Social Innovation Fellows Promote Mental Health Services on Campus

Chocolate and caffeine – always a winning combination, but even tastier when consumed for a good cause! Students in the Social Innovation Fellows (SIF) program at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business were very popular at Van Munching Hall’s front desk earlier this week when they gave out cups of Fair Trade iced coffee and chocolate along with information about mental health services available on campus. Donations were welcome, with all proceeds going to the UMD’s Counseling Center.

“We were amazed by the enthusiasm we were met with from our fellow Terps, and the real impact we had on the Smith community in our short time. In addition to promoting fair trade practices, a growing field that business students should be mindful of, we were able to inform students about the mental health services available on campus,” said “barrister” Fasika Delessa, a junior management major.

“Through our fellows program, we're learning that in order to pursue a career committed to social justice; we by no means have to abandon our business majors in the process. In fact, we're practicing, in very real ways, how business can certainly be used as a force for good,” added Delessa.

The university’s Counseling Center, which is always challenged to meet the demands of a growing student body, worked with the students and provided useful brochures and flyers.

The afternoon venture was part of what Professor David Kirsch, the faculty champion for SIF, describes as a “Two-hour 'Pop-up Social Enterprise' that includes many of the critical elements of more permanent ventures (value proposition, stakeholder analysis, theory of social change, etc.). Many of the ideas that are tested at this stage become the kernels of larger projects later in the program.”

SIF features an interactive consulting experience, an optional internship and co-curricular programming aimed at developing skills in the areas of sustainability, social enterprise/entrepreneurship, impact investing, marketing, and new media. Students leave the program with a deep understanding of how to apply their business skills toward addressing issues of social and environmental importance in large and small organizations alike. This is a highly interactive, experiential, and dynamic program.

Applications for Social Innovation Fellows for 2017-18 will open December 2016. The Smith School offers 15 unique Fellows programs. For more details on all of them, go to the website.

- Claudia Donnelly, Smith Undergraduate Program