Business savvy and community service unite in Impact Week, hosted by NYU Stern’s Social Impact Council. The weeklong event celebrates the positive effects student organizations have on the community.

Participating organizations include the NYU Stern Real Estate Group, NYU Net Impact, Stern Cares, NYU Management Consulting Group, 180 Degrees Consulting-NYU and many more. However, the event is not exclusive to just Stern students; all NYU students are encouraged to participate.

Events will be hosted throughout the week, starting on Monday at 12:30 with a conversation between Guillaume LeCunff, CEO of Nespresso, and Tensie Whelan, Director of Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business. The discussion will cover Nespresso’s sustainable business practices and the role of good environmental stewardship in business.

According to Whelan, more and more companies like Nespresso are paying attention to their environmental footprint.

“Many companies are recognizing that if they are to remain in business, they have to tackle environmental and social risks,” Whelan said. “Sustainability can be a source of savings, risk reduction, innovation and competitive advantage.”                         

Created in June 2015, the Center for Sustainable Business is one of Stern’s newest departments. However, Whelan believes that the center fits well with the mission of
Impact Week.

“We will offer classes, internships, research opportunities and engagement with business,” Whelan said. “We are supporting Impact week by bringing to students the opportunity to hear from a leading CEO who has social impact embedded in his business.”

Later during the week, on Wednesday night, Stern Cares will host a Pitch Competition. Groups will gather and discuss ideas for different social impact initiatives addressing poverty, hunger, woman empowerment and social awareness.

According to Stern Cares co-Presidents and juniors Anna Chen and Sumi Singh, the competition will highlight the ingenuity of NYU students and provide potential opportunities to contribute to the community.

“We are looking for any social impact initiatives that can be implemented at NYU, Stern or the broader NYC community,” Chen said. “The winners will receive support from Stern Cares to make their idea come to life as well as an interview with firms such as the BOC Network and Grameen America.”

Impact Week will conclude on Thursday with two events. At 12:30, education startups Socratic Labs and NextGenVest will discuss how education technology can drive
social change.

At 6:30, the Social Impact Consulting Night will take place. Co-hosted by several of NYU’s consulting clubs, Consulting Night will give students a walkthrough of what a typical industry project looks like, ending with a
networking reception.

Many Stern students are excited by the developments and look forward to Impact Week’s events. Stern freshman Liam Kelly suggests that Impact Week will inspire Stern students to put their business skills to humanitarian causes.

“I think that Impact Week shows another side of the business school,” Kelly said. “It’s an opportunity to take accounting or finance skills and translate them towards a social issue people care about.”

A version of this story appeared in the Monday, Feb. 22 print issue. Email Thomas Peracchio at [email protected].