By Professor Dennis Shaughnessy
On Tuesday, April 19 three of our alums visited campus to talk with current students about how studying social enterprise and social entrepreneurship enhanced their careers.
One is a doctor. Another works on Wall Street. And the third works for a fast growing technology start-up. All of them believe that studying and experiencing social entrepreneurship was key to constructing a successful career path after graduation.
Danielle Dobson graduated in 2011, with an Economics & International Affairs major and took all of our social enterprise courses that were offered at the time. She was a student and teaching assistant in our first South Africa “slum entrepreneur” program in 2008 when she was just a 19-year old sophomore. She went on to work for Cambridge Associates as an analyst, and is now an Associate at APG Asset Management in New York City. APG manages Dutch pension funds including an ESG or social impact investing program.
Jeff Cumplido graduated in 2010, with a BS in Biology and headed straight to Tufts Medical School. After completing both his MD and MPH degrees at Tufts, Jeff is now an Internal Medicine Resident at Brown University’s medical center in Providence. Jeff was a student leader in our inaugural Dominican Republic microfinance program. Jeff was accepted into medical school after just his second year at NU. Jeff’s practice includes serving low income communities in Providence’s inner city.
Sarah Hodsdon was a Global Presidential Fellow when she graduated with an International Affairs degree in 2013. Sarah participated in both our DR and South Africa programs, and was a student leader with SEI throughout her years on campus. Sarah works at Dimagi, a for profit social enterprise and spin-off from MIT, that uses mobile technology to provide “last mile” solutions to disadvantaged communities around the world. Dimagi (in Cambridge) currently has a variety of entry level positions and co-op opportunities.
Some notes on Danielle, Jeff and Sarah’s reflections back to their days studying social enterprise at NU.
- Studying social entrepreneurship opened their eyes to the power of business to do good.
- Engaging in field programs and service learning helped them to see the world from the eyes of someone who lacks opportunity and hope yet has all the capacity and potential to be successful.
- SEI allowed them to acquire hard skills that can be used for “soft” purposes, such as applying financial principles to evaluating enterprise solutions to social problems like chronic poverty or treatable infectious disease.
Danielle, Jeff and Sarah also offered some advice to our current students.
- Get as much real world experience as you can, including traveling to other countries and experiencing life from a different perspective.
- Consider creative ways to apply the values behind social entrepreneurship to different professional settings, from finance to medicine to engineering and technology.
- Develop a skill set that gives you the best opportunity to pursue the career path that reflects your values.
All three of our very successful alums indicated that their immediate careers reflect what they took away from social enterprise study, and further that their longer term futures include a commitment to social impact in whatever professional capacity fits their evolving interests and skill set best.
Many thanks to Danielle, Jeff and Sarah for participating in our year-end SEI Speaker Series event.
