Alumni Consulting Team for Nonprofits

Stanford ACT’s mission is to drive lasting community impact by engaging teams of GSB alumni who apply their expertise and passion for strengthening social benefit organizations.

The Stanford Alumni Consulting Team provides pro bono consulting expertise in a wide range of areas. ACT volunteers are Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni at various stages of their careers with expertise in general management, strategy, business and market analysis, financial management, earned revenue, marketing, technology, and more. They are knowledgeable about how organizations function, including the challenges of planning, decision-making, and implementing change.

Stanford GSB is committed to making a lasting, positive change toward eliminating bias and racism beyond our community. To support this goal, the Stanford Alumni Consulting Team (ACT) is in the process of undertaking 50 projects by the end of 2025 for organizations that are committed to inclusion and racial equity.

Alumni Consulting Team Initiatives - Applications Now Open

For the past several months, ACT has been conducting a strategic review to plan for the future. Now we are happy to announce 2 service options for 2023:

Springboard Sessions

Springboard Sessions are 2- hour brainstorming sessions with a GSB alumni team that is pre-briefed on the specific strategic issue you want to address. Sessions will be held in July 2023. The deadline to apply is 5/9/23.

Consulting Projects

Traditional ACT consulting projects bring a GSB alumni team together to address critical strategic issues over a 3 to 6-month time frame. 2023 projects will begin in Fall 2023. The deadline to APPLY is 6/30/23.

Service Offerings

ACT offers three services: Springboard Sessions and Full Team or Fast Track Consulting Projects. The options vary in scope, team size, time commitment, and duration of service.

Upcoming Key Dates
May 9, 2023 Nonprofit application for Springboard Sessions due
June 6 – 26, 2023 Volunteer recruitment for Springboard Sessions
June 30, 2023 Nonprofit Interest Forms for consulting projects due
July 6, 2023 Volunteers notified of Springboard selection
July 12 – 27, 2023 Springboard Sessions
July 18, 2023 Nonprofit applications for consulting projects due
August 10 – 22, 2023 Volunteer Recruitment for consulting projects
September 14, 2023 Online project round kick-off for volunteers
September 15 – 30, 2023 Consulting projects launch

Impact over Time

Created by Stanford GSB alumni in 1987, ACT is now one of the largest pro bono resource providers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since its inception ACT has served 764 clients with 1,004 projects for an estimated consulting value of $95 million.

Nonprofit Clients

ACT clients range from small community-based nonprofits to university and hospital departments, government agencies, and programs. Each Springboard Session includes 4-8 volunteers who generate ideas for addressing a specific, focused challenge facing an organization. Each consulting project fits the size and resources of the client organization, sometimes providing a single consultant and other times a team of up to eight.

 

Spotlight
Deputy Director, LeaderSpring

“ACT team’s analysis of our work and its place in a market in which we had not been, is not only broadening our reach and impact, it is allowing us to increase our revenue for general operations.”

Stories of Impact

Browse the articles below to see some of the ways that ACT volunteers have helped Bay Area nonprofits increase their impact.

School Story & News Search
August 15, 2019
Stanford GSB’s ACT program sends alumni into social impact organizations to strategically solve problems and plan for growth.
Illustration of people holding up a school. Credit: Linn Fritz
June 23, 2017
Hundreds of Stanford MBA volunteers donate more than $3 million of consulting value annually.
ACT volunteers | Stacy Geiken Photography