Why We Recruit is a series of interviews with our recruiting partners covering everything from their experience working with HBS to what they would like students to know. Each week, we will release a new interview that dives into a unique perspective on recruiting.

Name, Title and Organization:
Nancy Huang (HBS ’96), Director of Outreach, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation

Describe your organization in three to five sentences.
The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation is a global venture philanthropy firm supporting early stage, high impact social enterprises. We believe that with early funding and rigorous support, exceptional social entrepreneurs, tackling some of society’s most complex problems, can make the world a better place. We find, fund and support exceptional entrepreneurs and partner with them to help them reach their full potential and build their organizations to scale.

How long has your organization been recruiting at Harvard Business School and what roles do you hire for?
This will be our third year of recruiting from HBS. Last year we recruited for a Leadership Fellow, an Associate and two Summer Associates and filled all of these positions from an incredible pool of candidates from HBS. This year, we are recruiting for two Leadership Fellows and two Summer Associates. All of these positions serve as valuable members of our portfolio investment team helping us to find, fund and support the most innovative and impactful ideas in the social sector.

What recruiting tactics have you found most successful in engaging with students and/or alumni at HBS?
We found great success in a few ways to share the work of our Foundation with the HBS community. We hosted a Company Presentation on campus and did targeted outreach to students in the Social Enterprise Club to invite them to attend. Then, we offered Company Appointments for groups of students to ask more specific questions about the positions. We heard from many students that these two recruiting tactics were very helpful for them to explore career opportunities with our Foundation.

Give us your elevator pitch – what is the one thing students should know about working for you?
DRK Foundation offers HBS students an opportunity to leverage and grow their business skills while helping to make an impact on many of the world’s most challenging problems. We are hands-on partners with our social entrepreneurs, who are some of the most exceptional leaders, to help them scale their innovative ideas for making the world a better place. We have a very collaborative culture and a team of smart and passionate individuals. Our leadership in the venture philanthropy field provides great exposure to a broad array of leaders in the social sector and cutting edge social change models as well as valuable networks in the public, private and non-profit sector.

Is there anything else you would like to share with fellow recruiters or those who are new to recruiting with HBS?
We have been extremely impressed with the caliber and performance of the students we have interviewed and hired for our positions at DRK. The recruiting process is very well planned and organized which enables us to better plan for our staffing needs.