Columbia's Social Enterprise Summer Fellowship Program

Columbia Business School's Social Enterprise Summer Fellowship Program supports students who want to dedicate their summer internships for social or environmental causes. It was started in 1989 and enjoys wide support among the Columbia community. These fellowships may be in the US or at an international location.  Fellows assist organizations with their highly valued skills and their contributions may include marketing & product strategies, start-up business plans, strategic planning, financial analysis, performance evaluation and operational improvements.

Eligible Organizations could be nonprofits, for-profit social ventures, NGOs, public sector organizations or even a social VC firm. The company must have a well-defined environmental or social purpose. The company is expected to contribute a portion of the student's pay, as they gain top class MBA talent that they otherwise would not have afforded. The school raises funds during the fellowship fundraising week from faculty, alumni and other supporters. Potential and past fellows are also expected to volunteer, during the week to help raise funds.

Students are considered eligible if they have finished at least one term of the core MBA program. 1st and 2nd year students can both apply, but priority is given to freshers. The program supports full-time internships that last 6 to 10 weeks. Students get a maximum salary of up to $1,200 each week, subject to availability of funds. The employing company is expected to contribute at least $600 to $1000 each week. This could include in-kind support like accommodation and transport. The Summer Fellowship Program contributes $200 to $600 each week. In case the employer cannot contribute to the salary, the fellow can get a maximum of $800 per week. This fund does not support students who are developing their own ventures.

In 2012, Amy Anenberg interned with Robin Hood Foundation, a nonprofit fighting poverty in New York City with 240+ schools and programs in the poorest parts of the city. Hahn Wook Kim worked for Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), helping launch Impact Exchange, Asia's first and only regulated stock exchange for the social sector. Alia Rafeh, a 2012 MBA was part of Charity Connector, a social online service that connects smaller nonprofits with larger for-profit companies.

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