Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change at Columbia University

Launched in spring 2025, Financial Empowerment Lab NYC is a "hands-on" course at Columbia University for Columbia Business School and Columbia Law School students, developed by Professors Stephen Zeldes and Edward Morrison, and Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy director Daniela Tisch. The course focuses on financial health and empowerment in underserved NYC communities, including Harlem and Washington Heights. Teams of students partner with local #nonprofits and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) on a semester-long project that culminates in a pre-specified deliverable. Students are exposed to clients of the organization, develop a better understanding of the financial and legal challenges facing underserved populations, and work on a project that helps the organization better fulfill its mission. The course emphasizes practical learning, innovative problem-solving, and strategic collaboration, enabling students to apply their skills in a meaningful context that contributes to economic justice and positive #socialchange. During one session, Sandra Navalli OAM '03, Lawrence King, and Pat Lilly from our Tamer team spoke to the class about our ReEntry Acceleration Program (REAP), NYC nonprofits, cultural competence, and Columbia’s relationship with the community.

In the face of plummeting solar panel prices, how should manufacturers adapt? In this business school-style case study for the Financial Times, Professor Gernot Wagner examines how Chinese pioneer Longi is navigating the challenges of commodification. https://lnkd.in/e8CZG3bc

In this episode of More MPE, hosts Ray Horton and Sandi Drucker Wright speak with Ron Gonen ’04, founder and CEO of Closed Loop Partners, a New York-based investment firm comprised of venture capital, growth equity, private equity, project finance, and an innovation center focused on building the #circulareconomy. Listen wherever you get your podcasts: morempe.com

In the first episode of Capital for Good season 4, host Georgia Levenson Keohane, CEO at Soros Economic Development Fund at Open Society Foundations, speaks with business and government leader Janno Lieber, the CEO of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, one of the country’s largest, oldest, and most complex public transportation systems. Listen to wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eEQ5k8-h

In this episode of More MPE, hosts Ray Horton and Sandi Drucker Wright speak with Justine Zinkin ’02, CEO of Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, a national #socialenterprise providing financial services to low-income workers. Listen wherever you get your podcasts: morempe.com

Sylvana Q. Sinha, Esq., '04LAW, founder of Tamer Fund for Social Ventures portfolio member Praava Health, wrote this piece on how President Trump's executive order initiating the country's withdrawal from the World Health Organization "has profound implications for global health." https://lnkd.in/ePp5XpNh

Capital for Good is the podcast where we hear from business and civic leaders about their visions, plans, and hard work to build a vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable society. Through in-depth and candid conversations, we explore solutions to some of our most urgent challenges. In this season of Capital for Good, host Georgia Levenson Keohane, CEO at Soros Economic Development Fund at Open Society Foundations, will speak with an extraordinary line-up of guests, including business and government leader Janno Lieber, the CEO of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, one of the country’s largest and oldest public transportation systems; journalist, digital media CEO, and Nobel Prize winner Maria Ressa; investor, climate champion, and former Presidential candidate Tom Steyer; Maria Teresa Kumar, president and CEO of Voto Latino; Kevin Ryan, founder and CEO of AlleyCorp and one of New York’s leading internet entrepreneurs and investors; Anna-Lisa Miller, the founding executive director of Ownership Works; New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander; Greg Shell, managing partner and head of inclusive growth strategies at Goldman Sachs; and Michael Posner, the director of NYU Stern School of Business’s Center for Business and Human Rights and author of the new book, Conscience Incorporated. Listen to the trailer wherever you get your podcasts — and stay tuned for the series launch later this month! Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eEQ5k8-h

ResilienceVC, co-founded by adjunct Columbia Business School professor Vikas Raj '10, has launched a $56M fund to support #fintech startups focused on #financialinclusion. This investment aims to empower underserved communities and promote equitable access to financial services, signaling a significant step towards a more inclusive financial future. https://lnkd.in/gGvnBsPS

In this week's episode of More MPE, hosts Ray Horton and Sandi Drucker Wright speak with Kaushik Kappagantulu ’17, co-founder and CEO of Kheyti, on his journey from the conventional career in engineering his parents favored to founding a #socialenterprise aimed at lifting millions of India’s small farmers out of poverty. Listen wherever you get your podcasts: morempe.com

Check out the incredible lineup of alumni and industry guests that Columbia Business School Professor Gernot Wagner has welcomed in his Business and Climate Change and Climate Policy classes this spring!