The Leadership Fellows Program at Harvard Business School is based on University Professor Michael Porter’s vision of developing a network of HBS graduates with cross-sector experience who are committed to addressing societal issues throughout their careers. The Fellowship is a two-way commitment in which graduating students are offered once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to experience high-impact management positions in nonprofit and public sector organizations for one year at a competitive salary. At the same time, the hiring organizations leverage the experience, energy, and strategic and analytical skills of MBAs in roles that produce immediate results and build long-term capacity. [...]

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. [...]

I launched my HBS journey this summer as a Social Enterprise Summer Fellow in the Office of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. After completing my first year of the MPP/MBA joint degree program at the Harvard Kennedy School this past spring, I was eager to spend my pre-HBS summer working in government, applying my background and newfound policy analysis toolkit in the public service arena. Prior to graduate school, I had spent six years as a strategy consultant at Oliver Wyman and FSG. These experiences had ignited my passion to help organizations solve complex social problems at scale. While my past consulting engagements spanned the corporate, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors, I had yet to immerse myself in the public sector. Through the HBS Social Enterprise Summer Fellowship, my goal was to learn how government works from the inside, and to develop a deeper appreciation of the opportunities and hurdles involved in effecting change at the policy level. [...]

For 30 years, HBS Association of Northern California’s Community Partners has mobilized more than 800 Bay Area alumni to help over 300 non-profit organizations through pro bono consulting engagements and brainstorming sessions. – from the Exploratorium, to #YesWeCode, to the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation. Recently, HBS Community Partners has witnessed HBS Association of Northern California Community Partners has recently witnessed widespread alumni interest in volunteering their business skills and expertise not just to non-profits, but also to local government. [...]

Imagine if, when it came to delivering city services online, your local government thought like a Silicon Valley tech company. Just like Amazon anticipates that people who bought tennis rackets might also want some tennis balls, the City might anticipate that people applying for a moving permit might also need to figure out their trash pick-up, parking passes, and voter registration. [...]