Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford Graduate School of Business supports students working to solve social and environmental problems. This year, CSI is honoring five graduating students with Stanford Impact Leader (SIL) prizes in recognition of their work addressing impact-based challenges.
“Our students explore innovative ways of leveraging capital for social and environmental good through their coursework and co-curricular activities,” says Neil Malhotra, the Edith M. Cornell Professor of Political Economy at Stanford GSB and the Louise and Claude N. Rosenberg, Jr. Director of the Center for Social Innovation. “CSI supports students interested in the intersection of business, government, and society across various issue areas.”
The $20,000 SIL prizes support graduating students who are committed to joining an existing social or environmental impact organization in the next chapter of their careers.
“The Stanford Impact Leader prize represents our commitment to recognizing and fostering exceptional leadership in societal impact,” says Matthew T. A. Nash, director of the Center for Social Innovation. “The winners embody the values we strive to instill at the GSB: a combination of business acumen, innovative thinking, and a genuine commitment to making the world a better place.”
This year’s five SIL prize winners:
- Keith Calix, MBA ’25/MPA Harvard Kennedy School ’25, aims to improve philanthropic giving and transform learning and life outcomes for those furthest from opportunity.
- Katie Deal, MBA ’25/MPA Princeton School of Public and International Affairs ’25, aims to reshape public policy and private capital to expand economic mobility in the United States.
- Sam Greenberg, MBA ’25, plans to advance innovative and values-driven approaches to addressing homelessness and the housing affordability crisis.
- Vinicius Mariano Hojo, MBA ’25, is committed to increasing access to high-quality public education in his home country, Brazil.
- Robert Rush, MBA ’25/MA Education ’25, seeks to increase economic resilience in working-class Americans by channeling impact capital into education, workforce advancement, and financial access.
Left to Right: Keith Calix, Katie Deal, Sam Greenberg, Vinicius Mariano Hojo, Robert Rush. | by courtesy
Multilayered Support for Impact Careers
The SIL prizes are just one part of CSI’s support for students interested in making an impact — support that includes more than half a dozen programs offering opportunities for experiential learning and supplemental funding across different issue areas and stages of students’ careers. This year’s SIL winners participated in a number of them:
Social Management Immersion Fund
The Social Management Immersion Fund (SMIF) provides financial support to MBA students who secure summer internships with nonprofits, government agencies, and social-purpose businesses, including social ventures and impact funds.
“A highlight of my SMIF internship was the opportunity, through Teach.org, to deepen my understanding of the challenges the U.S. faces in addressing teacher shortages,” Hojo says. “I had always intended to spend my summer working at a nonprofit, but I was aware that my own financial needs might make that difficult. The support from SMIF is what made it possible.”
Since its inception, SMIF has funded more than 800 fellows working with over 450 organizations around the world and across issue areas.
Stanford GSB Impact Fund
The Stanford GSB Impact Fund offers students firsthand experience with impact investing. The fund invests in early-stage for-profit ventures seeking both financial and social or environmental returns.
“The Impact Fund helped me clarify both the possibilities and the limits of capital allocation as a tool for social change,” Rush says. “I saw how capital can accelerate solutions to systemic problems — but also where it falls short without policy or ecosystem alignment.”
The Impact Fund is managed by students with oversight from faculty members and guidance from CSI. Students also learn from alumni, additional faculty, and expert practitioners.
“The Impact Fund gave me a platform to understand how investors — from term sheet construction to board governance — can support entrepreneurs in driving meaningful social change,” Deal says.
Certificate in Public Management and Social Innovation
Stanford GSB also recognizes students who dedicate a significant portion of their GSB academic experience to exploring cross-sector approaches to social and environmental impact. This year, 159 of the GSB’s MBA and MSx graduates received the Certificate in Public Management and Social Innovation.
“The certificate gave me a community of students, faculty, and alumni who all served as a constant source of inspiration and mentorship throughout my time at the GSB,” Deal says.
To receive the certificate, students fulfill distribution requirements in the following areas: understanding problems; designing and assessing impact; and building, managing, and scaling impact organizations.
“The Certificate in Public Management and Social Innovation isn’t just an academic achievement; it’s a signal of a student’s commitment to using their GSB education to create positive impact,” Nash says.
Miller Awards Honor Contributions to Impact Community
Each year, the GSB honors graduating MBA and MSx students who have earned the certificate and contributed to the impact community during their time at the GSB with the Miller Social Change Leadership Award. These social change leaders of the future are nominated for the award by other students, faculty, and staff. Nearly 150 nominations were received this year.
“The recipients of the Miller Social Change Leadership Award embody the visionary ideals that Arjay Miller championed during his tenure as dean of Stanford GSB: a belief that business leaders have a responsibility to engage with and address society’s most pressing challenges,” Malhotra says.
This year’s 16 Miller Social Change Leadership Award winners:
- Megha Agarwal, MBA
- Yalcin Aydin, MBA
- Alexis Brown, MSx
- Keith Calix, MBA
- Caroline Chen, MBA
- Noelle Eveland, MBA
- Juliette Hackett, MBA
- Sakshi Khanna, MBA
- Ankita Kodavoor, MBA
- Michael Paquette, MSx
- Kiera Peltz, MBA
- Doug Phipps, MBA
- Pragati Rastogi, MBA
- Hendrick Townley, MBA
- Devan Trammel, MBA
- Zooey Carter Wilkinson, MBA
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