Center for Social Impact Hosts Launch Event at University of Michigan Ross School of Business

Ann Arbor, Michigan, April 9, 2015 (Newswire.com) - Center for Social Impact Hosts Launch Event at University of Michigan Ross School of Business  -  Innovative center drives real-world, action-based initiatives across disciplines and sectors to transform communities and build millennial career paths that deliver social impact

In response to growing demand for cross-sector and multidisciplinary paths toward social impact careers, the University of Michigan recently launched a new Center for Social Impact at the Ross School of Business. At a celebration of the Center’s inaugural year on April 22, key stakeholders from business, nonprofit, education, and government will convene to honor student successes and discuss future collaboration to solve social problems.

Employers increasingly look for leaders with the ability to address complex social issues, and our students seek opportunities where they can make a positive difference in society.

Rishi Moudgil, Managing Director

This event will showcase multiple examples of positive student and faculty social impact, including: social entrepreneurship, impact investing, economic development, education management, nonprofit governance, urban revitalization, and public sector innovation. The Center’s Managing Director Rishi Moudgil notes that, “Employers increasingly look for leaders with the ability to address complex social issues, and our students seek opportunities where they can make a positive difference in society.”

This year the Center has both grown existing programs and launched new initiatives that include:

• partnering with other Ross centers to launch a $15,000 social impact track of the campus-wide Michigan Business Challenge business plan competition for social entrepreneurs
• placing MBA, MPP, and MSW candidates on nonprofit boards across southeast Michigan
• collaborating with a dozen U-M colleges to tackle an urban redevelopment project with the City of Detroit and multiple community partners
• offering MBA students up to $10,000 each to pursue impact investing summer internships
• convening the U-M Social Innovation Summit, “Finding Purpose, Delivering Impact”                                                                                                                                               

David Egner, Executive Director of the New Economy Initiative (NEI), will serve as keynote speaker. Pledging over $130 million through a collaboration of a dozen highly influential Detroit-focused foundations, NEI is an economic development initiative charged with building the foundation for an inclusive economy in Southeast Michigan that is more supportive of innovation and entrepreneurship. Egner’s remarks will outline NEI’s foray into social innovation and parallel them to the pressing need for cross-sector conveners such as the Center for Social Impact, which works extensively in Detroit.

The Center is uniquely positioned to connect the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to accelerate meaningful progress toward solving pressing social challenges. Guests on April 22 come from organizations including Focus:HOPE, United Way, Detroit Future City, Office of the Mayor of Detroit, Skillman Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Google, Deloitte, PwC, JPMorgan Chase, and many others.

What:  Center for Social Impact Launch Year Celebration

When: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 from 5:00-7:00pm; remarks at 5:30pm

Where:  University of Michigan, Ross School of Business, 6th floor Colloquium

Registration: This event is free and open to the public; ​please RSVP at socialimpact.umich.edu

About the Center for Social Impact
The Center for Social Impact at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business prepares and inspires leaders to solve complex social challenges. Through numerous collaborative, real-world experiences, the Center enables students to deliver social impact in multidisciplinary and cross-sector settings, and advances their ability to secure career opportunities that also contribute to society.

About Michigan Ross
The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan is a vibrant and distinctive learning community grounded in the principle that business can be an extraordinary vehicle for positive change in today's dynamic global economy. The Ross School of Business mission is to develop leaders who make a positive difference in the world. Through thought and action, members of the Ross community drive change and innovation that improves business and society.