Summer Associates
2003 Social Enterprise Summer Fellowship Summaries
Click on organization name for summaries.
- Acumen Fund
- Afghan Government/SPARKS
- AFS-USA, Inc.
- ANAPI
- The Animal Medical Center
- Ballet Hispanico
- Beacon Council
- Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs
- Big Brothers/Big Sisters
- Blue Ridge Foundation of New York
- The Bridgespan Group/BridgeStar
- Building Blocks International
- Catalyst Alliance, Inc.
- Catalyst Alliance/IBA
- Catalyst Alliance/Year Up
- Catalyst Alliance/Discovering Justice
- CDC IXIS Services Industrie
- Center for Business and Government
- Children's Friend and Family Services
- City of Chicago, OMB
- City Year
- D2D Fund, Inc.
- East-West Center
- Echoing Green Foundation
- Endeavor
- Enterprise Honolulu
- Federal Communications Commission
- Foundation for Enterprise Development
- Fundacion Esquel
- Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Human Investment Project
- Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC)
- International Finance Corporation
- Johns Hopkins Medicine
- Lincoln Center
- Los Alamos National Lab
- Mercy Corps
- NAMFREL
- National Parks Conservation Association
- The Nature Conservancy
- New Leaders for New Schools
- New Schools Better Neighborhoods
- NewSchools Venture Fund
- NYC2012
- National Security Division, OMB
- Outward Bound, USA
- Population Services International
- Positive Coaching Alliance
- Public Building Services
- Rhode Island KIDS Count
- The Richard King Mellon Foundation
- Resources for Indispensable Schools and Educators (RISE)
- Roberts Enterprise Development Fund
- Rochester Area Community Foundation
- State of Hawaii's Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism
- Swayam Krishi Sangam
- TechFoundation
- Tiger Foundation
- U.S. National Parks Service
- United States Air Force/Financial Management
- United States Air Force/Air Force Cost Analysis Agency (AFCAA)
- USAID
Maggie Cheng
Acumen Fund is a nonprofit organization that seeks to accelerate global
change by using venture capital techniques to channel philanthropic
capital to social innovations in the developing world. Acumen
Fund utilizes a portfolio strategy and invests in both nonprofit and
for-profit ventures with equity, loans, and grants. In addition
to the financial investment, they also support these innovations with
technical assistance and connections. Acumen Fund cultivates
a network of over 50 Partners, who contribute financial capital as
well as management and intellectual expertise to the Fund and its portfolio
organizations. My role this summer was twofold: First,
I worked with Acumen Funds Chief Marketing Officer on continuing the
development of metrics and donor reporting to enhance Acumen Fund's
fundraising, marketing and positioning. Second, I developed a
framework for Acumen Fund to assess the impact of their investments
on the ground in a way that is cost-effective and useful to their decision
making and that of their investors and investees. This work on
measuring impact will continue to be developed and will be implemented
as an ongoing process at Acumen Fund.
Kimberly Kehrberger
Acumen Fund is a venture philanthropy organization that focuses on accelerating
global problem-solving by connecting committed philanthropists to portfolios
of the world's best social innovators. Acumen is structured around
3 portfolios focused on specific global issues: Health Technology,
Economic & Civic Enterprise, & Water Innovations. This summer
I worked with the Health Technology and Water Innovations Portfolio
Managers on 2 projects. The first was evaluating an investment in the
health technology portfolio. This involved market research, financial
analysis and valuation, term sheet creation and negotiations, assisting
the social entrepreneur rewrite his business plan, and synthesizing
the results into an internal recommendation. The second project was
to develop and evaluate a pipeline of technologies, social entrepreneurs,
and organizations for the soon-to-be launched Water Innovations portfolio.
Ranwa Sarkis
I spent my internship working as a Summer Associate at the Acumen Fund,
a non-profit organization based in New York that operates like a venture
capital firm and invests in projects which have a high social impact
in the developing world. My work consisted of projects supporting two
of the Fund's portfolio companies. I developed a market analysis and
strategy recommendation for an organic farming cooperative, as well
as a syndicated loan proposal to help raise money for that cooperative
from a U.S. foundation. I also worked on a proposal for a microfinance
organization which will be used to acquire a state license for commercial
operation. I applied many of the skills I learned in my first year
at HBS, and learned a great deal about the world of international development
and venture philanthropy.
Irfhan Rawji
I spent 11 weeks volunteering for Da Afghanistan Bank (Central Bank of
Afghanistan) - an agency of the Transitional Islamic Government of
Afghanistan. During this time I worked on four projects: 1) The Strategic
Roadmap for DAB's Reconstruction and Reformation; 2) Reserve Asset
Management; 3) DAB's Branch Network; and 4) Cash Management.
I enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to intern in Afghanistan and
to contribute to its reconstruction effort. This opportunity has further
solidified my desire to integrate social enterprise initiatives into
my career.
Feng (Nancy) Liang
Industry: nonprofit-education
Organization Type: 501 (3)
Location: New York
Function: Strategic Planning
Length: ten weeks
Key deliverables:
Assisted the CFO to complete an activity based costing analysis for sending, hosting and unrestricted fundraising Completed a breakeven analysis for each inventory Depicted a picture of growth and financial health in nine years since the organization began to operate as a separate entity Defined lifelong intercultural learning and understanding industry. Segmented it into five components: international internship, international volunteering, international senior educational travel, international professional exchanges, language study and cultural exploration
Examined the typical business model of each segment by looking at revenue
stream, cost structure, and business logic
Identified opportunities for expansion into new markets - faster growing
and more frequently traveling population segment,
complementary programs that offer synergies in cost
reduction, or innovative model in emerging industry, such as volunteering
Presented findings and recommendations to the board of directors and
senior management
Jennie Tse
My summer internship at AFS-USA has been a very valuable experience both
personally and professionally. I was lucky to have worked for an organization
with a mission I truly believe in - intercultural education. I helped
launch AFS-USA's second formal strategic planning process which is
crucial in shaping the direction of the organization going forward.
Generally, my work involved assessing attractiveness of markets and
performance of competitors, evaluating AFS-USA's existing operations,
and identifying growth opportunities for vertical and horizontal expansions.
The level of interaction with senior management was very high and I
received continuous mentoring throughout the summer. At the end of
the ten weeks, I presented my findings and recommendations to the senior
management team and board members.
Younes Zemmouri
The project consisted in supporting the recently created Congolese National
Agency for the Promotion of Investments (ANAPI) in fostering the development
of foreign investment in the country. Created in early 2003, the agency
is still in its inception phase. The project had two main components:
1.) Producing a detailed analysis of the investment climate in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This study, based on an extensive program of interviews with established investors and international experts, includes policy recommendations towards the improvement of the business climate and the targeting of potential foreign investors. It also served as the basis for ANAPI's policy advocacy role and was communicated to the Congolese Government.
2.) Supporting the operations of ANAPI in the start-up phase. ANAPI was staffed mainly with civil servants with very limited experience of the private sector. Our team has helped them establish rigorous procedures and produce effective promotion material. This included creating a website for the agency, improving the organizational structure and reallocating staff to different tasks.
Mathew Wiggers
During my Social Enterprise Fellowship, I worked for The Animal Medical
Center (AMC), a non-profit, 24-hour veterinarian hospital in the Upper
East Side of Manhattan. The organization is the world's largest veterinarian
hospital, treating over 70,000 patient cases a year and employing over
90 licensed veterinarians. The mission of The Animal Medical Center
combines the efforts of three divisions: The Elmer & Mamdouha Bobst
Hospital, The Caspary Research Institute and The Edwin Riley Institute
for Postgraduate Education. Each of these divisions has distinct roles
within the organization, yet the visions for the future are intertwined.
As the Special Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer, my summer was spent working in a number of capacities. Prior to my arrival, the AMC was able to identify the operating income / loss of the organization at a high, departmental level. However, with an annual operating loss of approximately $3.0M, the AMC management and Board of Directors required more detailed information. My primary assignment was thus to identify and appropriately allocate the AMC's operating revenue and expenses to 17 discreet service areas. I developed an analytical tool that would enable management to easily identify the profit / loss status of all service areas and utilize the information to make long-term strategic business decisions. A secondary task was to dig further into the financials and identify the operating income / loss for each of the three divisions: Hospital, Research and Education. The Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors will use this analysis to help with the solicitation of additional charitable donations. My third assignment was to review various business cases and proposals for revenue enhancement opportunities. In this capacity, I read over proposals and worked with the authors to refine assumptions and brainstorm alternative solutions.
