Wharton's SPIF sends first-year students to public interest internships

By: Elizabeth Ketels (WG '10) Contributing Writer

Posted: 4/20/09

Wharton's Summer Public Interest Fund (SPIF) helps Wharton first-year students pursue summer internships in the public interest sector by supplementing basic salary needs. Monday April 20th kicks off SPIF Pledge week in which SPIF will raise funds from the Wharton community to support the 2009 SPIF Fellows who plan to do work for organizations ranging from the Clinton Foundation in Nigeria to the Lance Armstrong Foundation in Texas.

Prior to the launch of SPIF, Wharton students found it almost impossible to pursue opportunities in the public sector during the summer because most public interest organizations typically are unable to offer adequate compensation.

Founded in 1998, SPIF has supported Wharton students exploring social impact careers in diverse fields such as international development, environmental protection, and urban public education. SPIF Fellows are selected on the basis of Service, Effectiveness, Commitment, Impact, and Relevance. Each SPIF Fellow must use MBA skills in their summer employment.

SPIF addresses a very obvious and glaring need: non-profits and public sector institutions are starved of the kinds of analytical skills and business acumen that a typical Wharton student possesses. Many institutions are realizing the need to move away from donation-driven models of operation toward models that emphasize financial sustainability.

When you add to this the fact that Wharton students are increasingly attracted to these fields with an eye to using their education and experience to make a social impact, you begin to understand that SPIF isn't a fringe, feel-good initiative dreamt up by a handful of tree-huggers at Wharton, but rather, that it addresses an increasingly urgent and unmet need.

SPIF's success comes from the commitment and enthusiasm of the wider student population. While last year's class had record participation (68%, with an average contribution of approximately $100), Wharton's participation is still woefully behind that of its competitors. A similar program at Stanford has average rates of participation of 85%, for example.

The class of 2010 is on track to break new records for SPIF participation and bring Wharton more in line with its fellow top business schools. With new social impact initiatives, the current student body has shown itself to be increasingly committed to supporting fellow students and the public interest. Even with the current economic difficulties, we can demonstrate as a student body that we are committed to supporting our classmates.

Profiles of Three 2009 SPIF Fellows:

2009 SPIF Fellow Evan Klebe will spend 11 weeks this summer putting his MBA to work for the Clinton Foundation in Nigeria. He will be implementing a new malaria medication subsidy program that reduces the cost of effective malaria drugs by 95%. Middlemen in the Malaria drug supply-chain are financially incentivized to promote lesser effective (but higher margin) drugs and increase the cost of subsidized drugs in order to capture margin themselves. Klebe's project will involve finding a way to incentivize the supply chain to provide the effective drugs at low prices to the end consumer. Klebe has long had a passion for exploring developing economies and has worked in Santiago, Chile, analyzed investments in Brazil and Israel, and traveled to Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, much of South America and parts of Southeast Asia. He plans to apply business skills and understanding of operating/financial performance measures, supply chains, competition and economic incentives learned from prior experience as well as the FNCE 621 and OPIM 631/632 courses in modeling economics / incentives of drug middlemen. Says Klebe, "SPIF has allowed me to pursue an opportunity with the Clinton Foundation in Nigeria, where I will be working on malaria initiatives. Learning more about emerging markets, and Africa specifically, has been a key focus for me while at Wharton, and the ability to contribute to a worthwhile cause while immersing myself in one of the largest and most important economies in the continent was very appealing. SPIF provided financial assistance to make this unpaid opportunity more feasible. In this way, not only does SPIF help students like me dedicate their summers to socially-active internships, but also it ensures that worthwhile public interest organizations benefit from the business skills we have developed at Wharton and are able to apply over the summer. I am grateful for the generosity of my fellow classmates and I am sure the same is felt by the organizations at which other SPIF funding recipients dedicate their efforts this summer."

This summer, 2009 SPIF Fellow Mike King will intern at the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) in Houston, Texas. The mission of the LAF is to address cancer in all of its phases, from cancer prevention to the quality of life of those affected, including both survivors and those unable to defeat the disease. The LAF funds cancer research as well as operates survivorship centers. This summer, Mike will tackle various projects across LAF's profit business units from marketing projects on their "Livestrong" clothing line, to business development and promotion of their "Livestrong Challenge" race series. King has completed 4 Livestrong Challenges and seen firsthand the effect of a professionally run event with a proper focus on fundraising, marketing and information sharing. His summer internship will enable him to be a part of this process. Says King, "SPIF has given me the freedom to pursue my passion in the social sector and in particular with the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The fact that this fellowship is funded by students makes it even more meaningful, as I know that I'll be working for this great cause with the full support of my classmates and friends." King's longterm goal is to found an organization that maximizes the power of grassroots fundraising through sport with the social benefit derived from successful socially minded organizations. Through his summer internship, he hopes to better understand how organizations such as the LAF utilize their various business units to promote fundraising and information sharing while ultimately increasing their ability to act on their mission.

SPIF Fellow Shreyans Parekh will work for Ashoka in rural Mexico, an international nonprofit organization that supports small businesses and social entrepreneurs. Ashoka addresses poverty by working with businesses and local citizen organizations to increase access to markets. As a hybrid value chain intern, Parekh will call on his strategy and operations classes at Wharton to help entrepreneurs develop effective business models. Post-MBA Parekh plans to work as a strategy consultant on projects pertaining to social impact and nonprofit work, from sustainable environment to hunger and international development to community and economic development. Long-term, his goal is to expand the social impact arm of the company that he started in 2003 called Koyal Wholesale, based in Southern California which has tackled issues pertaining to illiteracy and poverty reduction in India and Rwanda.

With Koyal, Parekh created a fundraiser to produce items remembering the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide in 2004, raising nearly $24,000 for the development of the first public library in Rwanda. About SPIF, Parekh says "SPIF will enable me to explore my interest in social entrepreneurship, by allowing me to work directly with some of the most talented individuals and organizations in the field. I am confident that long-term I will be able to apply the skills that I learn during the course of my summer internship to build my own entrepreneurial venture, Koyal Wholesale, which I have been engaged in with my brother since 2003, into a socially responsible company."

Donations to support Klebe, King, Parekh, and the other 2009 SPIF Fellows can be made via the WGA Store and will also be accepted at the SPIFsponsored pub this Thursday.