In mid August 2009, hardly more than a month ago, the Community Consulting program was born. At the time I was researching GW student organizations with the intention of becoming involved in one or two of the more active clubs. To my consternation, I found that few clubs required, or even provided for, active involvement in the community. Rather, they were geared towards social networking, booking speakers, and holding informational events. Now, these are all laudable activities but they don’t demand much of the individual members, aside from those who hold leadership positions. I envisioned an organization that was both intellectually demanding and personally empowering – thus was born GW Community Consulting (GWCC).
The basic premise behind GWCC is that MBA candidates will benefit most from their education if they immediately put it into practice. The question then arose, upon whom to practice? I found the answer in D.C.’s small business community. Through a partnership with the D.C. Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD), I identified local entrepreneurs who are interested in partnering with the GWCC. Through the relationship students gain practical experience, while local entrepreneurs gain access to free consultation. Thus the program satisfies a key tenant of social entrepreneurship, the improvement of both the individual and the community.
In the GWCC, each student forms part of a three member consulting team, which works exclusively with one client entrepreneur. Team are fully autonomous and are solely responsible for meeting their client’s objectives. However, support is provided, upon request, from students and faculty advisors. A crucial aspect of the partnership is that each team selects which entrepreneur it will partner with, based on a detailed application regarding the client’s industry, size, mission etc. This allows teams to target projects through which they will develop the skills and expertise most important to their future goals.
In early September I pitched the GWCC to the Consulting Club (which rather inconveniently has the same acronyms), and club leadership accepted my proposal to house the program under the auspices of the club. Now that it has an institutional home, the next great step for the GWCC is the launch of its first series of projects in mid October. Shortly thereafter, I dearly hope to post a blog recounting the successful formation of relationships between entrepreneurs and GWCC consulting teams.
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