Business for a Better World Impact Fellows Program

Residency trip to New York City inspires Impact Fellows

Greg Johnson — Tue, 27 May 2025 15:00:28 +0000

Residency trip to New York City inspires Impact Fellows Greg Johnson Tue, 05/27/2025 - 11:00

While many of their peers were spending spring break catching sun at the beach, members of the Impact Fellows Program were busy engaging with organizations and professionals in New York City to see how they run their operations while being dedicated to social impact, sustainability, and community service. 

Impact Fellows visit New York City. Photo provided

Using the United Nations’ sustainable development goals as their framework, the Impact Fellows Program is a competitive two-year program for students in the Costello College of Business at �鶹��Ƶ who want to foster their leadership abilities and personal development.

The Costello students in the Impact Fellows Program come from different backgrounds and have different interests, but they are united in the belief that business should be a force for good in the world.

“At the Costello College of Business, we believe deeply in learning that extends beyond the classroom,” said Yena Kim, director of academic achievement and innovative learning at the Costello College of Business. “The Impact Fellows residency trip is a powerful example of our commitment to student experience and career readiness—giving students the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned, explore their purpose, and connect with professionals making a difference in the world. Experiences like this are where leadership is forged and career paths come into focus.”

Along with being plugged into a network of mentors and participating in a variety of co-curricular activities, the four-day residency trip is a requirement of the program to give the students hands-on experience away from campus.

“We had learned about the UN sustainable development goals, and we had done other co-curricular trips that were almost like steppingstones into this experience,” said Camila Rosales, a junior studying supply chain and operations management. “This residency trip almost felt like a final exam situation.”

But rather than sitting in a classroom and filling out exam sheets, they joined several organizations who are making a real difference.

High Line Tour. Photo provided

Leaving on Tuesday and returning on Friday, the Impact Fellows had many places to see and people to meet during their residency trip to the Big Apple. Touring the High Line, they saw a clear illustration of sustainability for all who walk along or around it. Formerly part of the New York Central Railroad, the High Line was transformed into a 1.45-mile-long elevated linear park. “When you go to a city like New York, you really experience the interconnectedness, the history, all of the fundamental values of community,” said Mike Van Dyken, a senior studying business analytics and management information systems.

God's Love We Deliver. Photo provided

At God’s Love We Deliver, the group learned how the nonprofit cooks and delivers specialized meals to people suffering from chronic illnesses. “Getting to help those people hands-on and seeing how my work had an impact on people’s lives definitely inspired me to create my own nonprofit organization one day,” said Shriganesh Sivakumar, a sophomore studying finance.

Leticia Nunez Nova, a senior studying marketing and business analytics, also has a passion for nonprofit work, and this was the first time she was able to speak with the operations team of a nonprofit. “I love nonprofit work, especially marketing it,” she said, “So, that would be like my dream job. Maybe work for a social enterprise.”

International WELL Building Institute. Photo provided

At the International WELL Building Institute, the Impact Fellows had the opportunity to engage directly with leaders in sustainable finance and workplace innovation. During a dynamic conversation with Minjia Yang, vice president and head of sustainable finance, students gained insights into how companies are designing spaces that prioritize human well-being, environmental responsibility, and innovation. The visit not only deepened the students’ understanding of sustainability in business but also provided valuable networking opportunities with a global leader in the field—an experience many described as inspiring and eye-opening.

The Impact Fellows had a full itinerary on their trip, also touring the Tenement Museum and the United Nations Headquarters.

Tenement Museum. Photo provided

“I really do owe a lot to the residency trip because I was on the fence of what to pursue, but having a week of experiencing what it’s like to be in spaces that are focused on sustainability and helping the community made me realize how much I want to do it,” said Rosales.

Their experiences showed the students that profitability and sustainability are not mutually exclusive. “It opened my eyes to the fact that there are businesses that have made it possible to get revenue and also do good,” said Nunez Nova.

Besides seeing how everything operates, the Impact Fellows learned how to communicate and work effectively with professionals and volunteers from a wide variety of backgrounds.

