New School Student Ambassadors Mba Internship Program

New School Student Ambassadors Internship Program for Social Entrepreneurship and Social Capital Investment

Program Abstract The current global economic crisis raises questions about the sustainability of “industrial capitalism” in a world grown increasingly “hot, flat, and crowded” (T. Friedman). Global social entrepreneurs and social capitalists may in some cases be born, but where do you go if you want to learn the science of social investing or impact management? Many people have begun to suspect that there must be knowledge about what works and what doesn’t work as a starting point for a career in social entrepreneurship. The need for meaningful social entrepreneurship experiences by MBA candidates is underscored every year at events like the Global Social Venture Business Plan Competition (GSVC), as judges, entrants and student organizers all grapple with how to evaluate the business plans’ “social return on investment,” which each team is required to quantify. When a social venture capital moves beyond planning and into implementation, the questions that come up can be challenging, in the context of 21st century needs and careers, and require more than the summary knowledge that can be found in the survey courses many MBA programs now provide. New School Student Ambassadors proposes an MBA internship program designed to help future social entrepreneurs gain a real-world perspective on these complex questions: •

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Financing a social capital venture: How does a high social return on investment affect the cost of capital? Are there ways this can be used to decrease the cost of capital? How can this be employed as a strategy in capital formation? Can and should deals be structured to leverage large amounts of money without the social investors subsidizing the conventional investors? How? Accounting for non-profit or “hybrid” social capital ventures: What are the appropriate environmental, social or other impacts to measure in a given industry or sector? Are there any sector-specific performance benchmarks for carbon footprints, water footprints, health impacts or other kinds of impact? Whose job is accounting for this, and what training should they have to do it? Do audit standards exist? How can management use this information to inform strategy and improve results? Marketing and communications for non-profit social capital ventures: What is the difference between marketing and “social marketing”? What are ways social media can be used to reinforce or undermine a venture’s intended impact? Are there principles or standards of practice for branding socially responsible businesses? How can branding and communications affect the value of sustainable business? Legal questions for non-profit social capital ventures: What issues do managers need to understand about their right to remain true to a socially responsible business model when that comes into conflict with quarterly profit or revenue maximization? How can and should the needs of investors be balanced with those of other stakeholders and the environment? What legal and tax issues do managers need to understand about hybrid for-profit/non-profit business models?

While these questions are touched upon in survey courses on corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship, to truly build experiential knowledge leading to sustainable, equitable ways of doing business requires that this knowledge be institutionalized into MBA programs. Leading practitioners have

New School Student Ambassadors

knowledge of every one of the topics above, but 99% of the time, leading practitioners are in the field, not in the classroom. Over many years of experience they have accumulated datasets in their heads, and in some cases produced formal research for papers, conference presentations and university lectures. But this knowledge has not been codified into the scholarly disciplines that produce Ph.D.s who can be hired onto faculties, develop textbooks and teach every day. With minor exceptions, future business leaders are still being taught the same canonic skill set that managers have been taught before the world realized that natural resources were not limitless, the climate could be made uninhabitable, and poverty may in fact be solvable. Social entrepreneurs and social investors will continue to operate on the margins of our economic system until this situation changes. New School Student Ambassadors is a “green field” social entrepreneurship model for addressing global education, cultural awareness, poverty eradication, and open society issues. As a model for startup development, capital funding, and sustainable practice and management, New School Student Ambassadors offers a unique “internship” model for an MBA program that seeks to give students a hands-on, experiential role in all aspects of an audacious global social venture project. New School Student Ambassadors is designed around the principles of: • • • • • • •

Open systems and stakeholder transparency Digital social media and globally networked communications Virtual office and management operations Social production New media literacies and social learning frameworks Micro-financing models Social venture partnering and leveraging the power of networked organizations with compatible missions

As MBA candidates enter the marketplace over the next several years, traditional business models may not be in a position to offer the unique experiences needed for preparing a generation of leaders in social investing and entrepreneurship. New School Student Ambassadors is a real, near-term opportunity for a cohort of students interested in the non-profit, global social entrepreneurship model, to engage in a unique, hands-on experiential learning opportunity at all levels of funding and accounting, market strategy and planning, organizational development and resource management, and legal frameworks. While this internship program is unpaid, a collaboration with an MBA program could be offered as a “for-credit” program. For discussion or additional information, contact: Stephen Wilmarth Managing Director New School Student Ambassadors, Inc. eMail to: [email protected] Telephone: 860-227-1225