Clara De la Cerda
I joined BH as a Development Associate during the summer to focus mainly
on the organization financial sustainability and support its fundraising
efforts. I took part in the complex process of searching for potential
donors, identifying them, and writing proposals to obtain funds from
them. Hence, I explored and benchmarked other not-for profit organizations,
identifying the most effective strategies to obtain philanthropic funds
from corporations and foundations. Then, performed a quantitative and
qualitative analysis on BH's existing fundraising strategies to decide
on new grant procurement sources that would match its missions and
prospects of growth. And finally I also elaborated proposals to potential
donors. In addition I created reports on Board meetings and Capital
Campaign Committee meetings and submitted recommendations on organizational
restructuring.
Polina Yampolska
I spent the summer with The Beacon Council, an official economic development
partnership of the Miami-Dade County in Florida. The organization is
charged with developing the regional market by attracting investment
into the area and creating favorable conditions to retain and grow
existing businesses. My main role was to understand the approach to
attracting major international organizations into the area, specifically
focusing on the Permanent Secretariat of the Free Trade Area of the
Americas, which alone would create thousands of jobs in the area. I
analyzed the needs of the secretariat body, compared it against Miami-Dade's
facilities and advantages, ran a comparative analysis of the region
vs. the top competitors, and recommended an approach to market the
region as the host for the organization. It was a great opportunity
to apply analytical rigor and business-oriented thinking to the marketing
and planning efforts of the organization, and suggest innovative ways
of thinking about and communicating the region's advantages for business
location.
Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs
Alisher Ashurov
To establish the US-Russia Investment Council in connection with the
annual US-Russia Investment Symposium that has been held by the Kennedy
School of Government of Harvard University for the last six years.
This year's symposium will take place in November 12-14 th . The symposium
is the premier forum for those seeking to gain a deeper understanding
of Russia's business climate and establish new business relations.
The purpose of the Investment Council is to increase the transparency
of the investment climate in Russia by providing an exclusive forum
to the financial community to exchange and discuss ideas that will
ultimately affect the economic development of Russia. The specific
projects included:
Helping set up the Investment Council during the summer by identifying financial institutions that will become its founding members; by inviting them to join the Council; and by helping raise funds to set up the Council
Creating a comprehensive database of financial institutions (mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity and venture capital funds, investment banks) and wealthy individuals, both in Russia and globally, who have substantial interest in investing in Russia.
Stefano Invernizzi
During my internship, I was involved in several projects. All of my tasks
were related to the ambitious goal Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
has set for itself: providing mentors to 1,000,000 children by 2010,
which means growing nearly 4 times (in the number of children served)
in 6 years. I tried to do my part as follows: I developed a reporting
system aimed at analyzing the results of a pilot of a new Service Delivery
Model, and then submitted recommendations on how to proceed to roll
it out nationally. I joined the Marketing Department to identify new
ways to recruit volunteers, cooperated with the COO to build a cost
model to estimate funding needs for the years to come, and redesigned
part of the organization-wide reporting system.
Blue Ridge Foundation New York
Robin Berholz
Blue Ridge Foundation New York (BRFNY) draws on principles of Venture
Philanthropy to fund start-up non-profits addressing high poverty communities
in New York. In addition to providing funds to grantees, Blue Ridge
houses ("incubates") its portfolio in its office space in Brooklyn.
As a Summer Associate, I worked with three BRFNY organizations on strategic
and capacity-building projects. My main projects were working with
the Executive Director of iMentor, an email-based youth mentoring program
serving children in NYC, addressing four key areas 1) determining new
ways to measure the benefits the organization delivers to its service
recipients and stakeholders, 2) developing a strategic plan for the
organization outlining its planned operating achievements, 3) developing
a cash flow budget and three-year financial projections, in preparation
for iMentor exiting the Foundation's space in 2005, 3) creating a report
on how to find real estate in NYC to serve iMentor and other BRFNY
grantees exiting the BRFNY space. Other projects I completed for BRFNY
grantees included: developing a 360 degree review process and researching
volunteer recruitment strategies.
The Bridgespan Group/BridgeStar
Tara Purohit
The Bridgespan Group is an independent consulting firm dedicated exclusively
to serving the nonprofit sector. The Bridgespan Group's mission is
to increase the effectiveness of the nonprofit sector by enhancing
the capability of nonprofit organizations to achieve their mission.
Bridgespan's newest operating unit, BridgeStar, is a nonprofit learning network whose mission is to increase the flow and effectiveness of talent into and within the nonprofit sector. To accomplish its mission, BridgeStar will nurture a community of talented managers, committed to using their skills to improve society through leadership positions in nonprofit organizations. By accessing BridgeStar's online services, they will be able to find compelling career opportunities with a variety of nonprofit organizations, all of whom are truly committed to strengthening their organizations by investing in their leadership. In addition, within this leadership community, senior managers both inside and outside the sector will be able to access peers, mentors, and best-practice knowledge about high-performing nonprofit organizations.
My main projects at BridgeStar this summer were:
1) To interview individuals who have made a career transition from the
for-profit to the nonprofit sector; and
2) To develop a recruitment strategy for BridgeStar's pilot membership
of nonprofit organizations.
In addition, I supported the BridgeStar
team with general business development areas, such as the communications and
marketing materials, pricing strategy, and database and job board functionality.
Felipe Oyanedel
I spent the summer working for Building Blocks International (BBI), a
non-profit organization that seeks to help kids get into schools, stay
in schools and succeed in schools by providing management knowledge
to third non-profit organizations. Another classmate and I were charged
with the task of implementing a balanced scorecard process in the three
different organizations that the company works with, apart from BBI
itself, as a way of measuring the impact of their work on the achievement
of their mission. But, what started as a simple process of translating
the strategy of each organization into a robust tool for controlling
it turned into an effort to determine them almost from scratch. We
ended up helping in the establishment of the mission, strategy and
use of resources for each of the organizations and learned on-site
the importance of having a clear strategy as the backbone of any effort
to obtain a desired result.
Victoria Roig Soler
Building Blocks International (BBI) is an organization whose mission
consists of helping kids get into schools, stay into schools and succeed
into schools by providing management support to community-based organizations
that support this goal. BBI works in the same way as a consulting organization
focused on any managerial problem in the local NGOs of developing countries.
The core of the BBI model is the fellow , a professional sent by a
corporation (called corporate Allie ) who spends one year at BBI providing
managerial support to a local NGO.
BBI launched its operations in Chile, where it has been working with
three organizations since September 2.002. These organizations include:
--CDI or "Comite para la Democratizacion de la Informatica" .
This organization tries to decrease the digital divide among children and
adults, and also to use technology to approach social problems. By discussing
social problems and giving tools to adults and children
through its recently-created centers, the organization
fights, in a very indirect way, against some of the barriers impeding children
to
stay in school.
-- CODENI or "Consejo de Defensa del Nino". This organization
has as its core mission to ensure that children's rights are respected.
CODENI manages several programs to help protect children's rights (e.g.
abandonment, neglect, physical, psychological or sexual
abuse, school desertion, etc.)
FCNJ or "Fundacion Cerro Navia Joven". Working in one of the poorest
neighborhoods in Santiago (Cerro Navia), this foundation deals with some
of the most significant problems that prevent children from staying in
school. Its mission consists of improving the quality of life of the
people living in Cerro Navia. FCNJ consists of a Community Center as
well as a technical school for kids who have not been able to stay in
governmental schools.
Alexandra Wilson
While other Catalyst Alliance Summer Associates worked through Catalyst
Alliance's programs at client organizations, I spent my summer on projects
internal to Catalyst Alliance. I was thrilled to have the opportunity
to work with the very talented and dedicated team at Catalyst Alliance
on several initiatives important to the organization's growth. My projects
included the following:
European Expansion - Assessing the opportunity for Catalyst Alliance
to expand its programs to Europe and identifying potential
strategic and funding partners in the United Kingdom.
Employee Handbook - Creating a comprehensive employee handbook,
including certain workplace and human resource policies and
procedures.
Balanced Scorecard - Building a Performance Management System with
a Balanced Scorecard as its core.
The great majority of my summer was spent on the Balanced Scorecard project
and so I will describe this more significant endeavor in detail.
Monica Rosen
This summer I had the pleasure of working with the Catalyst Alliance
and Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA) in the South End of
Boston. As a summer associate I worked with IBA to complete a five-year
strategic plan, which involved a current assessment of the organization's
services, facilitated planning sessions with six departments, outcomes
measures and financial implications. I also worked closely with the
Director of Operations to develop a new personnel manual, including
a review of all employee benefits and performance measurement systems.
