About the Center
As an institution, the Stanford Graduate School of Business believes that business schools have a responsibility to teach students to be innovative, principled, and insightful leaders who can change the world. As such, the Center represents a cornerstone of the School's multidisciplinary approach to management and leadership education.
We invest our resources in an integrated set of activities that are designed to enhance the leadership and management capacity of individuals who strive to create social and environmental value. The Center leverages Stanford's knowledge, expertise, and networks, bringing community leaders together with our faculty, students, and alumni to address social problems on several fronts.
Thought Leadership
Through the discovery and worldwide dissemination of new ideas, the Center increases awareness of social problems and provides frameworks for thinking about and solving these problems. The Center brings academic rigor to research that enhances our understanding of social innovation. It is often at the edges and intersection of disciplines and sectors that experimentation occurs and innovation can be fostered. We are committed to bridging the "knowing-doing" gap, by translating abstract academic research and ideas into useful and accessible formats in our publications, case studies, and books.
Student Engagement
Stanford has been the leader in teaching business students about social and environmental issues and preparing them for careers in nonprofits, government, and socially responsible business for more than 30 years. We prepare future leaders, supporting our MBA and Sloan students by investing in specialized academic preparation, experiential learning, mentoring for careers in social innovation, and opportunities for students to engage with the community.
Community Engagement
Since the inception of the Center, we have developed intensive learning opportunities that are designed to improve management skills for social change. The Center reaches thousands of individuals and organizations each year through executive education, special programs, conferences, lectures, and workshops serving the larger community as well as through pro bono consulting services offered to a broad range of nonprofits and government agencies.
These activities are all designed to connect Stanford faculty, alumni, and students with practitioners and communities in the service of integrating theory and practice.
By extending the value of Stanford's contributions far beyond the university and by bringing together leaders from across the sectors, we can nurture new collaborations, break down barriers to change, and spur solutions through our community of change agents.
