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Introducing the Alumni for Impact Series

By: Margaret Busse 06 Jul 2017

As outlined in a recent post about Alumni for Impact’s first year, approximately 12% of all HBS alumni are working in the social sector (i.e., nonprofit sector, the public sector, or for-profit business with a social mission).  Over the course of the last year, we have crisscrossed the United States and met with hundreds of these alumni, each of them committed to creating a positive impact in their communities and in the world.  Their activities range from starting an impact investing fund to help agriculture businesses in India, to creating a platform for more effective and transparent community dialogue, to helping schools develop better tools for teaching elementary schoolchildren math.

HBS alumni in the social sector cluster in a few key areas. Large pluralities of alumni work in K-12 education (both for-profit and nonprofit) and in impact investing.  In addition, a significant number of alumni work in supportive services for nonprofits, such as consultancies, accelerators, and philanthropic foundations.   Finally, many alumni are bringing innovation to the social sector through their own entrepreneurial ventures or at existing organizations.

We want you to hear their stories.  Going forward, watch for posts from alumni in four categories:

• K-12 education

• Impact investing

• Nonprofit supportive services

• Social entrepreneurship

We’ll kick things off this summer with posts from an alum who started an accelerator to help high-tech nonprofits in Northern California, an alum working to expand educational opportunities across the globe, and an alum directing strategic initiatives at an organization working to break the cycle of poverty in New York City through education and community supportive services.

If you are an alum working in the social sector and would like to post about your work, please email se@hbs.edu.

Margaret Woolley Busse (MBA 2001) is the Associate Director of the Social Enterprise Initiative and oversees the Alumni for Impact program.