“The Impact Fellows Program teaches you not only cross-cultural communication but also how to implement and communicate with professionals that work in the industry,” said Sivakumar. For several of the Impact Fellows, the trip confirmed career goals. “Just overall, this program helped me stick with my original vision of how I could use business to have a positive impact,” said Van Dyken.

United Nations Headquarters. Photo provided

For the Impact Fellows, the residency trip to New York City brought their program experience full circle. When they graduate, they will be entering the workforce with connections, leadership skills, and the inspiration to make the world a better place through business and innovation.

If you are interested in learning more about the Impact Fellows Program and how you can get involved, visit us online.

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A Better World is Everyone’s Business

Marianne Klinker — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 19:02:42 +0000

A Better World is Everyone’s Business Marianne Klinker Fri, 12/03/2021 - 14:02

In This Story

Lisa M. Gring-Pemble

It wasn’t until 1972, during a United Nations conference in Stockholm, that the nations of the world formally announced what was already self-evident to most—human activity was detrimentally impacting the environment, and in turn, threatening our future prosperity. Nearly 50 years on, it seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Perhaps the earth’s most essential forest, the Amazon is under tremendous threat from international economic and agricultural forces that are exchanging trees for pasture and cropland. Compounding matters are the pressures generated Local beekeepers Pilar Muravari and her husband Gabriel Caritimari, with Honey Bee Initiative Master Beekeeper German Perilla, sustainably extract honey from a nest of native stingless Melipona eburnea in Peru. by residents. Many local and indigenous communities, lacking better options, have turned to unsustainable, and environmentally damaging, income-generating activities such as logging, hunting, and fishing.

The combined effect is that the Amazon’s ability to shelter universally significant levels of biodiversity, regulate local and global hydrological cycles, and serve as a critically important sink for carbon dioxide are all imperiled. So too are the lives and livelihoods of those who depend on it for their survival.

In this challenge, the Business for a Better World Center (B4BW), through its Honey Bee Initiative (HBI), sees an opportunity to act with people, planet, and prosperity in mind to help change the fate of both an environment and its inhabitants.

Led by Germán Perilla, MAIS ’12, HBI is, of course, well known here on campus. Its expansion into the Amazon (Colombia and Perú specifically) highlights the initiative’s and the center’s fundamental ambition: making an impact globally, and at scale. By empowering communities through entrepreneurial beekeeping programs, B4BW has created sustainable economic opportunities for rural and indigenous communities. Importantly, the beehives are more lucrative endeavors than the extractive practices they are seeking to replace.

The effort has been well-received, and many program participants share the pride of Exiles Guerra, a local government leader in Perú, who observed that “The program is very important for the community...it is a new opportunity for all.” The work in Colombia has been so successful that it recently was selected as the 15th best overall social and environmental project in Latin America and the Caribbean by the Latinoamérica Verde, the largest social environmental festival in Latin America. Moving forward, HBI seeks to expand its impact by establishing a meliponiculture (study of stingless bees) school in Perú, taking the Colombia project nationwide, and using the HBI model in countries around the globe.

The success and global footprint of the Honey Bee Initiative serves as a template B4BW seeks to replicate. With a belief that a better world is everyone’s business, center leadership realize that as educators, we play a role in preparing the next generation to help reorient the business environment.

“Our goals are lofty,” says Lisa Gring-Pemble, co-executive director for B4BW. “We seek to lead a movement that will reshape business education so that it inspires students to act not just in the best interest of shareholders, but for the benefit of all stakeholders.”

Here in Virginia, the center sees its Impact Fellows program as one piece of that puzzle. Launched in Fall 2020, this signature two-year, cohort-based undergraduate program responds to the needs of first-generation students, and those from lower-income groups and who are underrepresented in business, by providing an immersive learning environment based on the United Nations Global Goals, with elements such as local and/or global field study and personalized mentoring. Additionally, the center is engaged in an audit of all School of Business courses, focused on what and how students are taught about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We then intend to develop an undergraduate concentration and a minor on the topic of responsible business.

