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Business for Good: Making Impact with your Company led by Martin Mayorga
“The Business for Good Prep Series event with Martin Mayorga was a captivating and incredibly motivating discussion. Mayorga talked about the origins of his company and how he managed to grow it to such a size while maintaining the family-feel among his employees and sustain best practices that maximize the benefits that coffee growers receive and truly deserve. The event helped me see that a balance between scalability and sustainability is incredibly hard to achieve, but still very possible. As I continue on my endeavor as an entrepreneur, I will be sure to apply what I learned from the Mayorga event and hope to someday have a business that is as impactful and successful as Mayorga Organics.” Watch the recording here. — Barathi Aravindan, Junior
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Global Moral Money Summit “The Moral Global Money Summit was a great event to learn more about the intersection of finance, politics, and sustainability. It brought together top leaders from these industries to discuss current and future trends across the globe and the United States. One of my favorite events on the agenda talked about the role of venture capital in sustainable business practices. This session highlighted the importance of financing business models that have a ‘double bottom line’ meaning whose sole purpose isn’t just to create financial value but to also have a positive impact on society. As someone who used to work in the industry, I really appreciated learning more and hearing different perspectives on how a push toward to creating sustainable businesses can be best supported.” — Lourdes Rivery ‘21 MBA This past year at CSVC, we had the honor of continuing our partnership with Tata. We were able to continue hosting their Tata Innovation Dialogue and launch their global internship program. Due to COVID-19 this event went completley virtual and we were able to host students from all over the globe including London Business School, Norwegian Refuge Council, MIT, and more! CSVC was privileged to be joined by Adrian Terron, Head of Customer Centricity at Tata Group. He is responsible for the customer centricity initiatives across the group and uses his expertise to conceptualize, drive and evangelize customer centricity, including customer insight for existing and new businesses. Watch the recording here.
Tata Innovation Dialogue & Global Internships Program
Impact Palooza with Royal Farms
“In July 2020, I attended a virtual webinar on Responsible Business in a Time of Crisis hosted by Professor Alex Edmans of the London Business School. I learned how companies stand to better serve both investors and stakeholders when they make a concerted effort towards advancing social initiatives through growth and innovation. Professor Edmans focused on the concept of ‘growing the pie’ and provided evidence on how companies can drive profits while promoting social good. Furthermore, I was also introduced to the idea of ‘pie-growing actions’ which challenge companies that are most affected by crisis to continue serving society through responsible stewardship. This was an eye-opening presentation that forced me to reflect on my own current understanding of the corporate world. As I embark on my own career, I have been inspired by this webinar to seriously consider how the companies that I choose to work for commit their resources to better society.” Watch the recording here. — Ajay Shankar ‘21
Smith Analytics Consortium and The Center for Social Value Creation hosted our first ever Racial Biases in Artificial Intelligence webinar. Speakers included Lauren Rhue, Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the Smith School, Jameson Spivack, Policy Associate at the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law, Jamilia Smith-Loud, User Researcher at Google’s Trust and Safety team, and Carter Price, Senior Mathematician at RAND. The insights from this event were impactful because of the state of our current world in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Carter Price noted, “if you train on bias data you will receive biased results”. The thought leadership diversity within our panelists allowed for a robust discussion. Watch the recording here.
Racial Biases in Artificial Intelligence Event with Smith Analytics Consortium
ImpactPalooza with Royal Farms was a successful event thanking our CSVC donors while also eating too many chicken wings to count! We are extremely grateful for all of our support and were happy to educate on the impact work Royal Farms does while thanking our donors. Shelby Kemp is a Marketing Project Manager for Royal Farms Convenience stores. In her role, she works on a number of projects for the company while continuing to find new ways to partner and improve the communities in which Royal Farms operates. Shelby is a University of Maryland alum who graduated from the Part-Time MBA program in 2019. — Shelby Kemp ‘19 MBA
Impact Consulting Fellowship
“The ICF experience was one of the best learning opportunities I had at my first year at Smith. It was a transformational experience in that social impact org reach greater heights. It really stretched me to improve my leadership capability, as well as develop my managerial style. In both instances I was able to work with a diverse group of students to develop a robust strategy to an organizational challenge. This year I had the opportunity to serve as a Project Lead on two projects, the first being Kid Talk which was a language development app and the second, Baltimore
County Government which focused on finding locations for new community gardens. I learned a great deal about what it takes to lead a consulting team. Furthermore, being able to manage client interactions, as well as to present effectively to client audiences.” — Christopher Pitts, Flex MBA
“I participated in ICF during Summer & Fall of 2020, & I am so glad I did! Working on two different projects with two different teams allowed me to hold a variety of responsibilities, & work with some amazing nonprofits whose causes I truly believe in. I was unsure of my interest in consulting, so participating in ICF helped me discover how diverse the field is, & how creative you can get with it. I especially loved working on teams made up of Masters, Graduate, & Undergraduate students; I feel it’s very representative of how an actual workplace feels. I first consulted to Junior Achievement of Greater Washington, to help them discover why there were disparities in membership rates between their Northern Virginia & Greater DC programs. I interviewed past participants, helped collect & analyze data, & put together the findings. in our recommendations. My second time participating in ICF, I consulted to A Mother’s Promise, which is a brand new nonprofit working to protect & uplift at-risk girls in the DC area. My team helped draft grants, create marketing materials, & even connected AMP to some UMD clubs who would love to support their cause & offer programming for the girls! We ended up winning Best Recommendations at the ICF Huddle, which was awesome. In all, I’d recommend ICF to any Smith student who wants to gain valuable consulting experience, & while at the same time making an impact on the community!” — Abaan Kermani, Sophomore Diversity & The Bottom Line with Center for Financial PolicyThis webinar was intended to further one’s knowledge on the lack of diversity in corporate America and what it is costing investors and shareholders. Gilbert Garcia noted, “The same issues today are the same issues before”. A key takeaway from this event was how managers who grow up in poor households end up out performing managers who grew up with resources. Robert Raben also noted, “When you believe diversity is a high value… then you will see rapid catalytic change”. We thouroughly enjoyed the insights on how diversity was crucial in a portfolio management company to ensure long term profitability and the role the Securities and Exchange Commision should play in this. Watch the recording here.
