Lunch and Learn Series Brings Real Life Experience to PNP Students

The PNP program is hosting an exciting Lunch and Learn series this fall!

Successful Nonprofit Leadership, Bob Giannino-Racine - Executive Director, ACCESS
Oct. 2, 11:00-12:30 p.m. (SMG 114)

Careers in Nonprofit Finance & Operations, Mitzi Fennel '92, Nonprofit Financial Consultant
Oct. 16, 11:00-12:30 p.m. (SMG 206)

Careers in Global Social Impact: Microfinance

Acction International

November 13, 11:00-12:30 p.m. (SMG 114)

Careers in the Public Sector: Can you really make a difference?

Peter Rowe '84, Deputy Superintendent for A & F, Brookline Public Schools

Lexi Dew '04, Analyst, Government Accountability Office

November 27, 11:00-12:30 p.m. (SMG 114)

We are planning the spring series Lunch and Learn series now. If you're interested in speaking about your career experience this spring, please contact Karine McClosky at pnpclub@bu.edu.

Getting to Know Other Alums

Joe Carper, Class of '82

Director of Operations, Appalachian Mountain Club

Q: When did you begin working for the Appalachian Mountain Club?

JC: Four years ago, in the fall of 2003. It was wonderful to return to New England again after nearly 20 years in the Washington, DC area.

Q: What are some of your job responsibilities?

JC: AMC's mission is to promote the protection, enjoyment and wise use of the mountains, rivers and trails of the Appalachian region. As Director of Operations, I oversee our network of mountain huts and front country outdoor education centers in New England and northern New Jersey; our educational programming initiatives for youth and adults; our merchandising efforts; the activities of our twelve chapters and thousands of volunteers; and the organization's management information team and the Board, I also contribute toward the development of the organization's long-term strategies.

Q: How did the PNP program help prepare you for the workplace?

JC: The program helped me make the transition from my previous work as a counselor working with emotionally disturbed youth to non-profit management, with a focus primarily on organizations having a large earned income component of their operations. While the basic accounting, operations management, and marketing skills I learned at BU have been extremely helpful, even more important were the case-based courses that required us to think as senior managers-analyzing the issues, identifying the important constituencies, and formulating strategies and action steps. That methodology has proven helpful over the years across a number of positions and organizations.

Q: What were a few of your favorite things about PNP and/or BU?

JC: My fellow classmates, especially the fellow full-time students with whom I spent hours in study groups, preparing for exams, etc. The mix of full and part-time students and the diversity of their work experiences. Everyone was so very supportive of one another. The PNP faculty was superb and extremely available outside of class time. The internship opportunity also.

Q: Could you tell us about some of the key projects you're working on?

JC: AMC is very concerned about many of the trends in outdoor recreation today, especially the trend of fewer youth engaging in unstructured outdoor activities and having meaningful connections with the natural world. We believe the future of conservation depends upon such experiences.

We are working hard to find ways to engage more young people in the outdoors-from increasing the number of youth agencies we work with, to training more outdoor youth leaders, to increasing attendance on our overnight environmental education programs aimed at middle school-aged kids, to expanding the number of family camps we run at our outdoor centers that can introduce folks to the outdoors, to engaging our volunteer community in developing more family and youth-friendly programming.

While funding for these kinds of programs comes, in part, from grants and contributions, we also support these programs from surpluses generated from our lodging operations, so much of my time is spent trying to figure out ways to increase our occupancy-including more aggressive group sales efforts, improving the level of guest amenities, and improving the quality and variety of the free programming we offer all our guests.

Q: What are some of your or AMC's more recent accomplishments and/or challenges-an interesting new program AMC is doing, etc.?

JC: One hundred years ago, the AMC was instrumental in helping pass the Weeks Act, which created the White Mountain National Forest-a recreational treasure today for many of us in New England. Now, we are equally engaged in helping preserve the One Hundred Mile Wilderness in Maine, a beautiful expanse of forest and lakes ranging from Monson to Mt. Katahdin surrounding the Appalachian Trail corridor. As a landowner of 37,000 acres, we are practicing sustainable forestry, developing a four-season recreational infrastructure we hope will attract many to the area, and helping promote economic development in the region through nature-based tourism.

