Farber Program

Attention changemakers: Applications for the 2025 Farber Fellowship are OPEN until January 17, 2025! The Farber Summer Fellowship is a consulting-like program designed for MBA students to make a significant impact at a social enterprise. You’ll spend the summer: ? Combining business with purpose ?Helping solve real-world business and operational challenges for social enterprises? ?Meeting other MBA students passionate about social impact ?Learning from REDF’s 25+ years of experience in venture philanthropy. Learn more and apply now: https://lnkd.in/eV3QRiCh #farberfellowship #farber #socialimpact #socialmba #mbafellowship

MBA student María Beatriz Monta?o Murrieta (The University of Chicago Booth School of Business) spent last summer as a Farber Fellow, working with employment social enterprise Global Neighborhood. Along the way, she was inspired to see how business leaders can pioneer solutions for pressing social problems. “REDF and ESEs have shown that solutions to social problems are waiting to be found in the same business books that teach us about profits. Now, it’s time for the business world to reciprocate…. Companies should start asking themselves what they can do to get closer to the work of social impact.” Read the story from her summer here: https://lnkd.in/gMUcErzp Interested in applying? Applications for next year's Farber Fellowship cohort are now open (https://lnkd.in/eV3QRiCh) -- come and see what a summer of personal and professional transformation can look like. #mba #socialimpact #fellowship #farber #socialenterprise

Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management MBA candidate Smita Balaji came to the Farber Fellowship eager to explore opportunities to connect social impact and business. For her Farber project, she was connected with employment social enterprise First Step Staffing (FSS), the largest nonprofit staffing agency in the U.S. Her responsibilities included working to evaluate the organization’s innovative housing subsidy pilot program, which is designed to support people overcoming barriers to employment. "Without stable housing, finding and maintaining a job is nearly impossible, while steady employment often unlocks the ability to secure housing,” she writes. “FSS’s mission, which addresses both needs, highlights how closely these challenges are tied to economic stability — something many public programs overlook.” Read on for more of Smita’s reflections from her summer: https://lnkd.in/et8i6b2a #socialenterprise #mba #farberfellowship #kelloggmba

MBA student Lei Ren?(The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania) spent this past summer as a Farber Fellow, working alongside employment social enterprise Weld Seattle to design a fresh way to quantify the societal value of their programs. He writes, "Working on the impact measurement project was a highlight of my summer. By developing tools to measure and articulate their impact, we are setting a new standard for how ESEs can communicate their success and immense potential to make a difference.” Read the full story from his summer: https://lnkd.in/gT6vcJ7t #mba #socialimpact #fellowship #farber #socialenterprise #whartonmba

Since 1997, REDF has hosted over 200 Farber Fellows – and this summer, we welcome another 16! Over the next few days, we’ll be introducing the impact-driven, early-career business leaders who will spend this summer working one-on-one with our employment social enterprise partners on a customized capacity-building project. #MeetTheFarbers #FarberFellowship #REDFCommunity #socialenterprise #socent #mba

Graduation time here at Duke University and, while bittersweet, it is also a chance to celebrate our graduating students. Students like Annie Forrest who was recently profiled as a 2024 Best & Brightest MBA by Poets&Quants. Sharing a few excerpts from Annie's interview that made me especially proud - along with a picture of Annie and Kandasi at the top of Duke Chapel last week! ?????? ?????? ?????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????????? ????????????? Fuqua has a long-standing and genuine commitment to social impact. CASE at Duke hosts year-round programming to support and engage with students who are passionate about social impact. I felt like Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business not only “talked the talk”, but also “walked the walk” when it came to social impact inclusion and advancement. ?????????? ?????????????????? ???? ?????? ???????? ????????????? My dear friend, Kandasi Griffiths. Not only is Kandasi wicked smart, but she is also willing to have deep conversations, especially as we transition into the impact investing space together. What does it really mean to have an inclusive financial system for everyone? I admire how much she lives her values, makes space for others when they have challenges, and uses business as a force for good. ?????? ?????? ???????? ???????????????? ??????????????????? CASE at Duke Faculty Director Catherine Clark, hands down! Not only is she an excellent classroom facilitator, interviewer of incredible guest speakers, and leader in the #impinv field, but she also makes all our assignments experiential learning opportunities. ?????? ?????? ?????????? ???? ???????? ???????????????????????? ???????????? ????????? 1. Work explicitly on community development and impact investing in the Central Appalachian region where I’m from originally. I hope to eventually start a social enterprise there to increase educational and workforce development opportunities. 2. Run for public office in some capacity. Policy shapes how systems do or do not support people effectively, and I hope to be a policymaker at some point in the future. Link to the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/eqKyZAKP Can't wait to follow along on the rest of your journey, Annie!

We're in the final hours before voting closes on 4/14 -- don't miss out to cast your vote for Homeward Bound of Marin, Woodcock Foundation, and REDF to take the stage at this year's SOCAP Global conference! https://lnkd.in/eB39JDr3

What a treat to get the Farber band back together and wax on about all things that show us business and social impact aren't mutually exclusive, but in fact gorgeously interdependent. The Farber Fellowship is REDF's signature social impact summer program for 2nd year MBA and MPP students looking to level up their perspective on the business of impact, using #socialenterprise as their classroom. Last night, we gathered with fellows from across states and across cohorts, from 1997 to the present, and soaked in how ten itty bitty weeks can stay with you for a lifetime. The group was as impressive as you can imagine - each in their own right blazing a trail in philanthropy, impact consulting, and social enterprise. Each in and for causes that have shaped their lives and in and for lives that have shaped their cause. Thank you Stuart Davidson for having the vision and the sense of possibility to make this program happen some 25 years ago. And thank you Christina Gilyutin for putting your own alchemy of teaching curiosity, building muscles through applied learning, and entrenching in a few reps of kara-oke to get cohorts to become community. We are 216 fellows in 60+ enterprises strong because of you. Going into this Friday feeling all the feels and inspired to reflect on those pivotal itty bitty weeks over my lifetime that stuck with me, for good.