Wharton Stories: Social Impact

Kathryn Gardner, L’20, WG’20 reflects on her WISE Fellowship with the Social Impact Accelerator, where she analyzed an innovative business model that helps a local staffing company tackle homelessness.

How a Staffing Company Can Tackle Pressing Social Issues

From academic courses to extracurricular involvements and internships, Michelle Jaffee, W’19, ensured social impact shaped her time at Penn. She offers tips for students looking for impactful opportunities.

How I Found My Social Impact Path at Penn — and How You Can Find Yours

A self-proclaimed “data nerd,” Ajjit Narayanan, C’19 worked on an urban analytics project through Wharton Social Impact’s WISE Fellowship throughout his time at Penn. Seeing tangible social impact outcomes, he decided to make the project the basis for his senior thesis and career.

Why I Decided to Turn My Urban Analytics Fellowship into a Thesis and Full-Time Job

Members of the Turner Social Impact Society, an undergraduate community managed by the Wharton Social Impact Initiative, visited several Philadelphia-based businesses to learn about how they’re driving social impact.

Business Meets Impact: What Penn and Wharton Undergrads Learned From 5 Philly Companies

Wharton Impact Venture Associates (WIVA) gives students real-world experience in impact investing. The WIVA team helped raise $50k for its first deal in less than 24 hours.

Wharton Impact Venture Associates Secures First Deal with Blood-Testing Startup

TIPC gives students skills and experience in designing investment portfolios that maximize impact. A team from the University of Vermont’s Sustainable Innovation MBA won the inaugural competition.

How the Total Impact Portfolio Challenge Is Shaping Future Impact Investing Leaders

Teams from Yale, Wharton, and Oxford presented winning pitches that secured $100,000 in impact investments for three high-impact start-ups.

Pitching for Impact: Results from the 8th Annual MIINT Competition

Alexandru (Alex) Zanca, W’21, was originally a biochemistry major at Penn. Now, he’s concentrating in statistics at Wharton and pursuing his passion for promoting equity.

Why This Statistics Undergrad Spent Winter Break Volunteering in Washington, D.C.

Michelle Jaffee, W’19, and Monica Volodarsky, W’21 share their experience attending a social impact conference at the University of Utah — including a captivating hackathon addressing student debt.

What Two Wharton Undergrads Learned at Utah’s Winter Innovation Summit

The MIINT gives hundreds of business school students across the globe a hands-on education in impact investing.

How the MIINT Program Trains Students to Think Like Impact Investors