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.
Related Downloads
1) Columbia Essay Guide
2) Columbia Interview Guide
3) Columbia Interview Guide + Interview Videos
Related Resource: Columbia Business School's Social Enterprise Summer Fellowship Program
Short Answer Question 1: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters maximum)
Short Answer Question 2: How do you plan to spend the summer after the first year of the MBA? If in an internship, please include target industry(ies) and/or function(s). If you plan to work on your own venture, please indicate a focus of business. (50 characters maximum)
Essay 1: Through your resume and recommendation, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next three to five years and what is your long-term dream job? (500 words)
Essay 2: Please share a specific example of how you made a team more collaborative, more inclusive or fostered a greater sense of community within an organization. (250 words)
Essay 3: We believe Columbia Business School is a special place with a collaborative learning environment in which students feel a sense of belonging, agency, and partnership--academically, culturally, and professionally.
How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS? Please be specific. (250 words)
About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.