ProInspire Alumni Make Business School a Tool for Social Impact (Part Two of Two)

The ProInspire Fellowship attracts a certain kind of person. Young professionals join the Fellowship because they share a belief that the discipline of business, while largely developed in the context of the private sector, can be used to create social value rather than private wealth.

ProInspire alumni Crystal Moore (DC ’10) and Meaghan Casey (DC ’11) are now bringing this belief to the heart of the traditional business discipline: the Master of Business Administration degree.

In Part One, we saw how Crystal is at the forefront of a trend to incorporate social change into traditional business school curriculum. In Part Two, we now follow Meaghan’s journey as she introduces business school students to the world of social change.

The Journey is the Reward

Even before joining ProInspire, Meaghan Casey (DC ’11) had been using her business skillset for social good. While working as a consultant, Meaghan learned about Journeys for Change, a UK-based nonprofit organization that takes business leaders on transformational journeys to learn from pioneering social entrepreneurs in India. She reached out to the organization’s founders and soon secured a volunteer role conducting research and developing business plans for future Journeys.

Even as she deepened her commitment to social impact as a ProInspire Fellow at international development nonprofit FHI 360, Meaghan continued to support Journeys for Change. Over time, Meaghan “came to believe deeply,” she says, “in the value of providing business leaders with an experience that would inspire them, educate them, and broaden their perspectives as leaders.”

As Meaghan considered business school as a next step in her own journey, she came to a realization. “Business school students,” she says, “are also prime candidates for transformational experiences that expose them to social entrepreneurs working at the intersection between business and social impact.” MBA students, Meaghan explains, are at a pivotal stage in their careers. “They’re still trying to figure out what their role in the world will be. It’s a time when an experience like this can influence how they approach their careers and how they live their lives.”

Meaghan pitched the idea to the founders of Journeys for Change. “They believed in the idea,” Meaghan says, “and I began to develop the business plan, recruit the Journeyers, plan for, and eventually lead the trip!”

And so she did. During her evenings, Meaghan built partnerships with host social entrepreneurs and carefully selected ten students from nine of the top global business schools to participate in the organization’s inaugural MBA Journey to Mumbai, India.

Two months before New Year’s Eve, 2012, Meaghan arrived in Mumbai to lead her Journey. The travelers’ itinerary included visits to successful social entrepreneurs—visits Meaghan had carefully arranged. Among other social enterprises, the group visited Industree Crafts, a Bangalore-based producer and retailer of high-quality crafts with a goal of creating sustainable livelihoods in marginalized rural communities, and SELCO, a solar energy products manufacturer, service provider and financer whose products are extending work and study hours through solar energy.

“We met social entrepreneurs: inspiring individuals who stop at nothing to realize their dream,” says Meaghan, who will be pursuing an MBA in the fall herself, “but the real value was in learning more about our selves.” In a blog post about her experience, Erinne Browne, a second year MBA student at University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, says that at the start of her Journey she hoped to see where she “fit into this story of making a difference in poverty alleviation.” The Journey Meaghan organized, she says, helped her “hone in on the right career opportunities” to use her passion and skills to make that difference.

Meaghan says that the careers of those who participated in her Journey are impacted in many ways. Some will change how they run their own social enterprises, while others will have a broader perspective within traditional corporate roles. Whatever their path, says Meaghan, “like ProInspire, these Journeys plant a seed that bears fruit when professionals with business experience see how it can be applied for social good.”

To learn more about joining an inspirational journey of a lifetime please visit: http://www.journeysforchange.org.