08 Apr 2011

Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative Adds Six Experts to Advisory Board

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BOSTON—The Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative, which engages with the nonprofit, for-profit, and public sectors to apply innovative business practices and managerial disciplines to drive sustained social change, announced today that it has named six new members to its advisory board: Matt Bannick (MBA 1993), managing partner, Omidyar Network; Jean Case, chief executive officer, Case Foundation; Helene Gayle, MD, president and chief executive officer, CARE USA; Mario Morino, chairman, Venture Philanthropy Partners; Jeff Raikes, chief executive officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Nancy Roob, president and chief executive officer, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation.

Composed of leaders in the field of social enterprise, the Advisory Board offers guidance and counsel to the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative, which was created in 1993 by former Dean John H. McArthur, along with other faculty and staff, and initially supported by the generosity of John C. Whitehead (MBA 1947), the Advisory Board's chair emeritus and former co-chair of Goldman Sachs Inc., former Deputy Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan, and former chair of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

Matt Bannick leads all the operations and strategy activities of Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife, Pam, and dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Before joining Omidyar Network, Bannick held several senior executive roles at eBay from 1999 to 2007, including the presidency of eBay International, where he increased the company's global presence from five countries in 2000 to 25 two years later. After eBay acquired PayPal in 2002, he was named PayPal's president. Under his leadership, the online payments firm more than tripled its revenues in its first two years with eBay.

Jean Case is a philanthropist who created the Case Foundation in 1997 with her husband, Steve, with the aim of democratizing philanthropy, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting new and innovative technologies to make giving more informed, efficient, and effective. She previously worked as a senior executive at America Online, Inc. (AOL), where she was in charge of the marketing and branding effort that launched the AOL service. She also directed the communications strategy for taking the company public and helped establish AOL as a household utility.

Helene D. Gayle, MD, MPH an expert on health, global development, and humanitarian issues, leads the U.S. efforts of CARE, which is dedicated to empowering communities to find lasting solutions to poverty. Women and girls are at the heart of CARE's community-based efforts to improve basic education, prevent the spread of disease, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity, and protect natural resources. Before coming to CARE, Gayle spent 20 years with the Centers for Disease Control, working primarily on HIV/AIDS. She also directed programs on HIV/AIDS and other global health issues at the Gates Foundation.

Mario Morino co-founded Venture Philanthropy Partners in 2000, a philanthropic investment organization designed to improve the lives and opportunities available to children of low-income families in the Washington, DC, area. In his role, he has found ways to adapt principles of venture and growth equity investment firms and apply them to the nonprofit sector to build high-impact, enduring institutions. Additionally, Morino founded the Morino Institute in 1994 to explore technology and its impact on society.

Jeff Raikes leads the efforts of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to promote equity for all people around the world. In his role, he sets strategic priorities, monitors results, and facilitates relationships with key partners. Before joining the Foundation, Raikes was a member of Microsoft's senior leadership team, serving as president of the Microsoft Business Division, where he oversaw the Information Worker, Server & Tools Business and Microsoft Business Solutions groups. He previously served as group vice president of the Worldwide Sales and Support Group, where he was responsible for providing strategic leadership for Microsoft's sales, marketing, and service initiatives.

Nancy Roob joined the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in 1994, where she was charged with developing its Program for New York Neighborhoods. Before becoming president in 2005, she was the Foundation's vice president and chief operating officer, overseeing major multiyear investments in high-performing youth-serving organizations across the United States. She also played a key part in developing and implementing the Foundation's current grant-making strategy, which seeks to improve the life prospects of young people from low-income backgrounds by helping organizations that work with these youth improve and expand their services.

"We are delighted to add such an accomplished group of individuals to our board," said V. Kasturi "Kash" Rangan, the School's Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing and co-chair of the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative. "From global health care to philanthropic investment, these individuals have dedicated their careers to creating positive societal change. Given their skills, passion, and innovative ideas, we will benefit greatly from the guidance of these six extraordinary people as the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative continues to influence practice and prepare students to apply their business skills toward the pursuit of social impact."

"We are at a unique moment, as the Social Enterprise Initiative approaches its 20th year and embarks upon an expanded research agenda to explore the burgeoning field of social impact investing," said Thomas J. Tierney (MBA 1980), chair of the Social Enterprise Initiative Advisory Board and chair and co-founder of The Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit organization that assists other nonprofits to achieve success. "This is an ideal time to engage with thought leaders such as these to push the frontiers of innovation in accelerating social change."

At the conclusion of their first board meeting, three of the new board members—Bannick, Morino, and Roob—will share their expertise and engage with students and other members of the HBS community. Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard, the School's Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration, will moderate a community-wide discussion to explore the topic of emerging trends in the field of social investing.

Current members of the advisory board, in addition to Tierney and Whitehead, are Nancy M. Barry (MBA 1975), president, Nancy Barry Associates—"Enterprise Solutions to Poverty; David V.B. Britt, retired president and CEO, Sesame Workshop; Gerald Chertavian (MBA 1992), founder and CEO of Year Up; David A. Dechman (MBA 1987), CEO, Summit Rock Advisors; Joanna Jacobson (MBA 1987), founder and managing partner of Strategic Grant Partners; Steven B. Klinsky (MBA 1979, JD 1981), founder and CEO, New Mountain Capital, LLC, and founder, Victory Schools, Inc.; Stanley S. Litow, vice president, IBM Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs and president, IBM International Foundation; HBS Dean Emeritus John H. McArthur; Steven J. McCormick, president, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Richard L. Menschel (MBA 1959), senior director, Goldman Sachs and president, Charina Endowment Fund; Eliot I. Snider (MBA 1943), president and chairman, Massachusetts Lumber Company and former chair, Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties, Inc.; and Andrew H. Tisch (MBA 1977), co-chair and chair of the Executive Committee, Loews Corporation.

The HBS Social Enterprise Initiative acts as a catalyst for creating social value by serving as a focal point for the creativity and energy of its worldwide community. These efforts have manifested themselves in a number of areas, ranging from the participation of approximately 90 faculty members in social enterprise research and teaching to the creation of over 500 social enterprise cases and teaching notes. Courses that focus on social enterprise are embedded into the MBA curriculum and HBS Executive Education program offerings, reflecting a real-world blending of business and social issues. Beyond the classroom, the Initiative offers career development and community engagement programs designed to support students and alumni engaged in the social sector.

In 2010, six percent of the graduating class pursued career positions in social enterprise; ninety-four students participated in the Social Enterprise Summer Fellowship program; more than 500 practitioners attended HBS Social Enterprise Executive Education programs; and HBS alumni provided more than $10 million in services through alumni club-based pro bono consulting programs.

Over the years, research forums and conferences sponsored by the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative have examined a wide range of topics, including Nonprofit Strategy, Business Leadership in the Social Sector, Consumer-Driven Health Care, Global Poverty, Public Education, The Future of Social Enterprise, and High-Impact Philanthropy. Research generated from these forums and conferences has been published in special editions of leading academic journals, books, and other publications.

About Harvard Business School

Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 250 offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and PhD degrees, as well as more than 175 Executive Education programs, and Harvard Business School Online, the School’s digital learning platform. For more than a century, faculty have drawn on their research, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and their passion for teaching, to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. The School and its curriculum attract the boldest thinkers and the most collaborative learners who will go on to shape the practice of business and entrepreneurship around the globe.