The Social
Impact Management (SIM) Initiative was launched in the fall of 2002
as a collaborative entrepreneurial venture committed to accelerating
positive social and environmental change by broadening awareness, advancing
knowledge, cultivating ethical leaders, and initiating projects with
immediate impact. SIM is an institutionalized umbrella organization
based at the Wharton School that integrates all of the University of
Pennsylvania's social impact activities pertaining to the business sector.
As an umbrella organization, SIM focuses on aligning
faculty, students and external organizations to offer insight into innovative
ways civic, public and private enterprises can create effective solutions
to social problems. It also funds new projects, implementing these solutions
through the SIM Venture Fund and serves as a communication interface
between member groups.
The organization structure of SIM is as follows: the
Student Board of Directors, consisting of representatives from each
of the constituent groups, oversees the strategic vision of the initiative
and ensures cooperation between SIM groups; the Faculty Advisory Board,
comprising eight senior faculty members from six Wharton departments,
assists in guiding strategic decisions and facilitates events, fundraising
and new project creation; the SIM Executive Team undertakes the day-to-day
management of the initiative and holds final responsibility for the
implementation of projects and events; the SIM Steering Committee, which
extends beyond the core leaders of the Executive Team, is a group of
active students assisting with activities such as fundraising, admissions
outreach, faculty relations, SIM Venture Fund and event planning; finally,
the SIM Supporters are groups that promote SIM's mission and assist
with publicity but are not actively involved in its projects.
SIM's most recent accomplishments to date include:
- Sponsoring the 2nd Annual Net Impact SIM
Symposium: Building Sustainable Enterprises, held in October 2003
- Sponsoring the 3rd Annual Net Impact SIM
Symposium, held in January
2005
- Appointing two SIM Fellows who are empowered to
implement and communicate the SIM Initiative's vision and direction
to the broader University
- Partnering with the UN Global Compact and Sabanci
University to launch the UN Global Compact's first academic conference.
Three students have been appointed to develop content for the conferences
at Sabanci and Wharton. The goal of the conference is to contribute
to the global creation of knowledge around social and environmental
justice issues and their diffusion into the classrooms of future business
leaders
- Launching the SIM Venture Fund, which is aimed
at spurring the creation of collaborative programs and events co-sponsored
by student organizations at the University
- Awarding $10,000 to Net Impact to support the creation
of the inaugural SIM Global Consulting Practicum project
- Appointing two students to serve on the Cross Functional
Integration Committee, which focuses on using student and faculty
input to integrate ethics, governance and other social impact issues
across the curriculum
- Creating and expanding the SIM Faculty Advisory
Board
- Establishing a Student Board of Directors to focus
on linking campus organizations and improving communication and marketing
of student sponsored events
- Completely updating the SIM
website to include current projects and links to academic resources
and organizations working in the field of social impact management
- Developing project plan to launch Non-Profit
Board Leadership Program for students
