Net Impact Club in the Black & Gold
Contributed by Gray Robinson (MBA ’14)
The WFU School of Business Net Impact Club entered last fall aiming to increase interest and participation in the club via a three-pronged strategy: building teams to compete in competitions, creating a Net Impact business incubator and networking with students and professionals with like minds.
As May approaches, those objectives have been well met and participation is up with 25 active members, all School of Business graduate students.
The club assembled teams to compete in three competitions (the Leeds Net Impact Case Competition, the Sustainable Venture Capital Investment Competition and the Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investment Challenge) and also consulted all-natural energy bar startup, Threshold Provisions of Asheville, NC, on its business plan and strategy.
The club has recruited Dan McCabe, CEO of Causetown, to be a BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism speaker this spring. Causetown is an Atlanta-based enterprise that works with businesses large and small to create positive social impact in their communities. Driving social impact throughout his career, McCabe is a WFU MBA alumnus (’06) and will speak in Farrell Hall Room A17 at 4:00 PM on April 24th.
The Wake Forest chapter will join the Net Impact clubs from Duke and UNC as well as students from Duke’s Master’s in Environmental Management in Durham this spring to visit local businesses focused on positive impact.
Moving forward, the club aims to continue growing membership by offering further opportunities to get hands-on experience marrying the pursuits of sustainability and capitalism.
The John B. McKinnon Professor of Economics and Finance at the School of Business, Rick Harris, is the club’s faculty sponsor. The club is run by co-Presidents, Gray Robinson and Ryan Lesley; Senior Officer, Alex Tsuji; and 1st-year Officer, Laura Bondel.
For more information, please contact Gray Robinson at robinsdg@wfu.edu