I learned more in three months about effective leadership, organizational
transformation, and my own future goals and aspirations, than I had
in five years of working in the nonprofit sector.
Sara Strammiello
This summer I worked at Year Up, an intensive one-year IT training program
for urban young adults. The program provides 18-24 year old high
school graduates and GED recipients from the Greater Boston area with
hands-on training and a paid internship. After working with Year Up
through an HBS Volunteer Consulting Organization project last spring,
I was truly impressed with their program. When I saw that Year Up was
looking for a summer intern, I jumped at the opportunity. I spent the
summer working on three key projects, including one focused on financial
modeling and another that involved implementing a new software application.
The breadth of projects helped me get a good look at different aspects
of the organization and gave me the opportunity to work with nearly
every member of the Year Up staff. My summer was a truly great experience
and reaffirmed my interest in the social enterprise sector.
Catalyst Alliance/Discovering Justice
Jennifer Brandon
Discovering Justice is an organization whose mission is to educate for
democracy by teaching about justice. They create programs that teach
about the justice system and build skills necessary for engaged citizenship.
Their programs include mock trials, re-enactments of famous court cases,
and a curriculum about rules and justice for first and second grade
children. I worked as a consultant with Catalyst Alliance to do an
independent project for this small Boston-based nonprofit. I completed
two projects for Discovering Justice. The first project included developing
a pricing, marketing, and partnership strategy for one of their programs.
The second project involved developing a strategy and tools for implementing
evaluation and outcome measurement for the organization.
Nicolas Laurent
CDC IXIS Services Industrie management team invests funds in unlisted
mid-cap firms (50-500 M$ turnover) around Europe, taking control of
operations through LBOs, LBIs or similar transactions. Managed funds
are mainly financed by Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations
(CDC), a government agency managing French public savings. Through
CDC IXIS Private Equity, CDC is the major shareholder of CDC IXIS Services
Industrie.
I worked directly with investment directors, assessing potential projects, executing investments and assisting portfolio companies in their growth and with specific issues they are facing (legal, operational or financial).
Center for Business and Government
Euvin Naidoo
One in every five adults in South Africa is infected with HIV/AIDS. Various
stakeholders are involved in addressing this impact: NGO's, activist
groups, Governments and IGOs for example. The CBG, under the leadership
of John Ruggie, decided to embark upon a program that looks at the
role of another stakeholder, specifically that of the corporate response
to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For businesses operating in areas where the
disease is prevalent, the impact on employee numbers, the talent pool
and even customer base could have serious implications for the future
operations of businesses. The effect in many places has already been
felt. Over and above this utilitarian view of why corporates should
be involved is also an altruistic argument of corporates simply 'doing
the right thing' and getting involved to serve the best interests not
just of their employees but the communities they operate in too. This
precise dialogue and often debate (on the role of business in society)
as well as the need to develop actions steps to respond to the issues
involved is why the CBG hoped to engage the corporate world in series
of conferences hosted at Cambridge, Johannesburg and Beijing.
My role over summer was to join the team preparing for the second Cambridge conference chaired by both John Ruggie and Dianna Barrett of the Harvard Business School. As a member of the Harvard Business School community my role was to be one of Project Researcher, helping to add to the business perspective of the materials both developed and distributed. For this conference, we had delegates primarily from South Africa and the United States involving the corporate, non-profit and public sector.
Children's Friend and Family Services
Mary Bowler
This summer I worked at Children's Friend and Family Services, a nonprofit
in Salem, Massachusetts. Children's Fiend is one of the oldest nonprofits
in New England (it was founded almost 175 years ago) and throughout
its history has consistently provided services to disadvantages children
and their families. The agency currently employees about 80 clinicians
in six offices and 40 outreach locations to provide counseling services.
It also runs a mentoring program, a teen parent day care, a juvenile
court evaluation clinic, and teacher training seminars. Working for
the VP of Finance and Operations, I completed a variety of projects
which included a discounted cash flow analysis to compare options for
buying or renting a new clinic office. I also completed a large project
to revamp the current compensation model which included implementing
new time tracking systems, new productivity measurements, and new overtime
incentives. In addition to these larger projects, I was also invited
to participate in the day-to-day operations of the executive staff
so I attended weekly executive staff meetings and monthly board meetings.
Meghan Rodgers
Children's Friend has been serving disadvantaged youth on
Boston's North Shore through its mission to improve the lives of children
and promote strong families. The organization provides counseling,
mentoring, teen parent day care, juvenile court evaluations, and teaching
training through its offices in Lynn, Salem, Ipswich, Gloucester, Salisbury,
and Harverhill, and in over 40 outreach locations, including schools,
day care centers, and after-school programs. During the summer, I completed
a comprehensive project focused on restructuring the organization-wide
compensation system to ensure a refined and more equitable model. Related
activities included researching compensation programs in benchmark
organizations, analyzing organization and individual financial impacts,
preparing and delivering a proposal to the executive team, developing
and facilitating an implementation plan. I also completed a related
cross-functional analysis related to labor, productivity, and profitability.
Additionally, I assisted with the contract and grant management process
and fundraising development.
Mitchell Weiss
I worked for the City of Chicago in the Office of Budget and Management
(OBM). The OBM's two main responsibilities include 1) preparing and
executing the Mayor's annual budget and 2) developing and executing
management initiatives. During the summer, I focused on four of these
management initiatives. These four projects were:
1) Studying the citywide copier equipment asset base to prepare the City
to negotiate more favorable contracts with vendors and implement better
procurement strategies within city departments
2) The beginning of the City's process to hire a company (or companies)
to manage the City's energy procurement and conservation efforts
3) Benchmarking the employee benefits programs provided to City employees
in order to make proposals for program changes and to prepare the labor
negotiation teams for contract negotiations
4) Evaluating responses to the City's request for wireless communication
services and making recommendations regarding the City's selection of
a service provider(s) and contract management strategies
Leisle Chung
City Year seeks to promote the concept of national service in order to
build democracy. City Year operates fifteen service sites nationwide
with ~750 full time volunteers. Most of the volunteers work in schools,
but the organization has not yet developed a standardized service model/product
for in-school service. I worked at the National headquarters, with
a team of service directors from across the network, to begin creating
City Year's school partnership model. I assessed current service offerings,
identified best practices, and helped outline and roll out the v1.0
national school partnership model.
Jason Medlin
As Field Support Specialist for D2D Fund, Inc. this summer, I was given
a variety of responsibilities that focused on the launch of the Beta
test website ( www.onlineida.org).
In an environment where we were teaching low-income households to utilize
Internet technology for information and transactions, our training
materials had to be first-rate. My focus during the first few weeks
was developing training materials for the site that were user-friendly
and informative. Once we launched the website, my attention turned
to designing and implementing systems that would help us gauge our
progress. Using surveys as a means of capturing data about participants,
I developed a scoring system that allowed us to quantify the data and
conduct some trend analysis. Since we were also involved with the electronic
transfer of money, I developed a reconciliation system that allowed
us to monitor the flow of funds and communicate to our partners that
we were properly accounting for those funds. Toward the end of the
summer, my focus turned to marketing and public relations strategies.
Our system was now live and we had a story to tell. My job was to assist
in the development of our message to the community. Finally, we had
to devise an overall strategy for the company going forward. Given
the reliance of D2D's business model on legislation that has yet to
pass, it was only prudent for us to develop some contingency plans
and fundraising strategies around those plans. My HBS education allowed
me to contribute a business perspective to these high-level discussions.
Murad Sofizade
My internship was at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. The culmination
of the internship from my perspective was a meeting with the Governor
of State of Hawaii Mrs. Linda Lingle and then with a Mayor of city
of Honolulu Mr. Jeremy Harris. They offered an invaluable perspective
on a day-to-day routine of public servants, with many personal and
professional highlights about their own career and struggle to become
successful politicians. I appreciate very much the opportunity to be
there in Hawaii, work on the projects, and meet the people that I could
never have had without generous help of the donors from the MBA Class
of 1973 and helpful HBS Social Enterprise staff.
Joohee Shin
Echoing Green Foundation is a global social venture fund based in New
York that provides seed and start-up capital, technical assistance,
and network to the emerging social entrepreneurs around the world through
a fellowship program. Echoing Green is currently going through a critical
transitional period, with new leadership, strategic redefinition, and
major fundraising and marketing initiatives. As a summer associate,
I worked on two major projects:
1) developing overall strategy of Echoing Green Foundation, which involved
systematic process of conducting comprehensive situational assessment,
competitive positioning, and developing long term vision/strategy and
short term implementation plans across Echoing Green's core activities
and organizational capacity areas; and
2) drafting proposal for fellows evaluation system, focusing on developing
consistent evaluation criteria and potential specific measures; institutionalizing
evaluation tools and processes; and developing processes to capture feedback
/ learning from evaluation into tangible action plans for continuous
improvement.
