Since his graduation in Spring of 2010, Myles Lutheran has been on a career path less traditional than most students. Including his final co-op, he has worked at three venture-capital backed start-ups, ranging from socially responsible apparel manufacturing to iPhone application development, helping to develop initial processes and progress companies beyond the proof-of-concept stage. Most recently Myles began a 6-month assignment with Eco Fuels Kenya, and early-stage social enterprise in Kenya making biofuels and organic fertilisers from indigenous plant species, through the Frontier Market Scouts fellowship program. Myles credits his interest and passion for social entrepreneurship to his time spent with Northeastern’s Social Enterprise Institute (SEI):
“My education with the Social Enterprise Institute, which showed me that I could use my business education to make positive change in the world rather than lead a life in pursuit of the next dollar, was the most important part of my undergraduate experience. Taking me around the world and showing me how to apply it with a critically-open and optimistic mind, while working with some of the world’s most underprivileged people, showed me that I had the ability to help make a big difference through this type of work.”
While at NEU Myles became very active with the Social Enterprise Institute, traveling with them to South Africa, the Dominican Republic and Belize in addition to helping run student groups and other programs on campus. One of his favorite memories was helping to organize a SEI benefit concert for Haiti at AfterHours, which sold out the venue and raised over $3,000 for Partners in Health’s post-earthquake relief efforts. He stresses that in additional to the eye-opening education and experience he received through his time with SEI, the lasting relationships he made with like-minded students were equally as important.
Myles views his current Frontier Market Scout assignment, a collaboration between Monterey Institute of International Studies and impact investment fund Village Capital, as a stepping stone for a career in global social enterprise. You can read more about his experience building a career in impact investing from his recent blog post on ImpactIQ: “Scouting a Path to an Impact Investing Career.”
For a more detailed update on what Myles has been doing in Kenya, you can check out his program blog “Croton Chasers.”
