Kellogg’s Net Impact Club Wins Chapter of the Year, Again
By Nathan Joo, Trevor Lu, and Carli Chovick (all 2Y 2022)
Kellogg’s Net Impact Club is a student-run organization and an official chapter of the Net Impact national organization. Our group is dedicated to promoting social impact at Kellogg and shaping some of the world’s most talented socially-oriented business leaders and supporting engagement with the 13 other social impact clubs on campus. We also focus on helping students interested in social impact careers find the best opportunities available and prepare to find their dream roles.
The Net Impact Chapter at Kellogg has a long history of mobilizing for social impact and challenging norms for inclusion of our shared purpose over profits. Even as COVID-19 limited us to a virtual setting with little to no funding for club activities, we innovated to create opportunities for our members to connect and make an impact. Over the past year, over 75% of Kellogg students have attended at least one of our 24 varied Net Impact events this year.
Fostering community
Responding to the needs of our times, we organized trainings to facilitate engagement with the MBA response initiative aimed at helping non-profits and local businesses hurt by COVID-19. We also hosted events spotlighting how businesses and individuals can act with purpose through a discussion with Ben & Jerry’s Global Social Mission Officer, Dave Rapaport, on corporate activism and with Jacqueline Novogratz, Acumen Fund’s Chief Executive Officer, on using moral leadership to navigate our complex times.
The highlight of our year was Social Impact Week in November with the theme “My Impact. Our Impact,” where we focused on how individual actions can lead to collective change. We collaborated with ten clubs around the school to deliver 16 events covering a variety of social impact topics and to connect students with local non-profits and election polls in need of volunteers. Over 500 students (1 in every 3 students) participated that week.
Advancing careers
One of the main ways our chapter makes an impact is by providing top-of-the-line career support for students interested in careers with impact. This year, we continued to develop a robust infrastructure for these students and created focused opportunities for professional development and mentorship through weekly trainings for job search, networking, as well as interview preparation. Additionally, Net Impact’s Social Impact Career Trek brought 40 students to nine different companies this year, making it the largest industry trek at Kellogg. And, by engaging Kellogg’s impressive social impact alumni network in panels and programming, we also showcased the myriad of ways in which Kellogg students find paths to impact beyond graduation.
Communicating during Covid-19
In a virtual environment, communication isn’t easy, but we still found ways to reach Kellogg students. By providing a revamped weekly e-newsletter that brought job listings, inspirational stories of the many ways Kellogg students pursue impact, and timely event announcements we were able to grow membership and draw in a wide breadth of social impact minded students from all backgrounds and career paths. Through 28 Social Impact Ambassadors we also connected with prospective students, providing more student perspectives on the full array of opportunities in the social impact space at Kellogg.
Reflections
In this unique year, Kellogg Net Impact worked tirelessly to grow awareness of the chapter and continue giving both our members and the broader community opportunities to make an impact. With 368 members and over 1,000 additional student event attendees, we are thankful to each and every one of you for engaging with social impact at Kellogg this past year.