As seen in the Washington Square News.
The first student-run venture fund in a U.S. business school was recently launched in the Stern School of Business and has offered nearly $250,000 worth of grants to improve local organizations, Stern representatives said.
The Student Social Venture Fund, housed within the Satter Program in Social Entrepreneurship at Stern, allows students in Prof. Matthew Klein’s “Social Venture Fund Practicum” course to manage $100,000 of grant money.
“It gives the students enrolled in the class real, hands-on experience, creating and managing an actual venture fund that is not merely a school exercise,” said Irina Kogan, a part-time MBA candidate who is in Klein’s class. “Everyone who works for the fund can bring to bear their knowledge of marketing, finance, strategy and operations to support the organizations in their social missions.”
The class, a small part of the larger Satter program, is an entirely student-run process that establishes mission statements for the program and chooses grantees from applications, working with them and running the funds, Klein said.
“They’re basically starting a foundation from scratch,” he said.
Students spend time in the classroom learning the structure and the concepts needed to run a fund as they go along, Klein said.
“I think the students are really engaged,” he said. “They’ve jumped right into it.”
Next year’s class will manage the grantees chosen by this year’s class as well as choose new grantees from a new series of applications, Klein said.
“As a student, I think the fund is one of the best opportunities I’ve had at Stern,” Kogan said. “It is very exciting to be a part of such a large, innovative project and have the ability to provide support to organizations that are focused on improving the New York City community.”
Translation services in New York City hospitals and a landscape business that hires ex-convicts are among the beneficiaries of the grants given by the fund.
“We didn’t just give money to give money,” Stern Dean Thomas Cooley said. “We give money to businesses that can help [society] in the long run.”
Grants were also given to grassroots ventures in need of capital and venture research.
” ‘A Private University in the Public Service –’ we take that very seriously,” Cooley said, referencing NYU’s motto.
Starting capital for the program was provided by program namesake Stewart Satter, Stern alumnus and CEO of Consumer Testing Laboratories Inc., and the Blue Ridge Foundation, of which Klein is executive director.
With support from Klein and demonstrated interest from Satter, funds for the program were secured in about six months.
“There were no bureaucratic obstacles at all,” Cooley said. “We got a call from [Satter] who was very impressed with what we did with alumni support.”
With the addition of the fund, Stern now offers $500,000 through the Satter Program to support social ventures at NYU.
“Our funders … felt strongly that our students not only had a lot of value to add to these new ventures in the form of consulting services and the like, but also that the Stern School could be a leader in developing curriculum in this area,” said Sarah Chiles, director of the Stewart Satter Program in Social Entrepreneurship at Stern.
The fund is working on attracting more beneficiaries to the program, who can apply online at the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies website.
“To date, we’ve received numerous inquiries from organizations that are interested and want to be sure they qualify for a grant,” Kogan said. “We’re looking forward to receiving the proposals.”
The class and fund will be a starting point for the growth of student entrepreneurship opportunities at Stern.
“The fund’s goals are to prepare the future leaders of the philanthropic sector and to support social entrepreneurs in the NYC community,” Chiles said. “With the seed funding secured thus far, we expect to see the impact of our work support the further expansion of our program.”
The success of the Satter Program could add to Stern’s reputation as a top business school.
“We are in the forefront of [national] universities in terms of being engaged in the community,” Cooley said. “We have a long history of producing successful entrepreneurs.”
Stern students run social venture
As seen in the Washington Square News.
The first student-run venture fund in a U.S. business school was recently launched in the Stern School of Business and has offered nearly $250,000 worth of grants to improve local organizations, Stern representatives said.
The Student Social Venture Fund, housed within the Satter Program in Social Entrepreneurship at Stern, allows students in Prof. Matthew Klein’s “Social Venture Fund Practicum” course to manage $100,000 of grant money.
“It gives the students enrolled in the class real, hands-on experience, creating and managing an actual venture fund that is not merely a school exercise,” said Irina Kogan, a part-time MBA candidate who is in Klein’s class. “Everyone who works for the fund can bring to bear their knowledge of marketing, finance, strategy and operations to support the organizations in their social missions.”
The class, a small part of the larger Satter program, is an entirely student-run process that establishes mission statements for the program and chooses grantees from applications, working with them and running the funds, Klein said.
“They’re basically starting a foundation from scratch,” he said.
Students spend time in the classroom learning the structure and the concepts needed to run a fund as they go along, Klein said.
“I think the students are really engaged,” he said. “They’ve jumped right into it.”
Next year’s class will manage the grantees chosen by this year’s class as well as choose new grantees from a new series of applications, Klein said.
“As a student, I think the fund is one of the best opportunities I’ve had at Stern,” Kogan said. “It is very exciting to be a part of such a large, innovative project and have the ability to provide support to organizations that are focused on improving the New York City community.”
Translation services in New York City hospitals and a landscape business that hires ex-convicts are among the beneficiaries of the grants given by the fund.
“We didn’t just give money to give money,” Stern Dean Thomas Cooley said. “We give money to businesses that can help [society] in the long run.”
Grants were also given to grassroots ventures in need of capital and venture research.
” ‘A Private University in the Public Service –’ we take that very seriously,” Cooley said, referencing NYU’s motto.
Starting capital for the program was provided by program namesake Stewart Satter, Stern alumnus and CEO of Consumer Testing Laboratories Inc., and the Blue Ridge Foundation, of which Klein is executive director.
With support from Klein and demonstrated interest from Satter, funds for the program were secured in about six months.
“There were no bureaucratic obstacles at all,” Cooley said. “We got a call from [Satter] who was very impressed with what we did with alumni support.”
With the addition of the fund, Stern now offers $500,000 through the Satter Program to support social ventures at NYU.
“Our funders … felt strongly that our students not only had a lot of value to add to these new ventures in the form of consulting services and the like, but also that the Stern School could be a leader in developing curriculum in this area,” said Sarah Chiles, director of the Stewart Satter Program in Social Entrepreneurship at Stern.
The fund is working on attracting more beneficiaries to the program, who can apply online at the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies website.
“To date, we’ve received numerous inquiries from organizations that are interested and want to be sure they qualify for a grant,” Kogan said. “We’re looking forward to receiving the proposals.”
The class and fund will be a starting point for the growth of student entrepreneurship opportunities at Stern.
“The fund’s goals are to prepare the future leaders of the philanthropic sector and to support social entrepreneurs in the NYC community,” Chiles said. “With the seed funding secured thus far, we expect to see the impact of our work support the further expansion of our program.”
The success of the Satter Program could add to Stern’s reputation as a top business school.
“We are in the forefront of [national] universities in terms of being engaged in the community,” Cooley said. “We have a long history of producing successful entrepreneurs.”