In spring 2021, B4BW hosted the Ashoka U Exchange’s international conference bringing thought leaders, students, faculty, and foundation representatives to �鶹��Ƶ’s campus for discussions around social innovation and responsible business. The center, its board members, and international partners share a focus on embedding the SDGs throughout business education, and creating educational programs and experiences to help students see, and visualize, how business can act as a force for good in the world.

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Foundations Faculty Research

Sheryl and Bill Magro’s Gift to Impact Fellows Honors Legacy of Sally A. and Albert W. Kaider

Marianne Klinker — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 17:45:25 +0000

Sheryl and Bill Magro’s Gift to Impact Fellows Honors Legacy of Sally A. and Albert W. Kaider Marianne Klinker Fri, 12/03/2021 - 12:45

In This Story

Anne Magro

Despite their own limited resources, Sally A. and Albert W. Kaider always made helping meet the needs of others a priority. Their legacies will now be honored as the new name of the Business for a Better World Impact Fellows 2021-2022 First Year Experience. The generous gift to the program was made by their daughter and son-in-law, Sheryl and Bill Magro.

Sheryl and Bill Magro

Launched in the fall of 2020 out of the Business for a Better World Center (B4BW) at the �鶹��Ƶ School of Business, the Impact Fellows Program was created to help first-year students from underrepresented groups develop the skills required to take on the grand challenges the world faces today. Over two years, the Fellows learn about the United Nations sustainable development goals and how they can directly drive social change. Co-Executive Director of the Business for a Better World Center Anne Magro is the daughter of Sheryl and Bill Magro. Always ones to give back, Sheryl and Bill were galvanized by Anne’s enthusiasm for the program, finding that its mission was very much aligned with their own views.

“I have an enormous amount of respect for Sheryl’s parents, who really epitomized the true spirit of giving, especially Sally,” says Bill Magro. “Here was a woman who literally took off her new coat in the freezing Western Michigan winter and gave it to someone in need.” While the Kaiders were challenged to pay their own bills, they never failed to help those around them experiencing even greater need. That sense of responsibility for those in need has been passed down to their daughter and son-in-law. From funding a free dental clinic to stocking food pantries, Sheryl and Bill consistently step in to meet immediate needs. This gift addresses the inequities in the system that lead to those needs. Sheryl and Bill are quick to note that they didn’t decide on the gift because of their daughter’s involvement, but Anne’s passion for the program was highly contagious.

Still in its infant stages, the success of the program is so far best characterized by feedback from students. Ashanti Martin, a sophomore studying marketing, credits Impact Fellows with opening her eyes to sustainability practices. “I’ve gained a great understanding of the United Nations sustainable development goals, and I know that I can take those practices to companies I work at in the future,” says Martin. “Another takeaway from Impact Fellows was learning about cultural intelligence and different forms of bias.” Selassie Fugar, a sophomore studying business analytics, also interns in the B4BW’s Summer Team Impact Program project. “It’s been an amazing program with faculty who have been so helpful in setting me up with the right resources and internships,” says Fugar. “I don’t think I would have been able to make those connections without Impact Fellows.”

First-generation students represent a significant portion of the School of Business, and the Magros can’t help but find themselves relating to them. “Our students really mirror my parents’ experiences, as my mom was the first in her family to go to college, and my dad was in the first generation to graduate from college in his family too,” says Anne Magro. “My mother worked to make sure that people’s immediate needs were met, and then also their needs to sustain themselves in the future, whether that be through job training or education,” says Sheryl Magro. “My husband and I passed the value of education down to our children, and now it’s really come full circle, with this program being named in my parents’ honor.”

Sheryl and Bill Magro see their gift to Impact Fellows as an investment, and the objective is twofold—equip students with the tools they need to sustain success in their own lives and act as catalysts in solving many of the world’s most pressing problems. With this generous commitment they would like to inspire further giving and are challenging donors to also support the Impact Fellows program. Through this commitment we have the opportunity to double their gift (up to $30,000) by providing matching funding between now and August 16, enabling more students to thrive. In the end, the Magros hope that their gift motivates others to pay it forward, just like Sally and Albert Kaider always did.

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Business for a Better World Impact Fellows Program