University Initiatives
The Grassroots Business Fund works with leading universities throughout the year to offer students the opportunity to gain valuable field experience in the impact investing space. While GBF constantly seeks new ways to provide students with experience, much of the student’s involvement is centered on evaluating the social impact of GBF’s high impact businesses. In the past, students have worked with businesses such as SKEPL, a company that provides technological solutions for better milk collection to village level cooperatives in rural India and MTZL in Zambia that provides a safe and quick way for businesses to pay employees, for individuals to transfer money, or for organizations to issue electronic food vouchers using only mobile phones.
GBF partners with universities through three different programs:
1) Student Teams – Student teams work with GBF staff and management from GBF’s high impact businesses for two to three months prior to deployment to the field. Over winter or spring breaks students work closely with the client management team on a variety of projects including social impact metrics work. Previous student teams have been organized from the University of Pennsylvania Huntsman Program, and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, Georgetown University, Columbia School of Business- Pangea Advisors, Harvard Business School and Cornell University.
2) Graduate Summer Fellowships – Summer Fellows spend two to three weeks at GBF headquarters in DC becoming familiar with the GBF and its high impact businesses. The experience at GBF headquarters is then followed with six to eight weeks in the field working directly with GBF’s high impact businesses. Past projects have included designing and implementing systems for quantifying social metrics , assisting with GBF’s due diligence process and developing a and implementing a legal framework. Currently GBF recruits from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and the University of Michigan William Davidson Institute.
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Applications for the SAIS IDEV Summer Fellowship are no longer available.
- Applications for the UMich WDI Summer Fellowship are no longer available.
3) Headquarters Internships – Undergraduate or Graduate students work at GBF headquarters in DC during the fall or spring semesters. These students work part-time at GBF while continuing with their academic coursework. Past projects have included reviewing GBF’s Social Return on Investment calculations for its portfolio, and supporting the sectoral and regional teams on new initiatives.
How to Get Involved:
If you are a current student or faculty member and are interested in learning more about GBF please contact us at info@gbfund.org.
Past University Teams and Summer Fellows:
- Cornell University
- Georgetown University
- University of Michigan Ross School of Business
- University of Pennsylvania – Huntsman Program
- Past Summer Graduate Fellows
Cornell University
A team of students at from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University worked with GBF on mapping the players in the enterprise development field on topics including definition and measurement of social impact, scope and type of investments, deal flow, technical assistance, industry leaders and challenges, and differentiating factors among organizations. The result of the survey have been shared with others in the industry and has hopefully better informed stakeholders about the range of players in the field and potential areas for collaboration. The team has also developed and distilled messaging for GBF to help the organization effectively communicate its competitive advantage to stakeholders.
Hannah Choi
Hannah Choi graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in Chemical Engineering. Her subsequent 8-year career in telecommunications spanned several countries and companies. After 4 years at Sprint in the US, she spent 2 years in Brussels learning French and working on networks for major airlines in Europe. She then spent a year in Rwanda working for the incumbent telecom operator and traveling around the continent. Before returning to school to pursue an MBA, she spent a year in Germany, dusting off her German and working as a consultant on projects in the Gambia, Turkey, and Malawi. She is thoroughly enjoying her new student life and is excited to collaborate with GBF and deepen her Sustainable Global Enterprise practical experience.
Kelly Dwyer
With a passion for human potential and a head for entrepreneurship, Kelly Dwyer brings unique experience and enthusiasm to her clients. In 2007, she launched Do U Yoga, merging her extensive background in entrepreneurial business with her ongoing study of yoga and fondness for the outdoors. After two years of successful adventures, Dwyer embarked on an MBA in Sustainable Enterprise, the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University, to build upon her business management skills and to develop a career path toward large-scale positive social and environmental impact.
Gretchen Ruethling
Gretchen Ruethling is a second year Master of Public Administration student focusing on international development at Cornell University. She is interested in improving the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in developing countries. Last year, she helped create a marketing strategy for a small natural food products company in Botswana and co-authored a related case study. She also worked with the Cisco Entrepreneur Institute on creating surveys to measure the impact of their entrepreneur training programs in emerging markets. Most recently, Gretchen worked with New Ventures at the World Resources Institute on measuring the environmental and social impacts of small and growing environmental businesses in Mexico and India. She has also worked as a journalist and for an environmental organization and an agricultural research organization in the U.S. and Latin America. She received a BS in Journalism from Northwestern University and is fluent in Spanish.
Georgetown University
The Georgetown University team worked with GBF to asses it’s social impact metric system, iPAL. The purpose of the metrics system is to measure and track the social and financial impact of GBF’s investments and help GBF and its clients set and manage objectives, improve their impacts, and strengthen their management systems. The team worked with GBF investment officers and the social metrics team to examine various aspects of GBF social metrics framework and provided recommendations to GBF which it has incorporated.
John Ko is currently a graduate student at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Before moving to Washington DC, John was the Executive Vice President at MBAs Without Borders, a social enterprise dedicated to providing technical assistance to grassroots businesses in over 20 countries. Prior, John served as the National Manager for World Vision, a humanitarian and relief organization. John also holds a Computer Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo in Canada and has worked extensively in the mobile telecommunication sector, focused on emerging markets.