Tomas Alfaro
Between May 26 th 2003 and August 1 st 2003, I have been helping Clausen,
an entrepreneurial biotech company in Uruguay, in the context of an
internship organized by Endeavor. Endeavor is a non-profit organization
that helps entrepreneurs to develop its skills and contacts in developing
countries.
During these 10 weeks, I have developed a business plan to find a partner
to develop a commercial application for recombinant human thrombopoietin
(rHu-TPO), a local research and development biotechnology product. I
have also helped Clausen to adapt its structure to the growth it is having
thanks to its commercial success. Finally, I have provided Clausen with
tools that will help them to understand the value of its different business
lines, in case of a divesture.
During my work with Clausen, I have also helped Endeavor with a project
of identification and capture of synergies for Uruguayan entrepreneurs.
Manuel Bartlett
During the summer, I worked at Endeavor, mainly doing some consulting
for one of its sponsored companies, Todo de Cartón. The project's
main objective was to obtain funds for the company's growth through
the development of its franchise system. After an analysis of the company's
working capital needs and the current state of its franchises, it was
proposed to Todo de Cartón that they should obtain the funds
internally instead of externally, as originally intended. The project's
impact could be important for the sponsored organization, since it
could solve some of its most important issues: a lack of working capital
and the franchise system's sustainability.
Micah Collins
My summer was spent working through Endeavor Brazil. Endeavor is a non-profit
organization whose mission is to support entrepreneurship in developing
economies. They provide a number of services to help entrepreneurs
gain access to professional networks that allow them to share knowledge,
build partnerships, find capital, and access other services. Endeavor's
eMBA program is designed to match able business school students with
companies who need support in overcoming challenges in their resource
constrained environment. The company I worked with was Tecnologia e
Sistemas Avançados Ltda (Tecsis). Tecsis is an aerospace engineering
based firm who develops wind blades for the wind energy and industrial
fan markets. I was tasked with developing a marketing strategy for
their industrial fan division. In doing so, I performed a competitive
strategy study, developed a marketing plan for a new product line,
and sought out opportunities for channel partnerships to help them
create more value for their customers.
Luis Costa Bueno
I helped MasterMaq Informática, a Brazilian company that provides
management software solutions to accounting offices and small and medium-sized
companies in general throughout the country. The company was one of the
five companies in Brazil selected to be part of the Endeavor program.
I helped them define a growth strategy and structure it better to support
the expansion. The project involved the Sales, Customer Care, Collection,
Retention, and Customer Support areas.
Manuel Pedro Ramos
The project involved the development of the Internationalization strategy
for Infocorp - an Uruguayan-based SW developer backed by Endeavor.
Following the financial collapse of Uruguay in mid-2002 and subsequent
recession and rising unemployment, Infocorp faced serious difficulties
as its domestic market shrunk significantly. The company decided to
start an internationalization process to guarantee its growth and sustainability.
Despite high technological capabilities the company was struggling
to establish a sustainable competitive positioning abroad. My project
involved the development of the company's marketing strategy to support
the company's sustainable growth in international markets.
Daniel Cook
Hawaii is building an early track record in high growth entrepreneurship
through the support of emerging success stories. As the state's premier
entrepreneurs have struggled to engage local capital, it is clear that
a stronger venture industry will be a critical condition for validating
Hawaiian entrepreneurship and unleashing state-based economic impact.
This summer project is intended to aid Hawaiian public and private stakeholders
in the capital formation process, with the support of HBS' Social Enterprise
Fellowship. The general aim of the project is to share useful information
on the current status of VC investing in Hawaii and the drivers and employable
models for engaging primary sources of capital.
Federal Communications Commission
J. B. Lockhart
I spent my summer internship in the Office of Strategic Planning and
Policy Analysis (OSP) at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
In OSP, I worked directly with the agency's Chief of Policy Development
to identify and analyze business, market and consumer trends in the
media and communications industries. For my major project, I researched,
analyzed and drafted a study on household consumption of entertainment
and communications services. This study examined the evolution of expenditure
and behavioral trends over the past forty years and assessed the impact
of new technologies on consumption. My other projects included updating
reports to the Commissioners on the financial performance of media
companies and briefing FCC officials for Congressional hearings.
Foundation for Enterprise Development
Cristiana Pereira
As a Project Consultant for FED during the 2003 summer, my main responsibility
was to lead a strategic planning process that would help FED to determine
how they should best position to pursue growth opportunities. Part
of this process was to conduct a competitive market analysis for FED
to better understand their main customers in the international markets,
namely the development agencies and multilateral banks. In addition,
I also provided some assistance to FED's officers in two other projects,
the Latin America Survey on Entrepreneurship and the United Nations
Development Programme e-discussion.
Leon Amariglio
During the summer of 2003, I worked with Fundacion Esquel, one of the
leading NGOs in Ecuador. Fundacion Esquel is a very active NGO in Ecuador
in the fields of Education, youth, democracy and civic society and
sustainable enterprise development. My primary tasks for the summer
included working with the enterprise division in helping them design
and initiate their microfinance activities. In this role, I helped
prepare a business plan, marketing plan and helped identify and contact
international partners and investors. In addition, I briefly worked
on several other areas of Esquel, looking into youth training projects
and their small venture capital activities.
Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Michael Munson
I worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the Industrial Promotion
Fund ("Fonds de Promotion de l'Industrie," or "FPI" in French). I was
one of twelve summer internships funded by the World Bank for Harvard
Business School and Kennedy School students. FPI is a state-owned domestic
development bank with 200 employees that extends credit to domestic
industrial firms. FPI has performed abysmally over the past 5 years
as a result of civil war, hyperinflation, and gross mismanagement.
New senior officers recently began a turnaround effort. We functioned
as consultants with an open mandate to improve the agency as we saw
fit. We studied the bank's difficult economic context, operations,
and developed practical operational recommendations. Our analysis culminated
in a multi-day forum in which we presented our recommendations to the
agency's twelve most senior leaders. We led a discussion to determine
which ideas were feasible and to develop an implementation timetable
within the context of the agency's ongoing transformation effort.
I found the whole experience fascinating and incredibly helpful as I
consider future career alternatives. I came away from the summer with
a much better understanding of various activities within the international
development field and with a stronger conviction that I should examine
how to apply my skills to the field. I still have lots of unanswered
questions about what I should do, but now I at least have a better idea
of how to frame these questions.
Russell Constantine
Based in northern California, HIP Housing is a non-profit organization
that provides affordable housing solutions to residents of San Mateo
County. As the Property Development and Management Analyst, I completed
two projects for HIP. The first was a financial analysis of the agency's
property management business. For several years, HIP Housing has self-managed
its multi-unit affordable properties; however, a thorough assessment
of the underlying economics was missing. My final report was designed
to aid the Board of Directors in deciding between continued self-management
and outsourced fee-management. The second project was a strategic and
financial analysis of HIP Housing's property development activities.
In addition to summarizing current property performance and identifying
drivers of profitability, the final report examined sources of financing
and recommended that HIP achieve its mission through adherence to a
carefully constructed operational strategy. As non-profit affordable
housing development requires the cooperation of multiple stakeholders,
successful completion of the internship required that I meet with lenders,
property managers, citizens, affiliated organizations, and representatives
from City and County Redevelopment Agencies. A thorough understanding
of financing sources, and the regulations associated therewith, was
also essential.
Jennifer Daily
As a Summer Associate at the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City
(ICIC), I conducted research on the impact of ICIC's work since its
founding nine years ago. ICIC is primarily a research organization
that studies and promotes strategies for inner city business development.
My project involved a qualitative analysis of the impact of ICIC's
research on the economic development, business, and political arenas.
I created a poster-size timeline that tracked ICIC's major publications
and achievements and the subsequent adoption of ICIC's theories by
other institutions and businesses. After developing a method for measuring
the impact of ideas and conceptualizing the final product (the time
line), I spent significant time conducting literature surveys and internet
research. My research involved looking for examples of adoption and
implementation of ICIC theories as well as a general survey of trends
in economic development over the past 20 years. The final product will
be used by ICIC as an evaluative tool, to celebrate its accomplishments,
and as an overview of the industry that will be helpful as it publishes
a new paper summarizing what it has learned about inner city business
over the past ten years.
