Social Entrepreneurship

The center, together with the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, offers many engaging opportunities to explore social entrepreneurship, a fast-growing field that is transforming traditional MBA programs around the country:

• Students can pitch business ideas with a social mission through the Pitch Dingman program. In addition, a portion of the Smith E-Fund, which provides seed stage funding to members of the University of Maryland community, has been allotted specifically for business enterprises that have a social focus.

• The center encourages and supports students who enter a number of socially responsible business plan competitions each year.

• Many students pursue ventures that focus on environmental sustainability or “cleantech”—products and services that improve performance and productivity while reducing costs, energy consumption and pollution. For example, the 2008 Cupid’s Cup winner was Anaptyx, a company that provides Internet access to entire apartment communities through energy-efficient technology.

• Students may take courses in social entrepreneurship at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

• The Terp Changemaker team, a part of Ashoka U's Changemaker Campus program, works to foster a collaborative social entrepreneurial community across the UM campus.

The centers also partner to provide research support and other entrepreneurship resources for fledgling entrepreneurs who wish to cultivate their own social enterprises. MBA students like Cherry Kwunyeun have established successful ventures that incorporate social missions. Read Cherry’s story.