Rahul Pasarnikar has worked as a management and IT consultant for the last 13 years, and was a co-founder of Hambra Consulting, a boutique consulting company that implements Customer Relationship Management strategies. Rahul also spent time as a practice director of PeacePlayers International, a nonprofit in South Africa focusing on bridging divides in post conflict areas using the power of sports among youth. Rahul is currently a first year MBA student at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business where he is concentrating on international development and social enterprise. He is also co-president of the Georgetown Net Impact chapter..
Rebecca White is a first-year graduate student at Georgetown University where she is pursuing a Master of Science in Foreign Service with a concentration in International Development. She also holds bachelors degrees in Anthropology and Marketing from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her interest in these two fields and the ways in which they interact led her to spend a semester studying multiculturalism and social change in Cape Town, South Africa and a summer working with the National Geographic Society as a marketing services intern. Rebecca has also held professional positions as the research associate for economic development at the Downtown DC Business Improvement District and as the marketing and business development services consultant for a responsible tourism firm in Rwanda. She enjoys yoga and hiking and hopes to continue working in economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa after finishing her studies.
University of Michigan Ross School of Business
In the winter of 2010, GBF worked with a student team from the University Of Michigan Ross School Of Business. The team assisted GBF and its high impact enterprises measure the social impact that they generate. The students traveled to Bolivia and worked with LATCO, a producer and exporter of sesame seed. The goal of the project was to measure the degree to which GBF’s investments have lifted beneficiaries out of poverty.
Laura Frey
Laura Frey worked in rural Costa Rica for four and half years exercising entrepreneurial muscle in building a socially and environmentally responsible business in the Eco-tourism industry, focusing on areas of community development, cultural preservation, and environmental education. During this time, Laura was also an active board member in two grassroots associations, providing technical assistance for enterprising leaders wanting to start their own business, as well as fundraising for conservation awareness events to protect the areas fragile biodiversity. Before arriving to University of Michigan in 2008, she was a founder of a community microfinance organization, Raices Capitales S.A., where she became excited about ways in which financial services could empower the poor to take ownership in creating a better future for their families. During her MBA/MS experience she has worked with international social enterprises in the private and NGO sector, such as Acumen Fund India and ProBrazil. Most recently, Laura has been involved in a Master's Project to engage Banorte, one of the largest Mexican owned banks, to roll out a corporate social responsibility strategy (CSR) across all departments.
University of Pennsylvania Huntsman Program
In the spring of 2009 and the winter of 2010, GBF worked with two student teams from the University of Pennsylvania Huntsman Program. Both student teams assisted GBF and its high impact enterprises measure the social impact that they generate. The students traveled to Tanzania to work with Honey Care, a honey producer which sources from small scale beekeeping operations, and HAI, an organic cocoa producer. The goal of both projects was to measure the degree to which GBF’s investments have lifted beneficiaries out of poverty.
Natalie Tejero is a junior in the Huntsman Program at Penn. In addition to working with GBF, she is on the board of the Penn Course Review and of the Wharton Undergraduate Finance Club. She has also interned at Bank of America, Daimler, and Morgan Stanley. Natalie enjoys learning about different cultures and is fluent in English, German, French, and Spanish.
Inna Alecksandrovich was born in Russia, but her family immigrated to Israel shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union while she was still a baby. After growing up in Israel for eight years she moved to Pennsylvania with her family. Inna graduated from George School, a Quaker boarding and day school and is currently a Junior in the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business at the University of Pennsylvania. She is concentrating in Finance at Wharton, International Studies at the College of Arts and Sciences, and minoring in French and Russian. She spent a semester studying in Moscow and is particularly interested in developing economies and financial responsibility and risk management.
Taishi Kushiro was born in Japan, but has lived in Thailand, Chile, and the United States. He is presently a Junior in the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business at the University of Pennsylvania and is fluent in English, Spanish, and Japanese. He was an intern at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan at their mission tothe United Nations as a Japanese delegate to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. Most recently, he worked for the United States Congress as an intern specializing on the global financial crisis and its impact on developing countries.
Past Summer Graduate Fellows
Marisa Gerla
Marisa Gerla was a Summer 2010 Graduate Fellow with the Latin America and Caribbean team. She spent her summer helping GBF’s high impact enterprises prepare to implement the iPAL social impact framework. Marisa has recently completed her M.A. in International Economics and International Development at Johns Hopkins’ Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She is also a dual MBA candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. In the spring of 2010, Marisa conducted research for GBF’s Bolivia portfolio as a member of a SAIS student consulting team.
Lauren Miller was a Summer 2010 Graduate Fellow with the Asia team working with one of GBF’s high impact enterprises, SKEPL.. During her summer with GBF and SKEPL Lauren kept a blog of her experiences. Click here to access the blog. Lauren is a second year MBA student at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, where she is specializing in business development in emerging markets. During her time at Ross and as a fellow on the Social Venture Fund, Lauren has gained extensive exposure to impact investing and social entrepreneurship. In addition to building the Urban Revitalization investment group within the Social Venture Fund, Lauren represented Ross at the annual Social Venture Capital Investment Competition and participated as a judge for the William James Foundation Socially Responsible Business Plan competition.
Sara Taylor was a Summer 2010 Graduate Fellow with the Africa team working with one of GBF’s high impact enterprises, Mobile Transactions Zambia Limited (MTZL). Sara is currently enrolled in a masters program in International Relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, specializing in international development, where she has already completed her first year of study at the Bologna Center in Italy.
