Blogs

Article written by Lacie Blankenship of Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management. Original article can be accessed here . Full text of the article can be found below. Students create and pitch original business models with a goal of generating 500 jobs in the Middle Tennessee region. By Lacie Blankenship Planned and executed by the Turner Family Center for Social Ventures (TFC) , the first Vanderbilt Social Enterprise Pitch Competition kicked off in mid-Oct

Bobby Kelley (MBA ’23), Immersion Treks Board Co-Chair October 2021 To kick off the first TFC immersion of the 2021-2022 school year, graduate students from across Vanderbilt set out to discover what the social enterprise landscape of the Murfreesboro corridor in Nashville has been up to. On the docket was a visit to four locations and three separate organizations, including Harvest Hands, Humphreys Street, Trevecca Urban Farms, and Wonder Worm Farm. Since this was a location

My Path to Vanderbilt: The Turner Family Center Guiding Light Julia Weber (MBA 2023), TFC Committee Member 2021-22 September 2021 The Turner Family Center for Social Ventures (TFC) was pivotal to my decision to attend Vanderbilt Business School. While researching business schools with a social impact and innovation focus, Vanderbilt came up first with a mention of the TFC in the search. I decided to apply. Very early on in the application process as I shared my interests and

Maria Sheridan (MPH 2022), Brand & Marketing Board Chair September 2021 After a summer filled with internships, travel, and TFC planning, the board set off for Smithville, TN for our 2021-2022 Board retreat. Board Chair, Ariane Willson came into the weekend with “[the] intention to create shared memories and foster organic connections between the team.” We accomplished that and more. The weekend was filled with programming, board games, and conversations centered on the year

Reflections by Hunter Bingham (MBA '22), Kate Kirby (MBA '22), and Sam Steele (MBA '22) Through the TFC, we were able to participate in the Turner MBA Impact Investing Network & Training (MIINT) competition put on by Wharton and the Bridges Foundation. The Vanderbilt team was comprised of 5 students from across graduate disciplines. As we - Hunter, Sam & Kate - are three first-year MBA students, this experience gave us the opportunity to learn how other disciplines think and

Marin Klostermeier (M.Ed. Leadership and Organizational Performance '22) During undergrad, I was chronically involved.  While I loved being a part of the campus community in almost every possible way, it was also too much. Now, six years later, with a more developed understanding of my values, and in the rarefied air of graduate school, much like the thin air of the Rocky Mountains that I called home before moving to Nashville, I am craving focus. With the determination to be

Olivia Cochran (M.Ed. Leadership & Organizational Performance '22) How many times have you heard the word “unprecedented” in the last year? Well, add another tally to your list because the Turner Family Center hosted an unprecedented sixth annual Social Ventures Summit, creating an entirely virtual event in light of the on-going coronavirus pandemic and social distancing guidelines, along with the largest snowfall Nashville has seen in years coinciding with the week of Summi

Megan Skaggs (M.Ed. IEPM & M.A. MALAS '21) On Friday, November 13th, the TFC hosted our annual Hult@Vanderbilt Case Competition. This year, we supported 23 participants and 5 teams as they built out ideas surrounding this year's theme: Food for Good. The goal of this year's challenge is to build  viable food enterprises  that will impact the lives of 10M people in the next decade while strengthening communities, increasing incomes, feeding the hungry and creating jobs. Learn

Megan Skaggs (M.Ed. IEPM & M.A. MALAS '21) The crux of both my academic and personal ambitions in life has pivoted around one word: access . Having the access to the right education, the right people, the right experiences, and the funds to reach one’s definition of success seemed to be the threshold for a better life. Growing up in a small town in western Kentucky, I questioned at an early age how people’s access to certain products, experiences, and resources could profound

Sonila Hasaj, M.A. Economic Development '21 Though among the great minds of development economics the debate on the effectiveness of foreign aid still continues, Soles4Souls (S4S), where I interned this summer, has found a way to create opportunities for many people and communities in emerging markets. S4S combines philanthropy with market forces to provide new and gently used shoes for people in need, thereby turning them into entrepreneurs and helping them to escape the pov