Fabio Takaki
During the summer of 2003, I worked for the Initiative for a Competitive
Inner City (ICIC), a national nonprofit organization founded by Professor
Michael Porter in 1994. The mission of ICIC is to promote new thinking
that inspires public and private leaders to build jobs, income, and
wealth for inner-city residents and communities. The main activities
of ICIC include research, consulting, business development delivery
systems, the ICIC-Inc. Magazine Inner City 100, and Private Equity
Capital to inner city businesses.
At ICIC, I contributed for the "State of the Inner City Economies" (SOICE)
Project. One of the greatest missing information to attract capital and
other resources to inner cities is the understanding of the business
base of these areas. The performance of the inner cities over time and
across regions has not been researched or consistently tracked. ICIC
has embarked on this project to produce and monitor such vital economic
information.
The SOICE project was designed to: (a) provide a profile of the inner
city economy in the largest 100 central cities in the country; (b) identify
socio-economic trends of those inner cities, (c) define and evaluate
inner city competitiveness and its drivers, and (d) carry out pilot projects
around the country.
The major goal of the SOICE project is to reinforce ICIC's mission to
engage the private and public sectors in fostering inner city economies.
The project creates a framework for analyzing inner city economies performance,
establishing a clear criteria for defining inner city boundaries, and
raising the profile of inner city markets in the national debate as competitive
business locations.
With a team composed of economists, urban planners, and IT specialists,
I contributed for the project execution, producing the following deliverables
in eleven weeks: (a) creation of a database to define inner city economies
and their demographic indicators of the top 100 largest central cities
in the United States; (b) identification of inner city trends and business
patterns in 1990 and 2000; (c) mapping of the largest inner cities; (d)
documentation and preparation of a preliminary report with analysis of
the top largest inner cities, including socio-economic and business comparisons
of the inner cities versus other locations (Central Cities, Metropolitan
Areas, and the National economy). The major findings of the project will
be included in a report to be launched with Business Week and presented
in a major Conference in the Fall.
International Finance Corporation
Ivan Baranov
International Finance Corporation, the private sector development arm
of the World Bank Group, organized a new internship initiative this
summer, offering MBA students the opportunity to work in small and
medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets. I was selected to provide
technical assistance to a Ukrainian biotechnological start-up. Company,
which specialized on research and production of biological pesticides,
has decided to expand internationally and I was charged with a preparation
of a marketing strategy. Together with a local MBA I have prepared
an extensive market research and proposed a strategy for entering European
market as well as a new strategy for their development on a local market
of biopesticides.
Shurat Kuziev
The aim of Private Sector Advisory Services group is to create so-called
Public Private Partnerships where private capital/participation is
brought into providing public services. The underlying assumption is
that private entities are better than public organizations in increasing
operational efficiency, thus at providing better services at lower
costs.
I worked with the Russia team on identifying possible PPP projects in
Russia. My task was to research the Russian municipal service industry
and select such a segment that would be best suitable for a pilot project.
Russia's once well-functioning and heavily subsidized infrastructure
(water, heating, solid waste, housing) saw very little capital investments
after the fall of the Soviet Union. Along with lack of funds, the inefficient
management led to rapid deterioration of existing assets. To solve this
problem Russian municipalities need not only large investments into the
industry but also professional management found in the private sector.
By the end of summer we identified water treatment and sewerage segment
to be best fit for a pilot project. As a team member I traveled to Moscow
to interview local experts and generate interest of local players to
introducing PPP in the municipal services.
Alice Laidlaw
I worked on the IFC-Netherlands Carbon Facility ("INCaF"). I was based
at IFC's headquarters in Washington DC. The Facility is an arrangement
under which the IFC purchases greenhouse gas emission reductions on behalf
of the Government of the Netherlands using the "Clean
Development Mechanism" of the Kyoto Protocol. The Netherlands
will use these emission reductions to help meet its commitments under
the Kyoto Protocol.
Maria Liliana Ishikawa
I worked during the summer 2003 in Kiev, Ukraine, for a project sponsored
by the International Finance Corporation, through the Global Business
School Network (GBSN) summer internship program with small and medium-sized
enterprises in emerging markets. I performed a consulting project for
the Ukrincomlease Leasing Company, developing an innovative financing
program for real estate transactions. The program aims to expand the
use of credit and attract foreign and local investment in order to
spread out the development of real estate projects in Ukraine. Overall,
the internship was a truly inspiring experience: I had the opportunity
to learn about the active role of the IFC in developing countries,
the distinctive business environment in a former Soviet Union country
and the idiosyncrasy and cultural heritage of the Ukrainian society.
This summer experience confirmed my strong interest in international
development. I want to take an active role in the transformation of
emerging markets, identifying and developing new business opportunities.
M. Idette Elizondo
This summer, I worked primarily on strategy and marketing research projects
for Johns Hopkins physician practices and disease-specific projects
(e.g., oncology pituitary tumor, breast disease). I also helped the
organization apply for continuing education accreditation for its annual
A Woman's Journey Conference. Analysis for these projects included
querying internal and external market research databases, analyzing
data in Access and Excel, and presenting results in PowerPoint. Strategy,
marketing, and finance coursework from HBS helped guide my analysis
and recommendations.
Aliceson Robinson
My internship was spent at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
with Lincoln Center, Inc. where I reported to the President as a Special
Projects Assistant. Lincoln Center, Inc. is the landlord of Lincoln
Center and its eleven constituents as well as a presenting organization.
Over the course of the summer, I engaged in a number of special strategic
projects which included assessing the opportunities created by the
New York Philharmonic's decision to leave the Lincoln Center, conducting
an analysis of organizational and efficiency opportunities given the
extensive changes at the Lincoln Center, developing a more rigorous
evaluation method for potential corporate sponsors, and evaluating
Lincoln Center, Inc. and constituent endowment levels.
Varsha Raju
My summer of 2003 was spent working in the desert. At times, quite literally!
I worked for the Los Alamos National Lab (LANL) as a business development
consultant. The Los Alamos National Lab is part of the US Department
of Energy and has, as part of its mission, a goal to enhance the competitiveness
and economic infrastructure of northern New Mexico (Albuquerque, Santa
Fe). It utilizes MBA students as consultants in its Business Development
Division, offering marketing, finance, and operations expertise to
local area small businesses which utilize LANL technology. In helping
small, hi-tech businesses and entrepreneurs grow and succeed, LANL
contributes to job creation, and attracts business and capital to the
otherwise economically depressed area.
I consulted for three different firms which were headed by entrepreneurs
and scientists. In one project I developed financial projections and
a marketing program for a solar hydrogen production company, which was
developing a prototype dish in the desert. I also developed an advertising
and sales campaign for a satellite phone company, and provided product
development and market research assistance for an innovative puncture-detecting
and self-healing material. For all these companies, I was able to implement
several of my recommendations, and it has been a terrifically gratifying
summer to see some successful results.
Adam Hall
The original internship plan was to assist Mercy Corps' Kyrgyzstan Country
Director in the absence of an "Economic Development Manager" who would
usually oversee credit programs (this position was between appointments).
Specifically the tasks were:
-- Help Mercy Corps' NGO partners in the Micro-credit
program become self-sustainable
-- Launch a marketing plan for Mercy Corps' small
business credit fund partner
-- Assist the Country Director with some ongoing
legal issues related to registration issues, and consequent legal actions
It became clear soon after I arrived that the legal issues were actually
the result of a campaign of harassment by elements within the Kyrgyz
Government aimed at obtaining resources through Mercy Corps. This culminated
in an (unfounded) criminal investigation against the Country Director,
which resulted in the Country Director and Finance Director (half the
expat staff) leaving the country. These issues assumed significant importance
as they threatened the future of Mercy Corps' operations in Kyrgyzstan
Jose Pantangco
The Philippines' National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections
(NAMFREL) is a non-partisan, nationwide organization working for the
cause of free, orderly and honest elections in the Philippines. NAMFREL
has been working with the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC)
to modernize the country's electoral system. Phase 2 of the modernization
program involves the automation of the counting and canvassing system
of the 2004 Philippine National Elections covering 40 million voters
and more than 1,600 cities and municipalities. The new system will
cut down the counting and canvassing process from 3-4 weeks to less
than 5 days; thereby, increasing the credibility of the electoral process
and strengthening the country's democratic institutions.
