Our mission is to prepare Stanford GSB students to address serious challenges facing society by applying their management education in innovative ways that create positive social, environmental and economic value.

Stanford was the first MBA Program to offer a certificate in public management 40 years ago. Today, as part of the Center for Social Innovation, the PMP remains the premier program to equip MBA students to apply management skills to social and environmental concerns.

• Each year, the PMP offers 50+ electives in education, environment, health care, international development, public policy, nonprofit management, social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility and more. These courses develop domain expertise as well as highlight collaboration among government, nonprofit, and business entities and explore various paths to creating social and environmental value.
• In addition to taking elective courses you can extend your learning outside the classroom through participation in a variety of domestic and international service learning trips, clubs, conferences and speaker events.

Public Management Initiative

The Public Management Initiative (PMI) is a primary component of the PMP and offers an opportunity to investigate one important public management topic in detail.

Each year, first-year PMP students choose the Public Management Initiative topic for the following academic year. This topic becomes the focus of a wide range of activities, speakers, and events for that year.

This year's topic is "Social Media as an Agent for Social Change"

Past topics have included:

• Demystifying D.C.: Is America Ungovernable?
• Debating the Future: What will be the real impact of the economic crises on business?
• Bridging the Digital Divide
• Climate Change—Energy, Economics, and Corporate Policy
• Greening the Bottom Line
• Investing in Social Change
• Public/Private Partnerships
• Social Entrepreneurship
• Sustainable Economic Development
• The Double Bottom Line: Promoting Profits and Public Service
• Women in the Global Economy

Experiential Learning

A host of PMP activities provide the opportunity to extend your learning beyond the classroom while engaging with and contributing to the community. Gain real-world experience and make a tangible difference:

• Board Fellows—serve an eight-month apprenticeship on a San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit board of directors to learn firsthand about effective board governance.
• Venture Philanthropy Fellows—engage in hands-on learning about philanthropy, build knowledge on grant-making proposals, foster a network of philanthropy leaders and achieve a personalized learning goal alongside MBA peers. The program is operated in partnership with Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2), a San Francisco Bay Area grantmaking institution leading the way in venture philanthropy.
• Service Learning Program—work alongside and learn from globally recognized international and domestic social entrepreneurs who are addressing some of the world's most pressing social and environmental problems.
  • Service Learning Trips—Eight to ten day domestic and international trips to visit and work with leading social entrepreneurs. 2011-2012 trips included:
    • CALIFORNIA: Food and Agriculture
    • CAMBODIA and THAILAND: Youth, Empowerment and Innovation
    • CHINA: Energy and the Environment
    • KENYA: Social Entrepreneurship "Deep Dive"
    • SOUTH AFRICA: Education
    • UNITED ARAB EMIRATES and OMAN: Sustainable Economic Development
  • Service Learning Project Fund—Financial support for short-term consulting projects with organizations visited on the Service Learning Trips.

Career Assistance

The PMP and Career Management Center (CMC) provide resources and counseling to help you pursue summer or full-time positions in the nonprofit and public sectors as well as socially responsible business and for-profit ventures.

Career opportunities include:

• Stanford Management Internship Fund (SMIF) Summer Internships—SMIF supports MBA students who contribute their business skills to nonprofits, government agencies, and social purpose businesses through their summer employment. The program brings critical management skills to organizations addressing important social and environmental issues and gives students hands-on experience working in these fields.
  
  Past summer internship employers include: Environmental Defense Fund, Executive Office of the President, NewSchools Venture Fund, Save the Children, District of Columbia Public Schools, Social Venture Network, The World Bank, United Nations Development Programme, and Goodwill Industries.
  
  In its nearly 30 year history, SMIF has funded nearly 500 Fellows in work with over 325 organizations around the world.
• GSB Nonprofit/Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program—If you accept a qualifying government or nonprofit position after graduation, either in the U.S. or abroad, you may be eligible for a loan forgiveness program that substantially reduces your MBA financial obligation.
  
  Stanford MBA graduates working in the nonprofit and public sectors are eligible to have up to 100 percent of your debt repayments forgiven for that year. You may apply at any time during your career while you are still repaying loans, and there is no limit on the number of years you can qualify for the program.
  
  The GSB Nonprofit/Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is one of the most generous loan forgiveness programs among business schools.
• Social Innovation Fellowship—The Fellowship enables GSB students and recent alumni with a novel idea for addressing an important social or environmental problem to devote a full year to building their vision into a viable nonprofit organization.
  
  Up to three 12-month stipends of $80,000 for individuals or $120,000 for a team will be awarded each year in June for fellowships beginning that summer and concluding the following summer.

Community Connection

The Public Management Program is committed to supporting a vibrant community of people actively engaged in building a more just and sustainable world. Activities such as retreats, speakers, conferences, social events, and student clubs allow you to connect with GSB peers, faculty, alumni, and expert practitioners who share your interests.

Additionally, PMP students organize dozens of events on topics as varied as corporate social responsibility, education, environment, healthcare, international development, philanthropy, social enterprise, and state and local government

Hundreds of students belong to PMP-related clubs, including:

• Challenge for Charity (C4C)—Raises money and volunteer support for Special Olympics, and hosts the C4C Weekend held each spring at Stanford, which is attended by students from eight west coast business schools.
• Education Club—Engages business and education students in discussion and learning about their roles in education, education's role in society, and business' role in education.
• Energy Club—Fosters connections between students at the GSB, across Stanford, and in the energy community.
• Food and Agriculture Resource Management (FARM) Club—Advances the career and educational interests of the GSB community on topics related to food and agriculture and facilitates cross-disciplinary engagement in these topics within the broader Stanford community.
• Government and Politics Club—Facilitates a highly energized, non-partisan group of students interested in developing a deeper understanding of the intersection between government and business.
• GSB Gives Back Club—Organizes and hosts the GSB's largest school-wide charity event, the Charity Auction, with proceeds benefiting organizations chosen by the auction team and student body.
• Healthcare Club—Brings students with interest or experience in healthcare together with alumni, industry experts, and thought leaders who share common interests.
• I Have a Dream (IHAD)—Seeks to improve graduation rates, build college aspirations, and help finance continued education for children growing up in low-income and otherwise disadvantaged communities.
• International Development Club—Brings together students interested in learning about various international development issues and opportunities.
• Social Venture Club—Explores the blurring boundaries between the public and private sectors in the belief that social sector organizations can benefit from applying business principles and skills to deliver public services.
• Sustainable Business Club—Informs students about environmental concerns in a business context.

updated 23 Aug 2011

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