Consulting and impact investing
By Kathleen
I feel like the work we are doing for our organization has been meaningful to the stakeholders in the organization and the research I am doing is exposing me to new types of consulting and impact investing that I have not been exposed to before.
I have always been curious to travel to Brazil as I find it interesting how booming their economy is and how the country fits in with the many other cultures surrounding them in Latin America. In a comparative economics class in my undergraduate education, I was assigned a final research paper on Brazil. I focused my research on the economy and where it can grow, but also the issues that it is currently facing. I learned that while Brazil is the largest economy and a growing economy in South America, it also has a myriad of issues related to social welfare. I found it fascinating that as one of the ‘BRICS’ economies, it was growing so quickly and had potential for even more growth with the abundant amount of natural resources. However, the country was riddled with poverty, crime, corruption and inequality. This contrast, (along with the 2016 Olympics and 2014 World Cup!) piqued my interest in the country and was added to my bucket list of places I wanted to travel.
As the trip to Brazil approaches quickly, I am getting very excited to take my MBA educational experience outside of the classroom. When I saw that the social impact program had a program in Brazil it seemed like the perfect opportunity to check Brazil off my bucket list, but also experience it in an educational setting so that I can learn further about the economy in Brazil and see first-hand the issues they are facing. These past few weeks researching about the organizations we will be visiting and working with has been very eye opening to see the different types of projects that are being worked on. While I have limited experience in Impact Investing and Social Impact in general, I find it very meaningful that there are so many organizations doing this type of work in Brazil and Latin America as a whole.
Additionally, I find the problems that we are consulting them on very interesting and unique, but also problems that US firms also face. Our project is focusing on helping them identify areas they can inorganically grow their business. This is something that most firms are thinking about and seeing this issue in the impact investing/consulting space is interesting and exciting. I feel like the work we are doing for our organization has been meaningful to the stakeholders in the organization and the research I am doing is exposing me to new types of consulting and impact investing that I have not been exposed to before.
Overall, I am looking forward to the trip both to meet and learn from the organizations in the social impact field in Brazil, to experience the culture, and bring back what I learned to the US and apply it to my MBA experience to further my education.