As a summer intern, I worked as a project consultant for the second phase
of the COMELEC modernization program through NAMFREL. I was tasked to
reorganize the Commission's Project Management and Implementation Team
with the formation of the national secretariat, the provincial project
management structure, and the realignment and streamlining of the nine
project sub-teams. I also assisted in creating the project planning process
and developing the detailed Project Implementation Plan. I was also asked
to consolidate and evaluate the USD50 Million Project Budget. I also
assisted in developing the ballot face design, ballot printing strategy,
counting center design, public information campaign, risk management
plan and other key aspects of the program.
National Parks Conservation Association
Jessica Tornek
Working for the National Parks Conservation Association and the National
Parks Service was an opportunity to complete a business plan for a
specific national park. Working with senior park management, a detailed
cost accounting analysis was done for the park's operating budget.
Additional qualitative interviews were conducted to determine the park's
most critical funding needs. Once shortfalls in funding were determined,
the consulting team was able to recommend cost cutting and revenue
generating strategies. The final product is a professionally designed
business plan that will be distributed to all relevant park constituents,
including Congress, local governments and affiliated partners.
Alice Prager
The mission of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is to preserve the plants,
animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life
on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. TNC
employs scientific, systematic analysis to identify places large enough
in scale and rich enough in plant and animal species to ensure meaningful
conservation results. This organization appealed to me because of its
systematic and scientific yet economically rational approach to conservation.
TNC recognizes that land conservation does not have to be a zero sum
game and, as a result, is creating innovative structures to stem development
but still allow other constituents use of the land .
My primary responsibilities at TNC included:
-- Examining the California Timber Market to determine industry sustainability
and related financing opportunities
-- Assisting with negotiations and financing for acquisition of lands
in the North Coast of California
-- Developing an online California Capital Planning Tool (CCPT) to assist
the COO with budgeting and resource allocation for statewide initiatives
Agency Rewards
I believe that I helped TNC California get closer to solving two critical
issues: internally - aligning its budgeting practices with its human
resources, and externally - developing new financial structures and incentives
to conserve additional land. Because of my analysis on the California
timber industry, The Nature Conservancy is better positioned to undertake
a major timber-related transaction that will further both land preservation
and economic viability in rural far northern California. In addition,
my efforts on the CCPT should allow TNC to streamline its tracking and
measurement practices, which will enable TNC to participate in additional
land acquisitions, leading to a greater social impact.
Personal Rewards
The internship allowed me to:
--Gain a better sense of the best practices in the non-profit industry
and the nuances of land conservation while leveraging my previous work
experience (investment banking and equity research).
-- Gain firsthand experience with organizational response to investigative
reporting (a Washington Post "exposé") in a large public agency.
-- Solve the question of whether environmental activism is for me an
abiding personal interest or a professional career focus.
Stephanie Cyr
New Leaders for New Schools is an organization that recruits, trains
and places principals in urban public schools. To date, New Leaders
has primarily worked with district schools; 75% of principals have
been placed in district schools and 25% have been placed in charter
schools. Given the importance of charter schools to education reform,
New Leaders' mission to foster high academic achievement for every child,
and the difficulty New Leaders has had in the past serving charter
schools, New Leaders recognized the need to determine how it could
better serve the leadership needs of this critical market. As a result,
fellow section-mate, Doug Lemov, and I worked this summer with Monique
Burns, President and Chief Curriculum Officer of New Leaders, to research
the needs of the charter school market, develop a product that better
served these needs, and create a business plan to be presented for
approval to the Board in September. Over the course of the summer,
Doug and I conducted over 120 interviews of charter school experts
and practitioners, extensive internal interviews and updates with the
New Leaders for New Schools management team, two formal board updates
and three external focus groups. In addition, we created a detailed
segmentation of the charter school market and performed numerous other
analyses to inform our understanding of the market need. Finally, we
ended our summer with the creation of a 75+ page business plan and
the development of a robust financial model for our final product recommendations.
Doug Lemov
New Leaders for New Schools is a nationally recognized non-profit that
recruits and trains school leaders for placement in reform-minded urban
public schools. New Leaders currently places approximately 80% of its
Fellows in district schools and 20% of its Fellows in public, charter
schools. In serving both traditional public schools and more entrepreneurial
charter schools, New Leaders has recognized that the latter market
is critically important part to the success of education reform in
this country and that it has distinct and dramatically different needs.
Along with HBS section-mate Stefanie Cyr, I spent the summer developing
a business model and writing a business plan for New Leaders to effectively
serve the leadership needs of the charter and entrepreneurial schools
market. Our project goes before the New Leaders for New Schools Board
of Trustees in September and, if approved, will give rise to two entities
operating a combined annual $3M in programs within five years.
New Schools Better Neighborhoods
Carin Gillary
My eight-week summer internship was with New Schools Better Neighborhoods
(NSBN), a Los Angeles-based civic advocacy group focused on reforming
existing approaches to the citing, design and construction of new schools
in California. I spent the first week and a half of my internship helping
coordinate and execute NSBN's "Schools as Centers of Neighborhood Vitality" Symposium
at the Getty Center. The day-long Symposium engaged over 150 policymakers,
business leaders, architects and educators in dialogue about the importance
of, and challenges associated with, creating community-centered schools.
I spent the remaining six and a half weeks of my internship working
on the creation and/or execution of three of NSBN's mixed use, neighborhood-centered
new school and family resource center projects located in Los Angeles
County (Westlake, Wilmington and Lawndale). I also compiled data and
conducted research on the misallocation of state school construction
bond money, which could be used help create a more equitable system
of distribution in the future.
Lisa Dare
A study done in conjunction with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
to determine the feasibility and specific strategies for the creation
of charter management organizations (CMOs) in California, New York,
and Ohio, with a secondary emphasis on Washington DC and Pennsylvania.
The analysis was based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative
research, interviews with local and national education and political
leaders, and NewSchools intellectual capital.
One of my lifelong goals has been to make an impact on K-12 students
in the United States. Upon coming to Harvard Business School, my expectation
was to spend my career in the "for-profit, education technology" industry.
For me, "for-profit, education technology" seemed to be the only promising
means of improving education in the U.S. This belief in for-profit, education
technology was based of two assumptions: (1) That non-profits were generally
not effective in reaching large-scale goals for various reasons (e.g.
funding difficulties, ineffective management, etc.) and (2) That the
public school system in the U.S. could not be "fixed". Therefore, I believed
that the best way to help students was to improve the tools that would
supplement their often ill-equipped teachers and under-funded school
programs.
Brett Frood
During the summer I worked as an intern for NYC2012, a non-profit organization
focused on bringing the 2012 Olympic Games to the city of New York.
Importantly, its initiatives encompass much more than the goal of luring
the world's most prestigious and exciting sporting event to its city.
For NYC2012, the Olympic Games offer the prospect of new and renovated
facilities, economic revival, facilitation of community spirit, and
improvement in NYC's transportation and communication infrastructure.
One of my major responsibilities was using various marketing strategies
to accelerate the awareness and enthusiasm of the public about these
positive externalities. In addition, a major goal of the organization
is in creating a lasting legacy for the population in New York City.
As part of this program, it was my job to help promote sports to children,
enhance sport's programs in the New York boroughs, inspire younger
generations to strive for excellence, and make a real contribution
to promoting sports on all levels. Undoubtedly, winning the Olympic
bid will have a substantial positive impact on the city of New York.
But more importantly, if the bid is lost in 2005, the organization
will still be able to proudly consider their actions successful.
National Security Division, OMB
Spencer Kympton
I worked this summer in the front office of the National Security Division,
Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President
in Washington, D.C. My daily responsibilities included tracking Department
of Defense (DoD) appeals to Congressional action on the federal defense
authorization and defense appropriation acts, scoring defense budget
actions and constructing Presidential policy responses to proposed
changes, and analyzing spending proposals from the Coalition Provisional
Authority and the DoD for use in the reconstruction of Iraq or in the
reimbursement of coalition partners. I also completed a long-term project
of personal interest which involved developing a database of all defense
appropriations over the last twelve years, which will serve as a foundation
for any analysis or comparison of defense spending over the last three
presidential administrations.
Robert Rausch
Outward Bound USA's four wilderness schools and two urban centers serve
approximately 30,000 students each year. This summer, I completed three
separate projects for those six entities and reported my recommendations
directly to the President, Board of Directors, and various Executive
Committees. First, I conducted an analysis of the existing Safety Incident
Reporting process. Second, I analyzed the National Scholarship Program
which contributes roughly fifteen percent of the total dollars to the
Outward Bound scholarship system. Finally, I assisted in the development
of a business plan for Outward Bound Professional, the collection of
programs that deliver training and development courses to business
and professional organizations. The resulting plan was submitted to
the Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures' National Business Plan Competition.
