Learning to Serve: How PSEII Prepares Students to Drive Impact
For Yale SOM students working with nonprofit and social sector organizations, good intentions are only the beginning. Whether serving as a nonvoting member on a local nonprofit board or consulting with a community partner on a strategic challenge, students are entering organizations with real constraints, urgent needs, and deep community relationships. To contribute meaningfully, they need context, practical tools, and an understanding of how to show up as thoughtful partners.
That is the purpose behind the Social Impact Lab training series organized by the Program on Social Enterprise, Innovation, and Impact (PSEII). Throughout the year, the 6-session series prepared students in the Golub Capital Board Fellows and Golub Capital Consulting Fellows (formerly Social Impact Consulting Club) programs to better support the organizations they serve. The trainings covered nonprofit fundamentals, consulting basics, nonprofit accounting, case-based problem solving, strategic planning, and fundraising.
These student programs are unique experiential learning opportunities and give SOM students distinct but complementary ways to engage with the social sector. Golub Capital Board Fellows (GCBF) places students as nonvoting members on local nonprofit boards. Golub Capital Consulting Fellows (GCCF) connects teams of students with nonprofits, government agencies, and social enterprises for pro bono consulting projects focused on challenges such as strategy, finance, marketing, operations, and organizational design.
There are people trying to do wonderful things, but the ‘how’ is often where organizations need support
PSEII’s training series was designed to meet students at each stage of their projects. Early sessions helped students understand how nonprofit organizations differ from for-profit firms. Later sessions became more applied, giving students tools to scope projects, interpret financial information, ask better questions, and support partner organizations as they considered strategic decisions.
William S. Beinecke Professor of Finance and Economics, Judith Chevalier, is the Faculty Director of PSEII and a recognized expert in nonprofit governance. She led the inaugural session introducing students to the nonprofit sector. Paige MacLean, Lecturer in the Practice of Management and Faculty Advisor to both programs, led sessions on nonprofit consulting and fundraising. Drawing on her experience in strategy consulting, philanthropy, organizational leadership, and board service, MacLean helped students think about how to build trust with partners, define useful scopes of work, and understand how organizations communicate their missions to supporters.
A session with Raphael Duguay, Assistant Professor of Accounting, added another critical layer: nonprofit accounting. Duguay, whose research examines reporting regulation and transparency in the social and public sectors, helped students understand the financial information that nonprofit leaders and board members rely on. For students serving on boards or advising organizations, this training provided a foundation for reading financial statements, asking sharper questions, and understanding the governance role that financial transparency can play.
The series also moved beyond lectures into applied practice. In an interactive session built around the Community Dining Room, a nonprofit serving shoreline communities in south central Connecticut, students worked through the ambiguity that often defines real consulting engagements. Using the case study method, students analyzed decision points and compared their judgements to the consulting team’s choices - which led to identifying the root concerns for the organization and successful project outcome.
The lesson was to listen carefully, narrow the scope, and reframe the project around a question the organization could take strong action on. In Community Dining Room’s case, the student team helped develop evaluation tools to determine which events were truly advancing its goals.
Some training sessions brought in the expertise of SOM’s Alumni network. Peter Grunert ’15, a partner at The Bridgespan Group, led a session on strategic planning that helped students think about what it means to advise nonprofits facing difficult decisions. He described a process that focused on using deep listening, research, and analysis to bring clarity to important decision-points for leaders.
For students, one of the most important takeaways was that effective advising is not about presenting every piece of analysis. It is about helping leaders have the conversations they need to have. Grunert also emphasized realities that shape nonprofit strategies, including financial strain, challenges measuring impact, donor dynamics, and the risk that funding priorities can begin to drive organizational strategy.
James Lee ’27, who worked in the nonprofit sector before coming to SOM and is participating in the Golub Capital Consulting Fellows this year, found the session especially useful. “There are people trying to do wonderful things, but the ‘how’ is often where organizations need support,” he said. “This session gave me a more structured way to understand those gaps and think about the questions I need to ask in my own consulting project.”
Taken together, the Social Impact Lab sessions reflect a broader philosophy of student engagement at SOM. Students are equipped to develop their business skills for good, but also to recognize that mission-driven partners operate in complex environments shaped by mission, funding, governance, staff capacity, and community trust. The Golub Capital Board Fellows and Golub Capital Consulting Fellows programs give students an opportunity to learn through experience - partnering with nonprofit leadership for community impact.
