Enterprising Students’ Summer Fellowships Open New Doors

Social enterprise is booming as ventures like Warby Parker and Seventh Generation marry the resources and techniques of the business world with the social mission of traditional nonprofits. The burgeoning sector is also opening new career opportunities for public health students.

Case in point: recently, students at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health were selected to receive Social Enterprise Summer Fellowships through the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School, allowing them to gain diverse work experience with an emphasis on innovation.

Established this year, the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School—previously the Business School’s Social Enterprise Program—dedicates itself to advancing ventures that solve social and environmental issues. Recognizing that takes more than business acumen, the Social Enterprise Summer Fellowship program, originally for MBA students, expanded this year to include over 30 students from across the University. Another cross-disciplinary opportunity offered by the Center is the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures, which is currently accepting applications from Columbia students, faculty, and alumni, for $25,000 seed grants to fund early-state social ventures.

Empowering Women

In Peru, women seeking work outside of the home face considerable obstacles. Tamer fellow Jennifer Meyer, who is pursuing degrees with Mailman and Columbia’s School of Social Work, spent her summer working for El Arte Sano, a language and cultural center based in the village of Urubamba. Working from the United States, she developed workshops that incorporate poetry and storytelling to give women skills and confidence to pursue employment in the tourism industry. “The idea is to mobilize women to pursue whatever goals they have,” says Meyer. “Some of them may want to start their own businesses.”  

The same arts curriculum designed by Meyer to empower Peruvian women also has the potential to alleviate mental health issues like anxiety and depression common in this population. “My experience this summer opened my eyes to the link between art and health,” says Meyer. “I’ve altered my career goals to focus more on that.”

Getting Seniors Online

At Senior Planet, Sociomedical Sciences student Erin Beck helps New Yorkers age 60 and up learn basic computer skills like how to set up a Gmail account or Skype with a loved one. One highlight was teaching a course to an older adult “action group,” which was inspired to come together following a talk by Ruth Finkelstein, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management and associate director of the International Longevity Center-Columbia Aging Center. To tackle issues like pedestrian safety, Beck gave the group the tech savvy to research online and “use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to find information and find, make connections, and put your message out there.”

Beck’s interests evolved through the experience. Earlier she was interested in memory-impairment in older people. “Now, I’m looking at people who are aging more healthfully and how to prolong that through social engagement and cognitive stimulation,” says Beck, who this fall has accepted an internship in global aging at the American Federation of Aging Research.

Building Global Entrepreneurship

At HITLAB, a healthcare innovation and teaching lab, Population and Family Health student Juan Figueroa created content and shaped a digital identity for a series of global summits in healthcare innovation taking place in sites from New Delhi to New York. But his biggest lesson was in leadership. Over the summer, he developed a new love for public speaking after repeated chances to present on topics, including teamwork and web development. His supervisors were impressed; they offered him an opportunity to continue at the company as creative lead through the end of the year. Meanwhile, says Figueroa, “I’m in the midst of developing my own social venture.”

Social enterprises come in many flavors. Mission-driven businesses like Innova Materials, which redirects profits from selling its antimicrobial technology to developing water purification solutions for low-income countries; nonprofits like Housing Works, whose Thrift Shops and café raise money for people living with HIV/AIDS; even corporate philanthropic efforts like Merck for Mothers, which works to improve maternal health globally.

Social enterprise is a natural fit for Mailman graduates, explains Heather Krasna, director of Career Services. “These companies and organizations value what public health has to offer—even the enterprises that aren’t explicitly focused on health,” Krasna. “Our graduates are creative, adept at thinking big, and above all, share a deep desire to make a difference. These attributes are exactly what social enterprise needs.”