B-school students pursue a positive impact

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Mark Adams is chief of staff for Intel’s Ultra Mobility Group.

More so than ever, MBA students and alumni are seeking to have a successful business career while making a positive impact. While these professionals are as ambitious as ever, they know that success goes beyond financial measures. It means improving your company culture, using business to make social change, and improving your local community.

Upon entering business school several years ago, I found a group of like-minded students interested in sustainability and corporate social responsibility. At the time, Students for Responsible Business was a startup nonprofit based in San Francisco. Since then, the group — rebranded Net Impact — is now a national network of business professionals dedicated to encouraging the next generation of socially responsible business leaders. Net Impact now has 20,000+ members, in 280 chapters, who are changing the world.

Gathering the troops

During business school, several of us discovered one of Net Impact’s earlier national conferences being held at the University of California Berkeley business school. About 10 MBA students from our program at Indiana University gathered to attend the conference which was attended by about 250 Net Impact members from top MBA programs around the country.

We found an inspirational, grassroots atmosphere and learned about topics including corporate responsibility reporting, green teams at work, corporate philanthropy, and ways to make your company more sustainable. After the conference, I led a small team to form our own Net Impact chapter which quickly grew as this relatively new concept of “responsible business” gained traction.

Over the years, the Net Impact conference was rotated among top MBA programs and it is growth to exceed the capacity of most universities. In 2011, the conference will be held in Portland for the first time and is expected to draw up to 3,000 international attendees.

Transitioning to a professional focus

Given the short duration of MBA programs, a key trend is developing Net Impact professional chapters to harness the energy and enthusiasm of the recently enlightened. While the organization was originally dominated by students, almost 40 percent of membership now consists of working professionals.

Upon moving here in 2000, I worked with an Intel co-worker to found the Portland professional chapter of Net Impact. Given Portland’s culture of sustainability, we found it relatively easy to gain new members and host events with relatively large attendance.

With an emphasis on education and sharing success stories, we launched the chapter by holding two to three events per quarter which combined networking with one or more expert speakers. One of our earlier events was a roundtable with Brian Rohter, founder of New Seasons Market. We hosted a session with Social Venture Partners Portland to educate members about its concept of venture philanthropy. Other sessions led us through the business models of companies including Flexcar and Shorebank Pacific.

Making a Difference in Your Career

While careers in sustainability and corporate social responsibility are growing, the reality is that MBA interest this area is growing more quickly than job growth. Therefore Net Impact emphasizes the idea of bringing your values to work and combining your “mainstream” business career with your passion for social responsibility. To do so, it is important to select an employer that is consistent with your personal values.

Making a positive difference could mean forming a green team at work or setting up a volunteer event for your team to improve cohesiveness and help the local community. Actions such as this could increase the positive impact of your business while making you a more valued employee. Don’t hesitate to bring your personal values to the workplace.