Deloitte Sponsorship Report 2017-2018 Academic Year

2017-2018 Academic Year - Annual Report

DELOITTE SPONSORSHIP REPORT

SANGER LEADERSHIP CENTER

FOSTERING LEADERS & BEST AT MICHIGAN ROSS

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s the highly regarded, successful football coach Vince Lombardi said in the 1960s: “Leaders aren’t born, they are made. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal which is worthwhile.”

The spirit of Lombardi’s insight comes to life at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business thanks, in large part, to the long-standing generosity of the Deloitte Foundation and its extraordinary partnership with the Sanger Leadership Center.

Since 2015, the Deloitte Foundation has supported the Sanger Leadership Center at Michigan Ross in facilitating a wide range of innovative programs, learning communities, and other action-packed events that help students develop the character, capabilities, and connections they need to lead in a complex and dynamic world. Thank you.

The 2017-2018 Academic Year proved to be yet another milestone for the Sanger Leadership Center, due in large part to the Deloitte Foundation’s continued generosity. The Center expanded the scale of its offerings, reaching more students than ever from a larger number of schools at the university. It enhanced its programs, thus further increasing their popularity and impact. It surpassed its already impressive learning outcomes from previous years, while gaining momentum among students who recognize the Center as one of the school’s greatest differentiators.

Please read on to learn more about the significant impact made by the Deloitte Foundation during the 20172018 Academic Year, with highlights from the following programs: • Full-Time MBA Impact Challenge • MAcc Impact Challenge

• BBA Orientation • Ross Leaders Academy

Because of the Deloitte Foundation’s outstanding support, the Sanger Leadership Center is empowered to pursue its mission of creating a more connected, creative, and prosperous world, one leader at a time.

Full-Time MBA Impact Challenge

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o program infuses the start of the academic year with more excitement and enthusiasm than the Sanger Leadership Center’s Annual MBA Impact Challenge, sponsored by Deloitte, which is a core component of the first-year experience.

During this past year’s event, which took place August 14-16, 2017, teams of MBA students worked with 15 Detroit-based food entrepreneurs to generate new customer insights, enhance their business models, update their marketing and online presence, and in other ways co-create significant new value. Sanger once again partnered with FoodLab Detroit, a local incubator for food entrepreneurs and initiatives, and FoodPlus Detroit, a local organization that promotes a sustainable metropolitan food system. The challenge gave students a unique opportunity to lead, collaborate, and create viable, innovative business solutions that will impact real people in the real world.

The 2017 Challenge was an exceptional success from the perspective of our students and participating Detroit entrepreneurs.

STUDENTS: In a survey of participating MBAs, learning in the following areas received record-breaking scores when compared with previous years: teamwork, impact, entrepreneurship, and leadership development. Nearly three-quarters of students said that a new mid-program feedback session provided the individual and team insights they needed to improve their performance and successfully complete the challenge.

Student participants had this to say about the overall experience:

“I loved that we got to know and understand one entrepreneur’s story and figure out how we could add value and support them. I overheard one entrepreneur say, ‘this has been a life-changing experience.’”

“The challenge provided an incredible opportunity to reflect on my own leadership.

I observed myself --when I chose to step up or fall back and why, when I felt nervous to speak up and why, and how my skills add value to a group. I came out of the challenge feeling affirmed in the strengths I came to Ross with. I also identified areas of weakness I want to be intentional about working on going forward.”

ENTREPRENEURS: Thanks to the MBA Impact Challenge, 15 small Detroit-based food entrepreneurs received an impressive 8,460 hours of consultation from firstyear Ross MBA teams, which provided them with valuable assistance in creating a business model canvas, a marketing and communications strategy, and market assets for their business. And a whopping 100 percent of the entrepreneur participants said they agreed or strongly agreed that the program: 1) inspired them to make a positive difference in the world, 2) created ideas that can build a future for their organization, and 3) positively changed their perception of Michigan Ross. In a satisfaction survey, one entrepreneur wrote the following: “I am in awe at the impact and value these students provided to all entrepreneurs.

The Impact Challenge is truly one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”

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MAcc Impact Challenge

t Michigan Ross, students don’t just take classes; in some cases, they actually develop them!

