Board Fellows Enhances the Leeds MBA

Board Fellows offers business students an opportunity to work with and on boards, which increases their chances of eventually serving on a board themselves. Students also learn to use their skills to strengthen nonprofits. For Drake Swezey (MBA 鈥�23), working with the Inland Ocean Coalition (IOC) has taught him both about that organization and more generally about how nonprofits can make an impact. Drake鈥檚 focus has been on creating momentum for IOC鈥檚 Ocean Friendly Farmers program.听

鈥淚OC is working to create buy-in from inland stakeholders around their impacts on ocean and watershed health,鈥� Drake explains. 鈥淔arming is a huge piece of this impact and is why they decided to create a farmer oriented program.鈥� While his work is, in some ways, programmatic, it also connects back to the organization鈥檚 larger strategy and mission.

Ben Lerman (MBA 鈥�23) joined Board Fellows to apply the skills he is learning in business school to a cause he is passionate about, outdoor education and youth development.听鈥淚t's been a valuable chance to see how board work can fit into the rest of my career and given me actionable steps to take for finding these opportunities beyond the club and my Leeds experience," he says.

Network building

Board Fellows also provides students with access to mentors, and demonstrates the value of nonprofit service, and volunteerism, while building professional networks and skills. For incoming Board Fellows President Michelle Lishnevsky, who is pursuing the Natural & Organic MBA Pathway at Leeds, networking with professionals in her chosen field is a key part of the experience.听

Michelle has the opportunity to work directly with , Executive Director of Naturally Boulder, and with her board liaison, who founded a successful local company. Both contacts are helping her develop her professional network.

鈥淎dditionally, I will get to learn about what issues the industry is facing and what topics the Board will discuss and vote on,鈥� she explained.

Industry specific knowledge

鈥淚t's a brand new way to contribute to something that has been an important part of my life for a long time,鈥�

says Ben Lerman.

Another outgrowth of Board Fellows is the chance to learn about and connect with a cause that students care deeply about, and plan to focus on in their careers.

Michelle鈥檚 project for Naturally Boulder involves finding ways to engage community members across the natural and organic product industry via different communication channels. She is learning about the , which is composed of local member organizations like Naturally Boulder from around the country, and the different topics and questions people have in each area.. 鈥淣aturally Boulder has an incredible network and this is an amazing opportunity for me to work in my field,鈥� Michelle says.听

鈥淏oard Fellows is an awesome opportunity to get in with a mission aligned non-profit and gives you a lot of flexibility for how you want to establish your role,鈥� Drake says.

Benefit to nonprofit partners

For the nonprofits as well, this partnership is a chance to incorporate new perspectives and best practices from the business world into their work. 鈥淚t is an enormous help to have Ben and Charles working with our nonprofit,鈥� says David Taus, Executive Director of Big City Mountaineers. 鈥淭he things they are learning in their MBA courses are directly applicable to our organizational needs, and the ideas they bring to the table are informed, fresh, and immediately useful.鈥澨�

Bill Capsalis, Executive Director of Naturally Boulder has worked with Leeds students through the Board Fellows program for two years. Each year, Naturally Boulder has taken two students and had them tackle projects and sit in on board meetings. 鈥淚 find them to be very engaged and energetic as they learn the inner workings of a non profit organization,鈥� Bill says. 鈥淚t is a pleasure to work with them and I highly recommend working with Board Fellows from CU!"听