Population Services International
Adrian Blair
This output of this project was a comprehensive assessment
of the market for family planning products in Nepal, helping Population
Services International (PSI) decide how and where to focus its marketing
activities.
Population Services International (PSI) is a large international NGO,
specialising in marketing basic healthcare and family planning products
to poor people in less developed countries. Their operations in Nepal
began recently, and are entirely funded by USAID. The USAID priority
areas PSI now covers include HIV/AIDS reduction and family planning promotion.
Molly Hellerman
My internship project with Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) was to utilize
SWOT analysis and identify success variables to create a 5-year strategy.
Building off the first 5-year strategy, my long range plan focused
specifically on workshop sales and marketing models, development/ funding
pipeline and application of these revenue sources into organizational
expansion. To better understand the organization and make applicable
suggestions I also structured and executed several smaller projects.
For example, I was responsible for the design and implementation of
a pricing model, associated marketing collateral and sales effort surrounding
the release of The Double-Goal Coach , a new book by Jim Thompson,
PCA's founder and Executive Director. But perhaps the task which most
contributed to my understanding of PCA was to become a certified trainer
and subsequently lead nationwide workshops for parents, coaches and
league administrators. As one observer noted, these workshops "get
to the grassroots of what PCA is trying to do."
Chris Squier
The mission of the Public Buildings Service (PBS) is to simultaneously
provide a superior workplace for the federal worker and superior value
to the American taxpayer. The PBS is the civilian federal government's
landlord, developer, and childcare provider. The PBS participates in
all aspects of the real estate industry, including development, acquisitions
and dispositions, finance, lease negotiations as tenant or landlord,
property management, and real estate consulting.
A 12-week internship working for the Director of Development as a Business
and Industry Specialist. Primarily I 1) performed property and business
valuations and prepared written land offers in the negotiations for acquiring
properties for four US courthouses in the Southeast; 2) developed a Memorandum
of Understanding and Site Option involving the US Army, the federal government,
and private developers in Miramar, FL; and 3) participated in negotiations
and wrote formal agreements between community development groups, the
government, and the City of Birmingham, AL.
Tracy Breslin
This summer, I worked as a Strategic Analyst for Learning in Communities
/ Providence , a citywide initiative hosted by Rhode Island KIDS
COUNT. This collaborative venture aimed to create a citywide business
plan to develop a comprehensive system of out-of-school time services
for Providence's children and youth.
As a key member of the strategic planning team, I identified and prioritized
needs, areas or research, and next steps to implement this citywide initiative.
I developed tools to gather information on existing supply (e.g., current
services and providers in Providence). To inform and guide the business
planning process, I analyzed existing research and citywide initiatives
around the country. Based on this research, I derived key lessons, best
practices, innovative approaches, and implications for Providence. I
presented findings and recommendations addressing the relationship between
cost and scale, financing strategies, methodologies to estimate supply
and demand, professional standards in the field, workforce development,
and strategies to build sustainable citywide systems.
The Richard King Mellon Foundation
Jill Strassburger
The Richard King Mellon Foundation is a $1.3 billion private foundation
based in Pittsburgh, PA. The foundation primarily supports regional
issues -including Economic Development, Educational Reform, Families,
Youth & Children and Systems Reform. Additionally, the foundation
has created the National Land Conservation Program which has purchased
over 1 million acres of land in all 50 states. I worked directly for
the Associate Director of the Mellon Foundation who was responsible
for over $30 million dollars of grant allocations annually. My primary
responsibility was to define a portion of the foundation's regional
economic development strategy related to the goal of attracting and
retaining young professionals to the Southwestern Pennsylvania region.
I undertook a comprehensive strategic review of the subject and of
Mellon's past involvement in related areas. The process including interviewing
over 25 private, public and community leaders, reviewing academic literature
and census data and regularly conferring with the Associate Director.
I was also involved in numerous other activities related to the daily
operations of the foundation including participating in the grant review
process and conducting grantee reviews and evaluations.
Young Chung
My summer project at Resources for Indispensable Schools and Educators
(RISE) was to develop a sustainable growth strategy for the organization
and begin implementation of the initial phase of this growth plan.
I examined the structural dynamics of existing markets and worked with
the VP of Marketing to revise marketing efforts targeting low-income
schools and qualified teachers to join the RISE network. Working with
the VP of Programs and Development, I explored opportunities to grow
the organization's reach organically in existing markets through partnerships
with school districts, corporations, and other non-profit organizations.
I also evaluated the current pricing structure for RISE schools and
built a flexible revenue model to compare projections under variable,
success-based pricing against the current model. Toward the end of
the summer, I focused on trying to improve the organizational structure
and processes to poise RISE for efficiency-related growth. And finally,
I offered a template for geographic expansion into new markets in future
years, that encompassed market data, pricing strategy, organizational
requirements, funding levels needed to reach sustainability in that
market, and marketing initiatives to build the RISE network of schools
and teachers.
Roberts Enterprise Development Fund
Mousumi Shaw
The Roberts Enterprise Development Fund (REDF) is currently at one its
most significant intersections since it was established in 1997. George
Roberts has challenged the organization to expand its funding base
from a single donor fund to a multi-donor fund. At the same time the
organization is considering expanding and/or replicating its efforts
beyond the San Francisco Bay area. Therefore my summer projected consisted
of three modules: 1) evaluating the elements have been key to REDF's
success to date and decide whether they are replicable; 2) conducting
a fund benchmarking study of other progressive venture philanthropy
funds and 3) creating and evaluating various options that REDF should
consider if they replicate and/or expand.
One of the highlights of my summer was presenting a brief of my findings
to George Roberts at REDF's annual meeting. Who would have thought that
I would get to present to such an esteemed financier through a nonprofit!
The culmination of my report was presented to the Executive Director,
Assistant Executive Director, and Portfolio Director.
Rochester Area Community Foundation
Sonalee Shah
Rochester Area Community Foundation is a nonprofit grantmaking institution,
which administers more than 840 permanent endowment funds. In 2002,
the Community Foundation had over $160M in charitable assets and contributed
over $16M in grants to nonprofit organizations in the community. During
the course of the summer I worked on two projects for the Community
Foundation. The first project focused on leading an assessment of how
leaders from business, media, labor, government, and the community
viewed the Community Foundation organization and its activities, in
order to enhance the Community Foundation's effectiveness as a regional
convener, catalyst, and grantmaker. The second project entailed developing
a greater understanding of the technology-related needs of nonprofit
organizations in the greater Rochester area and exploring ways that
funders, nonprofits, and technology providers could collaboratively
address technology gaps identified.
State of Hawaii's Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT)
Grace Park
I served as the Special Assistant to the Director and Deputy Direct at
the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT)
in the State of Hawaii. During the 11-week internship, I gained hands-on
experience in nearly all of the high-priority projects within DBEDT.
Exposure to multiple initiatives was balanced with specific tasks.
My responsibilities included the following key leadership and management
activities to promote business in Hawaii:
-- Planned, conceptualized, and administered support for the Inaugural
Asia-Pacific Homeland Security Summit and Exposition, inviting
senior decision makers from the public, private, NGO, and academic sectors.
Invited speakers include: Department of Homeland Security
Secretary Ridge; Former CIA Director Woolsey; Singapore's
Deputy Prime Minster Tan; Governor of Osaka Ohta; West Point
Superintendent LTG Lennox; and PACOM Commander Admiral
Fargo.
-- Co-founded and launched KukuiNet, a non-profit organization
connecting professional kama'ainas (Hawaiians) on the mainland with top
business leaders in Hawaii. KukuiNet is a government-sponsored
initiative that addresses the State's priority to reverse the "brain drain."
-- Created a financial model, quantifying exactions
to incorporate into a "Land Conversion Capital Formation Strategy." The Governor
will
consider implementation of proposal as state policy
to promote capital investments.
Served as a member of the Hawaii delegation to Washington D.C., where
representatives of the Governor met with dignitaries from the Departments
of Commerce, State, and Homeland Security. Coordinated the agenda, developed
talking points, and managed follow-up correspondence with several dignitaries
to include Assistant Secretaries of State James Kelly and Pat Harrison
and Under Secretary of State Grant Green.
Makio Kitazawa
Today, a lot of microfinance institutions are beg inning to experiment
with new financial products and services for the poor such as saving
products and insurance. I joined the project in which SKS India, non-profit
microfinance organization, developed the strategy for launching new
insurance service for the very poor people such as life insurance and
livestock insurance. In this project, I worked as a project leader
for eight weeks this summer by developing marketing strategy and leading
two employees at SKS India. I investigated the poor's need for insurance
products by interviewing them, negotiated with life-insurance companies
in India, and developed a service scheme for SKS India. In addition,
I made a work plan for SKS staffs after this summer based on our marketing
strategy.
