellowship award
• $1,000/semester for graduate students
• $12/hour for undergraduate, with a maximum of $1,500/semester

Participation in the WISE Fellowship and receiving the financial award is contingent upon the following:

• Successful completion of the project activities listed above
• Participation in WISE Fellowship programming
• Completion of the end-of-semester survey for each semester participating in the WISE Fellowship, and a 500-word blog post or other form of media on any social impact topic, to be potentially published on the WSII website

To apply: We will be accepting applications and conducting interviews on a rolling basis.  Submit your resume via this application by 11:59pm on Monday, September 9^th, 2019.  Only candidates moving to the interview round will be notified.  We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.  Final candidates may be asked to complete a brief aptitude test before an official offer.

Questions: Contact Yuri Seung at syuri@wharton.upenn.edu. 

About Wharton Social Impact Initiative

Wharton Social Impact Initiative (WSII) advances the science and practice of social impact through rigorous academic research and training opportunities. As the leading research-led business school in the world, Wharton is building the evidence base for impact investing and more. And, through experiential learning, training opportunities, and thought leadership, we are growing the talent pipeline for social impact business leaders of the future—and today.