At the Zell Lurie Institute we embrace the School’s drive in fostering action based learning initiatives and encouraging our students to take the lead in co-creating these initiatives. We are proud of the success of our student-led Wolverine Venture and Frankel Commercialization Funds; and now have another fund to add to their ranks – the Social Venture Fund. This newly minted fund will give students the chance to combine the business side of making money with doing ‘good’ for society.
Created in 2009, the student-led Fund is seeking to make its first investment in spring 2011. It will provide early-stage investments of up to $200,000 to organizations in the Michigan area that can deliver a “double bottom line” return in six key areas: education, environment, finance, food and nutrition, health, and urban revitalization. The Fund’s unique vision is to transform the way business is done by training the next generation of socially-minded business leaders to invest in and manage for-profit companies that work towards making a difference in society.
In addition to their involvement in the Fund, students are required to take courses in social valuation to better equip them to make investment decisions in this burgeoning field.
The Social Venture Fund is the first of its kind in the nation. Read more about it. See: http://www.zli.bus.umich.edu/wvf/svf_overview.asp