See the stories of other SMIF Fellows throughout the years:
SMIF's Impact Around the World
Ryan Brown, MBA 2008
SMIF Fellow with the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, CO
“This summer, I evaluated NREL's technology transfer process and built a model for analyzing the commercial viability of NREL's innovations. In addition to enhancing my understanding of and excitement toward renewable energy, I walked away from the summer with a strong set of relationships and some excellent experience in business planning.”
Monisha Perkash, MBA/MA in Education 2003
SMIF Fellow with KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program)
“The opportunity to work on KIPP's marketing strategies allowed me to
gain insight into running a multi-site organization, managing growth, and creating innovative solutions in education. In short, it provided me with invaluable knowledge and experience that will undoubtedly help me to become a more effective education entrepreneur.”
In 2004, Monisha founded The College Company, dedicated to helping students and their families find the financing that enables young people to attend the college or university of their dreams.
Peter Barrett Beldon, MBA 2003
SMIF Fellow with Population Services International in Mali
“I became interested in family planning and the problem of rapid population growth at the end of high school and after college worked on population issues for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Wildlife Federation and Planned Parenthood. The SMIF sponsored internship this summer gave me the new opportunity to expand my experience by working on population on the ground in a developing country.”
Peter is now a Program Officer for the Population Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
A sampling of past SMIF projects:
- Developing a business plan for importing and marketing sustainably harvested rainforest products
- Researching and analyzing financial packages for affordable housing projects
- Writing a marketing plan for an international relief agency
- Building a partnership between city government and business in support of local economic development
- Developing an evaluation system to help a social service agency determine how effectively it is meeting client needs
- Working with senior management of a large international development organization to draw up recommendations for restructuring
- Designing a new strategy to help a national mentoring program expand its program to new cities
