Social Entrepreneurship

The Dingman Center offers many engaging out-of-class opportunities to explore social entrepreneurship, a fast-growing field that is transforming traditional MBA programs around the country:

• Students can pitch business ideas with a social mission through the Center’s Pitch Dingman program. In addition, a portion of the Smith E-Fund, which provides seed stage funding to members of the University of Maryland community, has been allotted specifically for business enterprises that have a social focus.
• Many students pursue ventures that focus on environmental sustainability or “cleantech”—products and services that improve performance and productivity while reducing costs, energy consumption and pollution. For example, last year’s Cupid’s Cup winner was Anaptyx, a company that provides Internet access to entire apartment communities through energy-efficient technology.
• The Center also provides research support and other entrepreneurship resources for fledgling entrepreneurs who wish to cultivate their own social enterprises. MBA students like Cherry Kwunyeun find The Dingman Process particularly useful in articulating their social vision while providing pragmatic guidance on how to implement their business objectives. Read Cherry’s story.

Learn more about the Smith School’s new Initiative for Social Value Creation