If you'd like to contact Joe, please email him at: jcarper@outdoors.org.

PNP Club Update

This year the PNP Club has over 100 members! Attendance for the first few Lunch and Learns has been fantastic. More than 25 students have been able to attend each L&L. Alums interested in speaking at a Lunch and Learn or on the PNP Panel at Symposium (February 9, 2008) should contact Club President Karine McClosky at pnpclub@bu.edu

Upcoming events for the PNP Club include a potluck, more lunch and learns, and the coorindation of a school-wide fundraiser for the Salvation Army's Adopt-A-Family. Also, first year students are already thinking about internships and second year students are thinking about their next career move, so keep BU PNPers in mind!

PNP Program to Launch Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal 2008
This year marks the beginning of a new campaign, which we invite you to join. The Public and Nonprofit Management Program is reaching out to our 680 alumni to create new opportunities for current and future PNP students.

In February of 2008 we will be sending you an appeal letter asking for your contribution to support our gaining momentum. Between now and then, we would like you to take some time and reflect on your experiences at BU and your summer internship and how they got you to where you are right now. We hope that this time will prepare you to join us in our march toward an increasingly robust PNP program. Thank you in advance!

FORSE 2007: Forum for Social Entrepreneurs

The first regional conference dedicated to social entrepreneurship was held on Friday, November 2nd at the School of Management. More than 200 leading social entrepreneurs, donors and investors, concerned professionals, alumni and thought-leaders committed to social change and innovation attended. This event was sponsored by TiE-Boston, The Deshpande Foundation and the Boston University Public and Nonprofit Management Program.

Please seehttp://management.bu.edu/exec/elc/ForSE/Index.shtml for more information.


First year students Kezia Koo and Meghan Blute-Nelson enjoy the post-session festivities.


An overflow room observes the "pitch"

sessions of new entrepreneurs.

Brazilian Field Seminar Last Summer a Success!

Twenty lucky School of Management students visited multi-national corporations, local companies, social enterprises, and NGOs in Sao Paulo, Rio, Campinas, Santos and Belo Horizonte for 10 days in May to learn first-hand about sustainable business and global social enterprise. This year's trip will enroll another 20 students. If you have any Brazil connections you want to share with us, please email Kristen McCormack at kmac@bu.edu.

Boston University MBA students and trip leaders Kristen McCormack and
Jose Pedro Lins, gather for an evening celebration with GSM alumni in Sao Paulo.

Planning Underway for 2008 Link Day

Save the Date: February 22, 2008
The PNP Club is pleased to announce its Seventh Annual Link Day, a one-day consulting event that matches non-profit organizations with teams of BU MBA students, faculty, and alumni for a day to solve a specific organizational problem. Students gain valuable consulting experience while making a difference for a community-based agency; nonprofit and public organizations receive pro bono consulting to help resolve critical organizational issues; BU professors and alumni add real-world experience while providing guidance and leadership to student teams.

The Link Day Planning Committee is currently accepting applications from nonprofit organizations that would benefit from a team of consultants. There are also sponsorship opportunities available for this year's event. Please contact pnpclub@bu.edu with your interest or referrals. Some of last year's sponsors included AIDS Action Committee, State Street, Citizen's Bank, Genzyme, and on campus groups such as the MBA Council, the Graduate Programs Office, and the Feld Career Center.

To read about last year's Link Day, click on the following link to an article from the Boston Business Journal: BU's Link Day matches MBAs with area nonprofits

Muhammad Yunus Speaks at BU

Boston University welcomed 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus on Saturday, October 13, giving a lecture entitled, "Because Poverty is the absence of every Human Right!" about his work with the Grameen Bank. Many SMG and PNP students attended this inspiring event at the George Sherman Union Metcalf Ballroom.

