This post is part of our Social Enterprise Initiative 25th anniversary blog series, which highlights some of the faculty, staff, students, and alumni who have been a part of SEI throughout the years. In this post, Laura Oller (MBA/MPP 2019) describes the social impact she seeks to have in the world and shares her vision for the future of social enterprise at HBS. [...]
Ketty Lie & Aparna Ramanan
Students
This year, the Social Enterprise Conference (SECON) goes back to basics. The central tension in this field has always been the interaction between mission and profit (or sustainable financing). The term social enterprise is so broad and all encompassing, yet two things are consistent: social enterprises are driven by a strong mission and utilize commercial strategies or seek sustainable funding sources. We seek to understand how mission and profit complement, strengthen, or even undermine one another. Our speakers and tracks seek to break down this tension across the various stages that a social enterprise goes through. [...]
MBAs at HBS have a tremendous array of opportunities to get involved in social enterprise during their two years on campus (and long after).
For me, the Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI) provided the transformational experience I sought at HBS. I share my story as one lens onto how HBS can catapult you into a career focused on impact. [...]
What is the bottom line in social enterprise? From some social enterprise’s own triple-bottom line — aspiring to financial, social, and environmental returns — to getting to the core of the social enterprise space’s most complex issues, the Harvard Social Enterprise Conference (SECON) will bring together like-minded students, academics, and professionals to participate in an engaging and interactive exploration of these critical concerns. [...]
There are a number of ways to pursue an interest in nonprofit organizations while at HBS. I have personally explored this interest through joining the Board Fellows and Social Enterprise Consulting Club, undertaking an Independent Project for academic credit, and enrolling in a Social Enterprise Initiative-affiliated class. [...]