Experiential Learning

The course sends groups of students to work with Silicon Valley firms to analyze how firms use innovation in different ways to gain industry leverage.

The innovative course partners with the international consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to engage in major consulting projects for nonprofit organizations, such as the David Brower Center, the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, and the Opportunity Fund. Students work with senior leaders of the organizations and McKinsey consultants in offering plans, creative ideas, and solutions.

One of the Haas School’s most heralded experiential electives, International Business Development (IBD) sends more than 100 Berkeley MBA students to work in small teams with a variety of for-profit and nonprofit clients for three weeks each summer on consulting projects in various countries. Recent examples include:

Read the Ideas in Action blog to find out more about innovation in the classroom.

Strategic CSR Consulting Projects provides MBA and undergraduate level students with a unique opportunity to engage with companies to develop CSR strategies that are aligned with business objectives and core competencies. These consulting projects are combined with classroom "best practice" lectures of companies who have attempted to implement socially responsible strategies while maintaining or maximizing financial returns.

Gap Inc. Scholars in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program is a unique fellowship opportunity that supports Haas MBA students who demonstrate a commitment to the field of corporate social responsibility in their professional and educational pursuits. The program provides two-year scholarships of $5,000 each year to three full-time incoming Haas MBAs. CSR Scholars are required to take a certain number of CSR-related courses and complete a research project for Gap Inc. during their time at Haas.

McDonald's Research Fellows in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program provides a team of second-year Haas MBA students with an opportunity to conduct a deep stakeholder engagement study on McDonald's CSR activities-giving the company a fresh perspective and new insights into its business. The corporate-sponsored program provides research fellowships to each student. The fellows work closely with a faculty director on the study and produce several key deliverables that may be used broadly and at the discretion of McDonald's.

Berkeley Solutions Group (BSG) is a Haas-student-run program that provides MBA student consultants to local new enterprises, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations at below-market rates. Student consultants typically focus on market research, feasibility studies, financial analysis, and human resource planning.

Management of Technology - Mayfield Fellows Program is a paid summer internship program at venture capital-funded Silicon Valley high tech startups. These internships are made available to up to 10 graduate students at UC Berkeley.

PEL - Partners for Entrepreneurial Leadership is an innovative training program that provides MBA skills to young companies. PEL places its members with high-growth companies for summer internships, many of which continue into ongoing projects during the students' second year in the MBA program.

New Venture Fellows is a program that provides MBA students, interested in venture capital or entrepreneurship, with a hands-on opportunity to work with one or more VC affiliates on small projects throughout the semester. Fellows also manage and participate in the UC Berkeley pitch lab, which gives entrepreneurs from the UC Berkeley community an opportunity to practice their pitches and receive feedback on their ventures in a neutral environment.

International Business Development (IBD) program is a global management consulting program operated by the Clausen Center. Extremely popular with both MBA students and organizations and companies around the world, IBD has been assigning teams of MBA consultants to projects for 16 years.

Seminars in International Business provides groups of students with an opportunity to investigate, firsthand, the opportunities and challenges of doing business internationally. Five programs are offered each year. Seminars in International Business has been offered since 1999.

Management of Technology-International Research Program (Bridging the Divide) provides students with an opportunity to travel to Asia, Africa and Latin America to apply innovative technologies to the problems of developing countries.

Health Management International and Community-Based Internships provides two MBA/MPH students with up to $5000 in funding to work at a domestic or international not-for-profit, non-governmental organization or quasi-governmental organization with an established internship program and a history of no stipend (i.e., WHO, UNAIDS).

Berkeley Board Fellows provides students with the unique opportunity to work at the highest level of an organization and make a positive impact on the local Bay Area community. Managed by the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership, Berkeley Board Fellows places Haas MBA students on local nonprofit boards of directors. Board Fellows are paired with a mentor, serve on a board committee, attend full board meetings, and produce a board-related deliverable. Program begins in October and ends in May.

Social Sector Solutions (MBA 292N-1) is a nonprofit consulting course offered in partnership with McKinsey & Company. Ten teams of 5 students work with an experienced McKinsey consultant coach to help select nonprofit clients succeed in entrepreneurial ventures. Students learn academic frameworks and gain practical hands-on experience in management consulting and consulting with nonprofit organizations. The course is co-taught by Nora Silver, Director of the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership, and Paul Jansen, McKinsey & Company Director of the Global Philanthropy Practice.

Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2)-The Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership and Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2) offer three fellowship opportunities that focus on the various priorities of SV2's donor network. SV2 leverages its financial, intellectual, and human capital to make a meaningful, measurable impact in Silicon Valley and beyond. SV2 does this by strengthening the organizational capacity of its grantees and the philanthropic capacity of its Partners.

For more information, contact Debbie Ng.