"Hearing Yunus speak was a great experience," said Lonn Drucker, candidate for MBA 2009. "It appealed to the social entrepreneur that lives within the PNP program. Yunus specifically spoke to us MBA students to usher in a new period of the third sector; the idea of the social business. One that provides self-sustaining social returns rather than dividends to shareholders. He looked to Grameen's partnership with Danone group as an example. Hearing of these ideas succeeding in practice was both inspiring and energizing."

Students lined up as early as an hour before Yunus' lecture. Students from other colleges around Boston, such as M.I.T., Smith, and Northeastern also attended.

Sixty-four percent of his original clients from Bangladesh are now above the poverty line. Yunus is the author of "Banker to the Poor," about establishing the Grameen Bank.

Video of Yunus' lecture
Q&A Session

Introducing New PNP Staff!

The PNP program is lucky to have a talented staff of BU students working with the program this year in the areas of marketing, admissions, and administration.

Logan Poole, Katie McPadden, Helen Wong

Helen Wong is a graduate student at the Boston University School of Management studying public and nonprofit management. She graduated from Roger Williams University in 2004 with a degree in communications and a minor in political science. For the past three years, Helen worked as the production coordinator at Court TV, a cable television network that produces investigative documentaries. Helen has volunteered for a number of non-profits in New York and she is currently a member of NAAAP Boston's Scholarship Committee and a mentor for the Junior Achievement program. With the skills and education she will gain with a MBA from BU, Helen hopes to bridge the resources between for-profits and non-profits through corporate philanthropy or foundation grant-making. In her spare time, Helen enjoys traveling, cooking, and participating in community events.

Katie McPadden is a BU College of Communication public relations graduate student studying nonprofit communication. She graduated from James Madison University in 2006 with a degree in media arts and design, concentration in corporate communication, and a minor in English. Prior to BU, she worked in the nonprofit sector for the central administrative office of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, as a communications associate specializing in public relations, media relations, internal and external communications. She also had internships in the integrated marketing communication department at W*USA 9 News, a CBS affiliate station in Washington, D.C. and the creative department at Media Link Advertising, an agency and production company in Harrisonburg, VA. Katie loves living in Boston and is excited to be assisting the PNP program.

Logan Poole is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences studying sociology with a minor in public health. She is actively involved with the Community Services Center at BU, responsible for activities such as the First-Year Student Outreach Project. She planned and implemented a week-long volunteer program for 600 first-year students and researched, prepared, and presented a day of education focusing on the HIV/AIDS Awareness Issue Area. She is also a substitute EMT for FitRec. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her little sibling in a one-on-one mentoring program through BU, exploring Boston, reading, and baking.

Net Impact Update

Net Impact is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to make a positive impact on society by growing and strengthening a community of new leaders who use business to improve the world. More information about Net Impact and its national conference is available at http://www.netimpact.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=5. Information about the Boston University chapter of Net Impact is available at http://people.bu.edu/buni/

On Tuesday, October 30, KEEN Footwear met with Net Impact at BU to talk about their environmental sustainability project as well as career opportunities with KEEN.


Seventh Generation Field Trip, Burlington, VT
Friday, November 9th

Seventh Generation will be hosting Boston University's MBA students. The group will meet with Gregor Barnum - Director of Corporate Consciousness. The group also plans to visit the corporate headquarters of Ben & Jerry's and do a factory tour while in Vermont.

Career Center Hosts Ashoka, Commongood Careers and Education Pioneers

Ashoka
Ashoka, an international organization focused on social change, held an information session on Monday, Oct. 22nd for students to learn more about employment opportunities at Ashoka. The overflow crowd of more than 50 students attended heard from Fernande Raine, Christopher Dumm and Annika Swanson all from Ashoka. The panel inspired students interested in consulting, problem solving, entrepreneurship, working abroad and solving today's world problems.

Commongood Careers The Feld Career Center and Commongood Careers are partnering to help students with their job search. Commongood Careers presented on Wednesday, November 7th to a group of 25 students.

Commongood Careers is dedicated to helping today's most effective social entrepreneurs hire the best talent. Founded by nonprofit professionals, including PNP alum Cassie Brown '01, Commongood Careers offers personalized, engaged services to job seekers and organizations throughout the hiring process, as well as access to a wealth of knowledge about careers in the social sector.

