MBA Net Impact Chapter at Mills Achieves Gold Award
Oakland, CA— June 18, 2012. Net Impact has awarded the MBA Net Impact Chapter at the Lorry I. Lokey School of Business at Mills College, one of this year’s prestigious Gold ratings. With chapters in over 300 business schools worldwide, Net Impact is a leading national organization comprised of MBA students and professionals who use their careers to tackle the world’s toughest social, economic, and environmental problems.
“At Mills, we believe in educating our graduates to be ethical and socially responsible leaders – leaders who can deliver strong financial performance while also making a positive societal and environmental impact. Our vibrant Net Impact Chapter has been central to this mission, complementing the formal course work in socially responsible business, and mobilizing students to learn together to enhance their knowledge, skills, and networks in the field,” said Deborah Merrill-Sands, dean of the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business.
The Gold rankings represent the most outstanding chapters in the Net Impact network, based on their performance this past academic year. This year, just 16 percent of the more than 300 Net Impact chapters worldwide achieved Gold standing; placing Lokey Net Impact among a distinguished handful of only 51 graduate schools awarded this status. Gold is the highest honor a chapter can receive.
Chapters achieve Gold standing by meeting a rigorous set of requirements based on their activities, programming, and membership reach. Some of the Net Impact activities at Mills included “Investing Within: Innovative Financing Strategies for Domestic Social Ventures,” an annual conference co-sponsored by the Center for Socially Responsible Business that explored new ways to create positive social impact; hosting an on-line non-credit course in microfinance; organizing numerous events for its Food Justice Week; delivering several skill building workshops as well as training sessions on the new model of B-Corporations, resulting in one student earning B Corp certification for her business.
The 2011-2012 Net Impact president, Tigisti Weldeab stated, “From day one of taking office as chapter president, my chief goal was to align our program among the very best in the nation by capturing the coveted gold rating. Our leadership team identified key strategies to accomplish this goal and set out to mobilize core members and potential members to help us execute. In the end not only did we meet the gold requirements but we exceeded them. We doubled our paid membership, we helped another MBA program launch their own Net Impact chapter, we hosted a total of 26 events, and co-hosted with the school’s Center for Socially Responsible Business a very popular conference on funding strategies for social ventures. Achieving the gold status was a team effort at its best”.
About Net Impact
Net Impact is a community of more than 30,000 changemakers who use their careers to tackle the world’s toughest problems. A San Francisco-based nonprofit with more than 300 chapters worldwide, they provide support, connections, and practical advice to help people in all sectors and job functions create a more just and sustainable future.