Ben Chatraw
TechFoundation is an international charity whose mission is to bring
technology, expertise, and capital to help nonprofit organizations
harness the power of information technology to serve humanity. As a
summer associate, I joined a team of four graduate interns slated with
the responsibility of planning and launching TechFoundation's newest
program, TechMarketplace. Over a period of twelve weeks my team worked
through all stages of the program launch with almost complete autonomy.
While I specifically owned responsibility for operations, I worked
closely with my peers and actively contributed in all phases of the
program launch including strategic planning, marketing, sales, and
system design. TechMarketplace is now a completely functional and active
program that is bringing discounted technology to nonprofit organizations
throughout the United States. The program's national marketing campaign
will reach over 50,000 organizations in the Fall of 2003.
Deborah Goldfarb
This summer I assisted the Executive Director of the Tiger Foundation,
a private foundation established by Julian H. Robertson, Jr. in 1990.
Tiger has increasingly focused on funding preventive programs that
work toward breaking the cycle of poverty in New York City. My primary
role was to work with the Director and staff on special projects aimed
at improving our efficacy in this mission. My contributions included
surveying prior grantees to assess Foundation effectiveness, refining
the key performance indicators used in our annual board report, and
researching the leading theories on effective philanthropy. Because
of my commitment to youth education initiatives, I gained the most
reward from my performance analysis of potential funding recipients
among New York City's leading educational programs. In addition to
my work on Tiger's special projects, I also played a significant role
in our team's daily activities. I evaluated the programmatic and financial
components of grant proposals, and conducted extensive due diligence.
Through these activities, I learned first-hand about Tiger's unique
funding process. My responsibilities as part of Tiger's staff, in both
large projects and daily tasks, have allowed me to gain a holistic
perspective on the challenges faced by both foundations and nonprofit
organizations.
Lynn Hayler
I spent my summer, along with two other consultants, developing a business
plan for the Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area. This was
done as part of the Business Plan Initiative, a six year old joint
venture of the National Parks Service and the National Parks Conservation
Corporation. The business plan will be used to communicate the priorities,
strategies and financial needs of the park to Congress, other key stakeholders
and the American public. In addition it will serve as a management
tool with the park itself. I had an incredible experience. I learnt
a tremendous amount about the challenges faced by both non profit and
federal organisations. I was able to contribute to the production of
a document that the park's superintendent said " will have lasting
benefits and will impact this park for decades to come". I was also
fortunate enough to enjoy the incredible scenery and recreational opportunities
offered within the park. All in all it was a fantastic summer and I
would like to thank everyone who made this opportunity possible.
United States Air Force/Financial Management
Sarah Strauss
I spent my eleven-week internship with the United States Air Force working
with a dedicated group of individuals within the Financial Management/Budget
(FMB) organization. FMB is responsible for continually updating, maintaining,
and supporting the $100 billion Air Force (AF) budget, and for working
with Congress to ensure the Air Force always has enough money to fulfill
its mission. Given the current deployment and reach of United States
military forces, FMB was an exciting and challenging place to spend
my summer months. The ability to see how the AF/FM interacts with the
other Services, the Department of Defense, Congress, and the Office
of Budget and Management was a unique experience that will greatly
influence my career choices in the future. I came out of my summer
internship with a much deeper perspective on where I want to work in
the public sector, and what the best path is for me to get there.
I worked on two primary projects this summer. My first project was to
develop an internal "venture capital" process focused on the rapid approval,
funding, and implementation of smaller programs that would normally have
difficultly receiving funds in the traditional AF budgeting cycle. The
objective of the program was to set aside $50 million each year to fund
small initiatives (<$5 million requirement) with significant benefit
or cost-savings potential across the AF. My second project involved working
with a cross-functional Air Force team to understand how the Air Force
could implement performance management and the balanced scorecard approach.
This was something I had done while working in the private sector, but
the public sector approach was entirely different and much more challenging.
This project was far from finished when I departed, but I believe the
contributions I made will continue to be valuable as the effort moves
forward. In general, I felt that both the initiatives I worked on were
important in the overall 'transformation' effort of the Air Force and
that the organization greatly valued my contribution.
David Trulio
I worked at the Pentagon for the Chief Financial Officer of the United
States Air Force in the Financial Management Transformation Program
Management Office. I furthered the conceptual development and articulation
of the Financial Management Strategic Plan, ascertained private and
public sector financial management best practices and assisted with
their implementation, quantified projects' financial and non-financial
benefits and costs, and prepared business cases for various proposed
initiatives.
United States Air Force/Air Force Cost Analysis Agency (AFCAA)
Hughey Newsome
The functions of the Pentagon include some easily understood components
and some things that many people do not consider or readily understand.
Basically, the Pentagon is the administrative headquarters for the
organization (the Department of Defense), the organization that protects
the United States, its interests abroad and, indirectly, the entire
free world. Throughout the history of this country, examples of the
military's efforts to protect American citizens are abundant.
Other functions of the military which are not quite as direct as national
defense and protection include R&D investment, as military research
has helped spurn goods such as the internet, computers, rockets, satellites,
Astroturf and others. The military also provides some of the nations
leaders, as it is a breeding ground for discipline and for order. The
present vice-president of the country served in the military and is the
former Secretary of the Defense. Several former presidents from General
George Washington to General Eisenhower served as high-ranking officials
in the military before testing their leadership skills in the nation's
most powerful office.
These preceding arguments give just a few of an infinite amount of beneficial
goods the US military provides the world. One major branch of the US
military is the Air Force. Obviously, the Air Force is the organization
that provides fighter jets and planes for fighting wars and the like,
but there are services that the Air Force provides in addition to the
fighting capacity. The Air Force can create mobile hospitals, human aid,
and surveillance for global actions, such as weather phenomena. When
these things are taken in stride, one can conclude that the Air Force
is a force that is for more than killing and destruction, but also for
life and human service.
While the Air Force and the Pentagon are organizations that have great
name recognition throughout the country and the world, the Air Force
Cost Analysis Agency (AFCAA) does not enjoy such recognition, for obvious
reasons. The AFCAA does provide an important piece of assistance to the
Air Force. Since the Air Force does not operate with an infinite supply
of resources, the AFCAA is eminent in the economic allocation of resources
for the entire Air Force. The AFCAA analyzes cost estimates for Air Force
procurement. For example, if Boeing is to sell a plane to the Air Force
for a certain amount of money, the estimate that they provide for the
cost to build has certain risk. The plane could cost far more than the
estimate made by Boeing or meeting the scheduled production milestones
could mean the allotted cost will be exceeded, but understanding the
estimate and the science of cost estimating would help the Air Force
better understand risks involved in such purchases, true costs when taking
consideration for these risks and potential pitfalls when these risks
are not adequately taken into consideration. This all makes the role
of the AFCAA crucial in the scheme of the entire mission of the Air Force
of the United States.
Stephanie Holden
After receiving funding from the Social Enterprise Initiative at Harvard
Business School, I embarked on a very exciting summer in India working
in economic development. India has a population of approximately 1.1
billion people and approximately 30% of those people live in poverty.
Therefore, I sought to make a small difference in a "big" country.
While at USAID, I was responsible for two initiatives - one in economic
development and one in environmental policy. First, I negotiated and
closed the deal of bringing Sesame Street to India. Most women are
responsible for the household and young girls are often required to
stay at home. Through Sesame Street, we hope to reach many children
to educate them on hygiene, diversity acceptance and HIV/AIDS prevention.
Sesame Street will be aired on the local TV stations and through the
radio to reach the maximum number of people. We are hoping to continue
to educate on basic cleanliness regimens and water treatment through
the popularity of different puppets. Second, I worked on a joint deal
between GE and USAID to fund sustainable development. Through joint
funding, we are instituting environmental educational training to all
prospective factory employees. Pollution is an enormous problem in
India and without basic education; there will be no adherence to clean
environmental policies. By aligning with GE, USAID hopes to incentivize
other companies to follow the lead of GE. Likewise, I also had the
opportunity to allocate funding for a computer program for women at
a Mandrassa in one of the poorest areas of New Delhi and to work with
new advertising for HIV/AIDS prevention and family planning. My summer
was exhilarating and challenging on a daily basis. I was working with
fellow MBAs, Economists and many Foreign Service professionals. Fortunately,
I had learned how to work in a diverse team from my studies at the
Harvard Business School.