Jax Collins (MTS '20) Just like the rest of the world, TFC programming was forced to pivot come spring given the changing state of the world. Internship capacity shifted left and right and many Vanderbilt student-athletes were left without key summer opportunities. The TFC, a continuing partner with Vanderbilt Athletics’ summer internship program, was built on a legacy of adaptation and meaningful experiences. In order to meet the needs of these students, the Summer Immersion

Jax Collins, MTS '20 Telling others that I am getting a Masters of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt Divinity School typically prompts, almost without fail, the response, “and what do you do with that?” Asked enough times in my first year, I began to investigate this for myself as my original next steps to pursue a PhD shifted. I started to explore options at Vanderbilt: dual degree programs, expanding my network, mentorship, diversified coursework, etc.  After a few months

Lauren Schmidt, M.Ed. Human Development Studies '20 In the Fall of 2018, I was working on a community mental health project in Nashville, and looking for other graduate student organizations with the passion for social impact. This brought me to the doors of the Turner Family Center for Social Ventures. At the start of the academic year, I walked into the TFC information session with the intention of wanting to partner with them – but little did I know that I was walking into

TFC Community, Given Vanderbilt’s decisions and circumstances that we find ourselves in, we are working together with our TFC community to ensure that students continue to receive the support they need. Despite the disruptions to their education and our sense of community, our students remain dedicated to seeking impact in the same ways, asking the same big questions about their paths and their contributions. They are committed to being change agents and leaders for good.

Summer Reading time is here, and we want to share some of the books that have sparked our critical thinking and given us the opportunity to grow in our knowledge! The list was curated from our diverse network of students, faculty, and staff here at Vanderbilt. We will highlight books and articles about leadership, social impact, entrepreneurship, and more! Follow along with us this summer to learn more about the books, the authors, and where to purchase these publications. TF

Original Author: Michael Baker I'm passionate about education technology, and ensuring that it has impactful implementation in the developing process and developing world.  Many people are turning to education technology as a work-around for social impact and change, but it is important to involve key stakeholders along the way.  Given that, I wanted to write this post about my experiences and provide some recommendations for those getting involved in ed-tech. I come from a b

Original Story: Vanderbilt Law School Link:  https://law.vanderbilt.edu/news/nat-robinson-18-mba07/ Nat Robinson’s sense of humor is reflected on the front of his 2016 book,  Creating a Cash Cow in Kenya , in which he relates his seven-year experience of starting and running a micro lending company in Nairobi. The cover features a Kenyan man transporting a cow on a motorbike. Robinson is now a third-year student at Vanderbilt Law. But his path to law school started in Keny

Original story: Owen Graduate School of Management Link: https://business.vanderbilt.edu/news/2017/08/29/climbing-social-impact-ladder-summer-fellows-use-internships-switch-career-paths/ Kayla Armgardt and Mike Woodnorth (MBA’18) use their Turner Family Center summer fellowships to support an art collective and break into social impact investing Most MBA summer interns don’t work out of a converted bowling alley that looks like a psychedelic art installation met a futuristic

Turner Family Center summer fellows Connor Echols and Alejandro Sabillon (MBA ’18) seek to provide secure mobile banking for refugees Original story: Owen Graduate School of Management Link:  https://business.vanderbilt.edu/news/2017/08/22/fellowship-will-travel-team-leaf-visits-six-countries/ What if your MBA summer internship required traveling around the world? It may sound far-fetched, but for Connor Echols and Alejandro Sabillon (both MBA ’18), this unusual scenario came

Grameen Foundation - Bankers without Borders While we continue to appreciate our BwB volunteers throughout Pro Bono Week, I wanted to highlight a recent engagement we had involving university students. In the spring of 2016, Bankers without Borders deployed 4 graduate students from Vanderbilt University (Kevin Kelly, Eileen Remley, Emily K. Sheldon, and Sid Raghuraman) to work closely with GhScientific, an organization based in Accra, Ghana, that serves as a hub for people i