BUMK366 Growth Strategies for Emerging Companies
Oliver Schlake is a supporter of the Center for Social Value Creation as a Management and Operations Faculty Member. Topics covered in BUMK366 included leadership, internal growth strategies, merger, acquisition and franchising, and how environmentally sustainable business practices can be used as a tactic to ride out economic hardships. One class was an event featuring a pair of social entrepreneurs who co-founded a non-profit called The Chesapeake Experience. The program used sailing as a healing method for recovering addicts, and set up multiple tactics to bring sailing to some of Baltimore’s most at-risk youth. CSVC was excited to partner and cohost thise event with The Chesapeake Experience on November 19, 2020.
November 19th, 12:30PM
Experience how social entrepreneurs have started new ventures in the face of social unrest and economic uncertainty.
BUMK760 Business Policy & Ethics
BUMK466F Global Consulting Fellows
Guests from The Chesapeake Experience and University of Maryland's Center For Social Value Creation (CSVC)
“During my time with the students in BUMK760 Business Policy &
Ethics, taught by CSVC Faculty Affiliate, Dr. Amna Kirmani, I declared data professionals as the arbiters of truth. As a data professional, it is your responsibility to decide which numbers are released to the world and how they will be perceived.” — Steven Finkelstein ‘13
This semester the Center for Social Value Creation worked with The Global
Consulting Fellows Program on one of their classroom consulting projects for
ScanCom International. ScanCom International is a leading player in the global outdoor furniture industry and our goal is to provide innovation and excellence without compromising their vision of “Doing Business the Right Way”. They aim to create outstanding products that combine international design expertise with stateof-the-art production techniques and a proven commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility. Each piece is produced in Asia under ScanCom’s strict supervision and is rigorously tested to international standards for quality, durability and functionality. “The Global Consulting Fellows Program merges real-world consulting engagements with an academic perspective. The vast network and experiences of the faculty team, led by Mark Wellman and Roy Thomason, provides students the opportunity to advise multi-international businesses seeking consulting services. For the past two years, I have been involved with the program as both a fellow and lecturing assistant. My admiration for the program stems from external and personal impacts that I’ve witnessed. Students have received job offers from their clients, top consulting firms, and several other industry functions. My own path led me to join Deloitte Consulting’s Strategy and Operations group, where I will be continuing my passion for learning. As undergraduate students, we evaluate hundreds of opportunities throughout our 4-years at this school. There is no higher recommendation that I can give towards this program, as it helped shift and accelerate the trajectory of my career.” — Josh Chen ‘21
CSVC X AMA Ethical Marketing Panel “I had the pleasure of helping plan the CSVC X AMA Ethical Panel this past spring. The event showcased speakers from diverse companies who showcased their organization’s key core values when displaying impact, products, or services in their marketing efforts. This panel had the speakers delve into terms like green washing and brand misrepresentation along with examples which are very relevant subjects with the rise of social media today. The speakers opened up the conversation of how organizations can be more honest with its marketing and communication of their products and services and the organizational challenges that prevent transparency. In a breakout room activity during the event, three cases were given and students debated the merits of the claim. This event was extremely informative and helped students gain insight on how companies approach ethical brand positioning.” Watch the recording here. — Gabriel Estrada, Sophomore What It Means to Be Green Event
Centergize!
Investors, policymakers and consumers are all grappling with the same issues when it comes to ESG and what it means to be “green”. Nowhere is this more evident than in the fashion industry, as recent events are proving it to be a test case for the burgeoning ESG industry as human rights violations in Xinjiang region fuel diplomatic tensions around the world. While the pandemic exposed much of the industry’s bad behavior, from environmental to labor abuses that most ESG ratings systems failed to capture. Hilary Jochmans, Founder of Politically In Fashion, Kirti Poonia, Head of Okhai, and Russ Wermers, Director of the CFP led this impactful webinar. Watch the recording here.
Net Impact MBA Chapter
“Working as the President of the Net Impact Chapter (MBA) was one of my most memorable experiences in school - the journey taught me to adapt and innovate to the changing virtual environment by bringing events/ opportunities that empowered students to be motivated to make a difference in the world. Our board would often brainstorm not just on what we wanted to do with the Chapter, but also why we wanted to do the activities we planned by diving deep into the philosophical, ethical and social thoughts behind each event. I am also really grateful to CSVC and Nima for the support they shared in this leadership experience. The success of the Chapter is owed to them and the Board.” — Neha Mundra ‘21 MBA
Smith’s Centers of Excellence collaborated twice through webinars to students and alumni to showcase how you can maximize your Maryland Smith student experience and make the most of your Maryland Smith journey. Whether it’s participating in a case competition, launching a startup idea, learning how to be intentional, or gaining a global mindset, the Smith School’s centers have something for any business interest. 11
