On May 15, 2013, Sauder staff, faculty and students from the Master of Management program (MM) gathered at the Sauder School of Business for the 2013 MM Community Business Project Showcase.
For the past six months MM students have been working on business initiatives for local non-profit and community-focused organizations. The event, hosted by the Hari B. Varshney Business Career Centre, gave student teams the chance to present the results of their consulting projects to peers and the internal Sauder community.
Student teams worked on a wide variety of projects, from identifying revenue generating models for an urban rooftop greenhouse to developing partnership opportunities for a North Vancouver farming initiative. Project teams discussed the scope, as well as the challenges and successes they encountered during their projects.
Chris Gorczynski, part of the four person team working on a business plan and marketing strategy for Working Gear Clothing Society, learned a lot from working with the volunteer-run organization. "Not only did we get to be creative and apply what we’ve learned in the classroom, but we also got to experience and learn from the challenges that are inherent in consulting work," says Chris.
Fourteen not-for-profit and community-focused organizations participated in the 2013 Community Business Project (CBP), including The Children’s Foundation, Whistler Sport Legacies and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS).
“I can’t say enough about how valuable it has been,” says Nicola Hill, Executive Director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society - BC Chapter. “The quality of work and the thought that went into the project was top notch and it has already generated a lot of ideas from our team that we want to implement right away.”
Jeff Balin, MM Careers Manager and CBP program facilitator says, "The Community Business Project is a meaningful opportunity for our students to showcase the hard and soft skills that they have amassed during their MM degree. These projects also give students the opportunity to contribute to, and gain a better appreciation for, the invaluable services and initiatives provided by socially-minded organizations in BC."
As the 2013 projects come to an end, staff at the Business Career Centre are already looking forward to connecting next year’s Master of Management students with organizations across BC. Non-profit as well as for-profit organizations are invited to submit proposals for community-focused projects from August through September. Learn how to get involved.
