Smith Business Close-Up

Creating Social Value

Broadcast Dates: Feb. 19, 2009, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 22, 2009, 7:30 a.m.; Feb. 23, 2009, 4:30 a.m.

More and more organizations are focusing on injecting ideals of social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability into their operations. This good global citizenship intersecting with successful business practices is the core of social value creation.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Melissa Carrier discusses how creating social value is an important business strategy and one the Smith School is focused on as it prepares students to lead in a world that needs both economic prosperity and transformative social change. Carrier is joined by Yonas Beshawred, a Smith senior actively involved in the school’s partnership with the Ashoka Changemaker Campus program.

Ashoka, a nonprofit network of social entrepreneurs, selected the University of Maryland as one of four U.S. campuses to participate in its inaugural “Changemaker Campus” pilot program. The goal is to develop a model for future university-based initiatives that will promote innovation and social change. Carrier, executive director of social value creation, is heading up Smith’s efforts – along with faculty, staff and students from across the University of Maryland campus – to build on the school’s leadership in programs and research that encourage the creation of social value and socially responsible business practices.