On Friday, May 18th, from dawn until dusk, 75 HBS alumni gathered in Google’s Community Space overlooking the San Francisco Bay to “hack” an issue causing growing anxiety all around us: the future of work. As we all witness on an almost daily basis, the world of work is constantly changing at an ever-increasing pace. Technological breakthroughs are upending traditional work everywhere—from grocery store self-checkout stands to software automating bookkeeping—and causing both displacement and new opportunities for workers. Many see it as an inevitable brewing storm.  [...]

“Anyone who will want to enter the field of finance or investment must be conversant in investing for impact. We believe this is the case, even if you are not yet convinced or don’t plan a career focused on this practice of investing.” This is the proposition faculty members Shawn Cole and Vikram S. Gandhi made to the approximately 50 students in the inaugural “Investing for Impact” course launched this past semester in the MBA elective curriculum. [...]

Over the course of its inception two years ago, the Social Enterprise Initiative’s Alumni for Impact program has focused on connecting alumni within geographies and within subsectors of the social sector (the impact investing alumni group is an example) as well as developing platforms that enable knowledge sharing from faculty to alumni and from alumni to alumni (in the form of our quarterly newsletter, this blog, alumni webinars, and HBX). [...]

In 2018, the HBS New Venture Competition—an annual student competition sponsored by Harvard Business School’s Rock Center for Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise Initiative—received a record 69 entries to the Social Enterprise Track. After an extensive review and deliberation process with social enterprise leaders from across Harvard, the Social Enterprise Initiative just announced the 16 semifinalists in the Social Enterprise Track. [...]

Scrolling through my newsfeed this week, I can’t help but marvel at how many HBS alumni are pursuing public service. Amanda Renteria (MBA 2003) announced her bid for Governor of California yesterday. The Wall Street Journal featured Adem Bunkeddeko (MBA 2017) as one of the millennials shaking up politics in New York for his challenge to an incumbent U.S. Representative. Mitt Romney’s (MBA 1974) expected entry into the U.S. Senate race in Utah is imminent, delayed by the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (a mere five miles from my own). In the wake of this terrible tragedy, Congressman Seth Moulton (MBA 2011) was especially vocal on the need to take action against gun violence. [...]