Education Pioneers
On November 15th, representatives from Education Pioneers will speak to BU students about the prestious Education Pioneer Summer Fellows Program. Education Pioneers runs a best in class Fellowship Program that provides high-achieving graduate students in business, education, law, public policy and other programs with an opportunity to make an impact in Partner organizations in the Bay Area, Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C., while building the skills, knowledge and networks required to launch successful careers after graduate school. Last summer PNP students Amina Hussain and Andrew Conley were
awarded fellowships.

Looking Ahead to Symposium 2008

Save the Date: February 9, 2008.

Symposium is an opportunity for students to showcase best practices and current topics in business. The event features keynote addresses and MBA club-sponsored panels bringing together our extended MBA community. At every Symposium corporate and nonprofit representatives include speakers from companies in a wide range of industries including finance, consulting, healthcare, biotechnology, marketing, and information technology. The event provides significant educational and networking opportunities for all attendees.

Jon Luther, Chairman and CEO of Dunkin' Brands will be the morning keynote speaker. Dunkin' Brands, Inc., is headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts, and franchises more than 12,000 Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin-Robbins and Togo's shops worldwide.

Stay tuned for more information at www.bumbasymposium.com

Students Gain Nonprofit Consulting Experience

Students are preparing for the next step in their careers and learning about relationships with clients in Kristen McCormack's Management Consulting class. Working in pairs or groups, 27 students are working with nine for profit and nonprofit companies to solve a problem or develop strategies to increase success. Two of this year's clients include:

Fenway Community Development Corporation

One of the goals of the Fenway Community Development Corporation is to "engage residents in community planning." The Fenway CDC - founded in 1973 - seeks to provide affordable housing for residents in the Fenway neighborhood. The group in McCormack's class are working on a real estate finance project to assist the Fenway CDC with its long term goals. Diana Doty, a team member and second year PNP students said, "I'd say all four of us have been fascinated to learn about the nuances and complexities of real estate and housing."

Dress for Success
Dress for Success Boston - founded in 2001 - is a nonprofit suiting program that helps disadvantaged women enter the workforce. The management consulting team is wroking on a financial management project for this fast growing organization. Dress for Success Boston has helped 600 women choose professional attire using "professional shopper" volunteers.

PNP Program Welcomes 33 First-Year Students

The PNP faculty and staff are pleased to welcome 23 full-time and 10 part-time students into the PNP program this year. Currently over 70 students are enrolled in the program with interests ranging from environmental sustainability, to socially conscious investing to solving urban education challenges. Below, meet two of the students, Paul Butler and Heather Freeman.

Paul E. Butler Jr.

"I think that the PNP program at BU is very unique, and I am impressed by how much BU is dedicated to it. I feel confident that I will develop all of the skills that I'll need to make a positive impact in the world."

Paul attended Purdue University where he received a B.A. in Anthropology, with a minor in Spanish. Paul also finished course work for an M.A. in Latin American Studies at the University of Chicago this past year. Paul has a solid background in sales and customer service, and is also proficient in Latin American conventions and cultures. Paul has studied 2 indigenous languages of Mexico, Nahuatl and Yucatec Maya, has traveled extensively in Mexico and Guatemala, and has a strong awareness of the issues currently faced by the native populations residing in Mexico. Paul hopes to use the skills and education he will gain at BU to address the needs of indigenous peoples in Mexico and Central America.

Heather M. Freeman

Heather attended the University of Michigan where she received a B.A. in Creative Writing and Literature. After graduation Heather worked in London, England with PSComm, LLC to assess and restructure the London Traffic Control Center. Since then she has worked as Program Director for the Global Habitat Project, Inc., now part of the Urban Ecology Institute. In this position she managed Greentimes, a "By Kids, For Kids" science writing program for high school youth. Her experiences in small non-profits has given her direction in her career, and with the skills gained through the BU MBA, Heather hopes to bridge the distance between the non-profit and for-profit sectors by sharing best practices in fiscal efficiency and social responsibility. When not working, Heather loves reading, writing, traveling, being active outdoors and discovering new corners of Boston.