On Friday, October 11, the Social Enterprise Club held its first annual conference, “Beyond the Bottom Line: Creating More Value with Your MBA.” The conference included panels of practitioners who described their careers and industry sectors.
Finance for the Triple Bottom Line
Rose Sculley, MBA ’77, Women’s World Banking (WWB)
As head of Corporate and Foundation Development at WWB, Rose helps to maintain and expand one of the largest microfinance networks in the world. Having made the leap from the for-profit to the nonprofit world, Rose works on making micro loans, savings accounts, insurance policies, and pension funds available to women. These products offer women an alternative to the black market, which serves 50 of the worldwide microloan demand.
Sarah A. Gillman, MBA ‘93, Director of Budget and Financial Planning, Wildlife Conservation Society
With degrees from Columbia Business School and Teachers’ College, Sarah has tried many different endeavors, ranging from working at in KPMG Peat Marwick LLP to working at a boutique-consulting firm. As part of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Sarah helps manage five wildlife parks in New York City, a $130 million operating budget, and a $20 million capital budget.
Jaycee Pribulsky, MBA ‘00, Program Manager, Seedco
Before attending Columbia, Jaycee worked the Agency for International Development, and worked at the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Advance. Among other duties, she developed and implemented the President and First Lady’s domestic and international events and managed many projects associated with President Clinton’s overseas initiatives. At Seedco, Jaycee’s responsibilities include managing the creation of a social purpose business venture—Community Childcare Assurance—targeted at providing emergency childcare benefits to low-wage working families. Additionally, she manages Seedco’s Nonprofit Venture Network initiative aimed at assisting nonprofits in various cities create social purpose businesses.
Dan Nissenbaum, MBA ’88, Director of Community Development, Merrill Lynch
Mr. Nissenbaum is currently a Director in the Merrill Lynch Community Development Company (CDC), responsible for real estate and private equity financings. The CDC provides financing for community development projects to intermediary organizations primarily for affordable housing and small business development, in connection with the Community Reinvestment Act obligations of the Merrill Lynch banks.
Paul Tierny, one of Columbia Business School’s Executives-in-Residence, moderated the panel.
One of the more difficult challenges in nonprofit finance is results measurement. The panelists related a variety of ways their programs are working to quantify social benefits. While Seedco is has developed its own Performance Measurement and Management system to assess its work, the WWB uses the same portfolio measurement tools and ratio analysis that other lending institutions use to measure the success of loans. While changes in a household’s wealth may be quantifiably impressive, Rose warned that her organization’s success can be a Catch-22. In the competitive market for funding, donors often want to see examples of successful large-scale projects, although most groups can only offer success stories on a smaller scale.
Many students interested in social enterprise wrangle with the decision to work in the private or public sector, and fear that experience in one will not be useful or transferable to the other. Paul Tierney dismissed such concerns, citing his own experience in the worlds of venture capital and economic development. He claimed that experience in either sector increases one’s career flexibility and doesn’t reduce one’s options. He urged the audience to “follow your instincts; follow what you like to do.” The panelists mostly agreed with this sentiment, but added that experience in the for-profit work environment does impart important skills. Sarah described how as a consultant, she “learned the discipline of the client and how to deliver the goods on-time.” Dan urged the audience to “go where you can build skills,” adding that “for-profit work gives you depth, but not breadth.” On the other hand, Jaycee maintained that one doesn’t necessarily have to do for-profit work from the start to succeed in the nonprofit world. “Seedco has given me operating experience. It’s a win-win situation, a great experience, and a chance to pursue a social mission from the get-go.”
For those interested in social enterprise finance, the panelists agreed: New York City offers many opportunities. Jaycee mentioned financial analysts at Seedco looking at businesses in Lower Manhattan as loan candidates. Sarah emphasized positive aspects of the social enterprise work, including the need for creativity and the infrequency of layoffs. She advised that working at any budget office would be great way to start a career. Dan warned that community development corporations don’t hire very often, and that most people in community development have jobs they love and seldom leave them.
Indeed, the panelists felt that social enterprise careers offer rewards that make them as attractive as or more so than their for-profit counterparts. For instance, Rose asserted that skills from the for-profit world allow one to enter the nonprofit career at a high level and get compensated very well. Sarah added that aspects like job security, overall compensation package, vacation time, absence of a glass ceiling, and the ability to effect changes, are some of the most compelling reasons to join a nonprofit.
The panelists all praised their MBA experience as essential to their success. As part of their jobs, they use financial analysis techniques such as NPV and ratio analysis “every single day.” From networking skills to writing business plans, the MBA degree—what Dan referred to as “a liberal arts degree in business,” has added significant value to people’s careers in financing social enterprise.