Serving the HBS mission while studying: Board Fellows & Social Enterprise Club

“It has been wonderful to work with the HBS BFSEC,” says Wendy Mastovich, Executive Director at Farrington,  “Over the past two years, the energy and analytical skills the MBAs have brought to our board meetings has invigorated the organization.  For example, our MBA students helped us improve our board recruitment and development, created a financial model to project the future fundraising needs at Farrington that has allowed us to go out to the community and start fundraising in a genuine way for the first time in our history, and they are helping us develop a Young Professionals Committee to bring young professionals into leadership roles on Farrington’s board. ” Not only has BFSEC developed a longstanding relationship with Farrington, with MBAs supporting their operations year after year, BFSEC has also sent an HBS student, after graduation, to sit on the Board as a trustee. Student Kirk Smith, an EC and member of the Farrington team in 2013, explains the value of working on a BFSEC project, “Sitting on the board of a non-profit was one of the most rewarding aspects of my experience at HBS. Given my professional background in the private financial sector, BFSEC gave me the unique opportunity to witness the work and governance of a great non-profit. It also helped me enrich my time at HBS by making me feel more connected to the local Boston community”. It’s not just a few students at Farrington Nature Linc though. BFSEC is a group of 42 RCs and ECs working, over the course of the year, with 17 non-profits in the Boston area. These students serve as non-voting board members and do consulting projects to help non-profits better realize their missions. Students donate the equivalent of ~$100,000 in time over the course of the academic year. Partner non-profits range from hospitals to community colleges, to affordable housing developments, to museums. HBS students are making a real impact by using their MBA skill set to support each of these non-profits. If you want to learn more about this year’s projects and students, or to apply to join BFSEC visit our website at www.bfsec-hbsclub.com BFSEC does not charge membership dues because students should not have to pay to volunteer their time to serve their community.  All club activities are currently sponsored by the generous support of Monitor-Deloitte and The Boston Consulting Group.  If you are interested in supporting the work of BFSEC please contact our Co-Presidents Ricardo Aguirre (raguirrepadilla@mba2015.hbs.edu) or Hannah Merves (hmerves@mba2015.hbs.edu).