Such was the case for the MAcc Impact Challenge. For the third year, the Sanger Leadership Center partnered with Deloitte and Detroit’s Cornerstone Schools to provide a day-long Impact Challenge for incoming students in Michigan Ross’ Master of Accounting (MAcc) Program. The fast-paced event tasked 96 MAcc students with designing a Business & Leadership elective course for Cornerstone high school students that would help solidify their understanding of the Michigan Model of Leadership, in part through a final project that involved researching an inspiring Detroit-based leader.

The MAcc students quickly rose to the challenge of creating effective and engaging programming for the Cornerstone students. The groups presented their final plans and prototypes to a panel of judges that included MAcc faculty, other Ross faculty, and teachers and alumni from Cornerstone. Winning teams’ ideas were actually implemented by teachers at Cornerstone through a semester-long course during the 2017-18 Academic Year.

The Sanger Leadership Center continues to receive positive feedback from students in the MAcc Program, who found the Impact Challenge to be an effective introduction to leadership skills. One student said this about the experience: “I love that we worked on developing a real, new program. I feel excited for and invested in the future success and development of this program. As someone interested in social impact, specifically in the realm of education, it was lovely meeting individuals from Cornerstone and the community.”

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BBA Orientation

oming to a large university like U-M can feel daunting, even more so if you’re entering the competitive, achievement-oriented Michigan Ross community.

But a meticulously planned seven-hour BBA Orientation at Michigan Ross helps make the process a whole lot easier. Designed and organized by the Sanger Leadership Center and supported by Deloitte, the 2017 BBA Orientation helped students get off on the right foot.

The 2017 BBA Orientation was called G.E.A.R. UP, which stands for Get Educated About Ross. The overarching goal of the entire program was to build a sense of community and prepare students for their Ross Experience. All incoming sophomore BBA students (about 600 students in the class of 2020) participated in three, 90-minute sessions: 1. Defining Leadership: This session focused on helping students expand and re-define their notion of leadership and how to develop themselves as leaders.

2. Community Values Contract & Personal Development Plan: This session introduced students to academic decisions and challenges that may be in store for them and helped them craft their own Personal Development Plan.

3. Ross Resources Race: This fun, action-oriented challenge helped students identify and navigate the many offices and other resources they’d be interacting with throughout their Ross Experience. It featured a mobile app that provided prompts, clues, and fun facts as they familiarized themselves with the Ross campus.

Along the way, all students received “gear” for the upcoming school year, including a Sanger-branded water bottle, laptop stickers, school supplies, and other Ross “swag.”

More importantly, students received a plethora of vital information to help them be as productive as possible during their time at Ross and beyond. Describing the impact of the program, one student had this to say: “It was very informative and filled with important information in relation to both school and life. Knowing what it takes to be an effective leader is crucial to any environment where you want to take on a leading role.”

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ROSS LEADERS ACADEMY

he Ross Leaders Academy (RLA), offered with generous support from Deloitte, is the University of Michigan’s premier leadership development community.

This past academic year, it brought 50 students together from across the U-M campus­—twice as many as the 2016-17 academic year—to achieve four learning goals: 1) enhancing self-awareness, 2) advancing self-development, 3) strengthening professional networks, and 4) working effectively in diverse teams. The 2017-18 cohort included students studying business, environment and sustainability, public health, information, public policy, engineering, and more. This rich academic diversity gave participants a unique opportunity to learn from their peers.

Participants emerged from RLA with the confidence, insight, and personal vision needed to advance in their emerging careers. Here’s what two students had to say about the experience:

The first half of the semester focused on authentic leadership, helping students enhance their self-awareness and management in ways that made them more passionate, principled, and resilient as leaders. The second semester focused on adaptive leadership, developing students’ ability to flex their leadership to the needs of others and the demands of the moment. Throughout the process, students mentored one another, while also receiving support from Sanger team members and an executive coach.

“RLA enhanced my time here at Michigan by growing my community, challenging my thought processes, and giving me new people to lean on and learn from.”

“I walked away from RLA with a vision for the future, purposeful goals to drive me, and a set of values to fall back on in times of chaos. I always looked forward to our sessions, so much so I wished we had them every Friday! This is definitely one of the best, and most valuable, experiences any person can do during their time at Michigan.”

Here are some highlights from a year-end survey of participants: • 92% of students strongly agreed or agreed RLA sessions had clear applications to their personal and academic life.

• 96% of students strongly agreed or agreed RLA sessions increased their selfawareness.

• 100% of students strongly agreed or agreed the Sanger team was energetic and easy to work with.

Many thanks to the Deloitte Foundation for helping foster the next generation of leaders at Michigan Ross!