March 17, 2013

Why Fuqua for Impact Investing?

“You end up emerging from Duke being able to say, ‘I’ve done this stuff.’ And this is an extraordinarily competitive job marketplace right now.”

– Scott Kleiman, MBA ’13, Assistant Director, Harvard’s Government Performance Lab.

 

“Without Fuqua, I never could have been involved in such wonderful projects with such wonderful people. Recently, I took a step forward towards my future goal. I joined the Green Impact Finance Team, a division of the Japanese government, where I am in charge of creating an impact investing ecosystem in Japan.” – Saya Mizuno, MBA ’21, in her recent Fuqua blog, How Fuqua Opened the Door to Impact Investing and Shaped My Future Goal.”

 

“One of my favorite learnings from these workshops was how the words “impact investing” can mean several things in terms of desired returns/risk/impact and that the actors who pursue impact investing can be very different.”

– Rony Cepeda, MBA Class of 2022, in his recent Fuqua blog, “Getting Smart Fast on Impact Investing.”

 

“I came to business school to learn how to make the business case for taking action on climate change, and my time as a CASE i3 Fellow offered a remarkable opportunity to apply what I’d learned to the real world.”

– Rebecca Von Dem Hagen, MBA ’21 in her recent Fuqua blog, “Helping an Asset Manager Tackle Climate Change as a CASE i3 Fellow.”

Why study impact investing somewhere else when you can come to Fuqua to help build the field?

Recognized as one of the world’s leading MBA programs in impact investing by the World Economic Forum (in 2014)and Bridgespan (in 2017), CASE i3 aims to prepare students to be tri-sector, multilingual leaders who have skills, experience and connections to not just get great jobs, but truly help build the field of impact investing.

When you come to Fuqua to study impact investing, you get:

  • World-Class Thought Leadership and Research:  Fuqua’s faculty and staff are recognized globally for performing field-leading research and writing surrounding impact investing. In addition, CASE i3 works closely with impact investors around the world as part of its ongoing programs.
  • Deep Curriculum plus Real-World Experience:  Fuqua’s social enterprise and impact investing curriculum addresses many facets of impact investing and allows students to develop a robust understanding of the industry.
  • Student Leadership Opportunities: The CASE i3CP was launched in 2012 to catalyze the growing impact investing sector and provide Duke MBA students with real world experience in the field. During each academic year, students work in teams through research projects and consulting assignments for impact investing funds and networks around the world.

 

CASE i3 Fellows, 2018

What is the CASE i3 Fellowship?

CASE i3 also operates the CASE i3 Fellowship, only two-year fellowship in impact investing for MBA students in the world (as far as we know!), which includes requirements for classroom engagement, alongside opportunities for top-notch academic research, hands-on consulting experience, and leadership roles within a swiftly evolving program. Through the CASE i3 Fellowship and other student roles, students can support CASE staff at international conferences, interact with leaders in the impact investing field, and actively shape the future of CASE i3 and this emerging field.

The CASE i3 Fellows get deep practice in basic and advanced skills in their required classes; they learn how to conduct due diligence on live ventures looking for funding and design fund structures to meet the needs of investors which they then present to and get critique from experienced investors. They also study how social enterprises scale impact, explore different legal structures and analyze tools for assessing social impact for companies, funds and portfolios. They emerge with experience across the diverse range of institutions engaged in impact investing, from foundations and governments to companies, banks and funds.

What is the CASE i3CP?

Through our CASE i3 Consulting Program, first year and second year students also work together in teams to complete consulting projects for clients around the globe.  In the last few years, for example, they have created cash models for social impact bonds, analyzed impact debt products in developing markets, created tracking systems for the over $2 billion in impact investments that CASE i3 is monitoring for the White House Office of Social Innovation, helped prepare mid-stage enterprises for further impact investment, helped  research and write case studies on 12 high performance funds, and more.

Fuqua Students also have access to career planning guides and  job searching resources through the Fuqua Career Management Office. If you are a Fuqua student and want to learn more, please contact Laura Lane. For more information about jobs available in impact investing, see our Careers page.

CASE i3 Fellows and Associates get customized career coaching as part of the CASE i3 Fellowship program.

What is the Fuqua Sustainable Impact Student Investment Fund?

The Fuqua Sustainable Impact Student Investment Fund prepares students at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business to effectively use investing to protect the environment and advance a more just world. The Fund achieves this mission by: 1) giving students the opportunity to actively invest funds in public equities through an ESG lens; 2) educating students about capital allocation and impact management and measurement; and 3) serving as a ground for experimentation in cutting edge ESG, sustainable, and impact investing strategies.

CASE i3 Consulting Team Bootcamp 2017