Impact Speaker Series – Social Impact Consulting Career Panel

Event: Social Impact Consulting Career Panel
Date: Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Location: Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley

A hundred MBA students gathered in the Wells Fargo Room to listen to six panelists, several of them – Haas Alumni, share their experience in nonprofit consulting at the Social Impact Consulting Career Panel. The panelists spoke about what it is like to apply one’s analytical skills, passion and education to have a positive social impact. They provided varying perspectives on what a career in nonprofit, public, or social enterprise consulting looks like, how to get started and what steps you can take to be successful. Each of them went ahead to share the most interesting projects they’ve worked on and described their typical clients and work on a daily basis and how they see that translate to social impact.

Panelists included:

• Dr. Nora Silver, Director of the Center for Nonprofit for Public Leadership (Moderator)
• Dunstan Allison-Hope, Managing Director, Advisory Services at BSR
• Tim Carlberg, Project Leader at Dalberg Global Development Advisors
• Gihani Fernando, Manager at Bridgespan
• Abigail Ridgway, Consultant at FSG
• Wendy Walker, Investment Consultant at Cambridge Associates LLC

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Community Partner Spotlight – Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy

Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Website: http://www.parksconservancy.org/

Institute at the Golden Gate
Website: http://www.parksconservancy.org/our-work/igg/

Muir Woods. The Marin Headlands. Crissy Field. Alcatraz. The Presidio.
These remarkable places benefit from the work of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (GGNPC), which has provided more than $165 million in support to the parks and rallied 250,000 community volunteers for their stewardship. As the nonprofit partner of the National Park Service (NPS) and the Presidio Trust, the Parks Conservancy embodies a spirit of cross-sector cooperation and draws on its history of cultivating productive relationships throughout the community. In 2008, in partnership with the NPS, the Parks Conservancy launched the Institute at the Golden Gate with a mission to “advance environmental preservation and global sustainability by facilitating cross-sector dialogue and collaboration, encouraging new partnerships, and promoting action.” The Institute brings together engaged leaders from across all sectors committed to advancing positive environmental change and global sustainability.

The Institute saw its mission come into sharper focus through the efforts of a Social Sector Solutions (S3) team. Last year, Della Huff (MBA ’11) led the S3 team that helped the Institute refine its strategic plan and set it on course for future success. Della explains, “[After initial research,] we expanded the scope of the project and worked on a Theory of Change for the Institute that delved deeply into understanding its key leverage points and selection criteria for choosing appropriate sustainability issues to tackle.” The S3 team presented a revised strategic plan that continues to shape the Institute’s work today. View a video featuring GGNPC on our Social Sector Solutions page.

Subsequent to her leadership in S3, Ms. Huff was invited to join the board of directors for a 1 year commitment as a Berkeley Board Fellow for 2010-2011. “MBAs have diverse skills that can be well-leveraged by nonprofits. As a Board Fellow I was able to use my skills to… address a problem I personally care about. The experience has been very fulfilling and meaningful” says Della. Indeed, S3 and Berkeley Board Fellows were key components of her MBA experience, “One of my goals during business school was to learn about the nonprofit world, and especially learn how to become a productive, contributing nonprofit board member after business school.”

Photos courtesy of Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy