In a Touchstone Social Entrepreneurship Course, Students Learn by Doing

Since 2008, Yale SOM’s Global Social Entrepreneurship (GSE) courses have sent consulting teams composed of students from SOM and other Yale graduate schools—including the Yale School of the Environment (YSE), the Jackson School of Global Affairs, and the Yale School of Public Health—to work with organizations in low- and middle-income countries. In January, student teams from the GSE India course traveled to the country for two weeks of intensive fieldwork with partner organizations working to provide social services, promote women’s empowerment, and teach English. Their time on the ground will inform the recommendations they deliver to project partners later this spring.

Why teach social entrepreneurship through fieldwork?

SOM’s GSE course model was developed by Tony Sheldon ’84, a senior lecturer in the practice of management and senior advisor to the Program on Enterprise, Innovation, and Impact. Sheldon teaches GSE each year, pairing students to work with organizations in Brazil and Kenya on a rotating basis. He finds that assisting real-world companies is the best way to develop practical skills.

“GSE lets students apply their studies and their professional skills by collaborating with mission-driven entrepreneurs grappling with strategic challenges,” Sheldon says. “It’s a unique, hands-on experience.”

Each year, interested organizations in the countries where GSE operates apply to work with students. Asha Ghosh, a lecturer in the practice of management who teaches the GSE India course, said that faculty leaders look for organizations across sectors who are motivated to address a specific challenge and deeply committed to making a social impact.

“We did a lot of work behind the scenes considering what could be learned from these projects,” Ghosh said. “For students interested in social entrepreneurship, it is important to take time to challenge their own assumptions, learn from communities they may impact, and build trust. We work with organizations who have spent time building trust.”

What do students learn?

The GSE curriculum has evolved over the years. It now covers diverse topics related to social enterprise including theory of change, scaling, social metrics, impact, and financing. Students also consider leadership challenges such as establishing positive team dynamics, framing a consulting agreement, and receiving feedback.

Student teams begin their work remotely with in-country partners at the beginning of the course, collaborate with them in-person during the field experience, and continue partnering remotely until presenting their results at the end of the course. Typical project deliverables have included market research, financial modeling, and impact assessments.

Learning through experience can be transformative. Students deepen the way they think about complex social challenges and examine their assumptions.

The 2026 GSE India field experience began in Bangalore with talks on international development, innovation, and policy. This year’s cohort of students and project partners convened at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore along with local experts in social entrepreneurship including Sourav Mukherji, who teaches organizational behavior at the institution, and former Yale World Fellow Smita Rakesh.

Additional presentations by partner organizations and their assigned Yale student consulting teams offered all participants an opportunity to connect, learn about each other’s work, and receive feedback on their fieldwork plans before traveling to sites across India.

“The fieldwork is an immersive experience that teaches you so much,” said Philip Reilly ’26, an MBA student. Reilly’s team worked with the Sambav Foundation, which provides education, health care, and employment opportunities to the most marginalized within Indian society.

“The experience was really illuminating,” added Reilly’s teammate Sherab Dorji YSE/Jackson ’27. “We knew there would be complexities in the local context—but going from theory to reality was really eye-opening.”

Immersing themselves in a local organization’s work, students come to understand how partners on the ground see the problems they are addressing—and the path to solutions—differently from those studying or working at a distance.

“I only understood the partner’s theory of change once we were here,” said MBA student Danielle Steifman Livni ’26. She worked in the northern Indian city Muzaffarpur with I-Shaksam, a nonprofit working to end child marriage in the region. “It was very moving to speak with the girls and their families in the program.”

A third student consulting team worked with English Quest, a UK-based company that helps non-native English speakers benefit from the opportunities that come from communicating in English with fluency and confidence.

Learning from interdisciplinary collaboration

GSE courses also allow SOM students to collaborate closely with peers from other Yale schools. Maria Blanco Solana YSE ’26 says the diverse teams benefit both students and partner organizations. “Working with a multidisciplinary team brings different perspectives to the work, which can lead to different ways of doing things.”

Many students find that fieldwork strengthens team relationships. Ericka Kamanou-Tenta YSPH ’26 said that positive relationships yielded better fieldwork results.

“Going into the field, we got to connect,” she said. “That bonding enabled us to be strategic in everything we were trying to do together.”

Rahul Shah YSE ’26 hopes that the real-world experience he gained through GSE will influence what he does after graduation.

“I have a future ambition to start an enterprise of my own when I return to my home region in East Africa,” he said. “I know through taking this course that enterprises have to consider the social aspect and sustainability. GSE has really helped me understand what other opportunities might exist not only for business, but also for society.”