Did you realize that as a business school student, you can influence the MBA curriculum in more ways than you ever imagined? Students at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business recently created their own class on impact investing, an emerging investment style that simultaneously generates both financial and social/environmental returns.
Take a look at this video with MBA Admissions Dean Sara Neher as she interviews Ross Rosenstein, a third year JD/MBA at Darden. In it, Rosenstein explains how he and fellow students took the idea of the newly formed Darden Impact Ventures club, an initiative of 2014 graduates, and launched a student-led, for-credit course this term under the guidance of finance professor Elena Loutskina.
Rosenstein explains that this experiential course involves finding a start-up company and helping them with their business plan and raising capital. The iLab and Batten Institute have been very supportive of this initiative, says Rosenstein, who is also co-president and CEO of the Darden Impact Ventures fund, noting that the alumni community has also stepped in to help find potential companies.
There are currently five contenders in the running, but Rosenstein expects they will select one of them in the coming weeks who they will later present at a competition with other schools to be held at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in May.
This is just another great example of how MBA students can shape their own educational experiences while in b-school, and we look forward to sharing the results of the competition later this spring.
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