Social Impact

At Yale SOM, we’ve been thinking about “social impact” since before most people had heard the term.

Mission-driven

Our founding mission of educating leaders for business and society has meant that every initiative at the school considers how business and market forces can improve the world. You could say that social impact is in our DNA. It’s wound into our curriculum, it’s the passion that animates our students, and it’s the focus of faculty inquiry.

Our areas of focus within the broad field of social impact include:

Social Enterprise
Economic Development
Nonprofit Management
Sustainability
Impact Investing
Healthcare
Diversity and Inclusion

Social Impact Video Moments

Video snapshots from Yale SOM.

Integrated Curriculum: Strategic Management of Nonprofit Organizations

Yale SOM Social Impact Week 2023

The Program on Social Enterprise, Innovation, and Impact

Students in the Community: Helping Afghan Refugees Start a Business

Community stories

Video: Planning the Yale Healthcare Conference

We followed student organizers as they prepared for one of Yale SOM’s flagship student-led conferences.

Blended Finance & Impact Investing in the Global South

On September 26, the Economic Development Club hosted Clint Bartlett, MAM ‘17—a consultant to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and expert in impact investing—for an engaging session on the critical role that blended finance will play in addressing global inequalities.

Internship Spotlight: Kevin Moss ’24, Connecticut Green Bank

Preview image for the video "The Cross-Section of Business & Society: Social Entrepreneurship Lab". — In the Social Entrepreneurship Lab course, students from across Yale form teams to develop potential solutions to social and environmental challenges.

Through impact investments, we can put our money into good use and create more long-term sustainable positive impact for our world. We can help people. We can help our communities.

Leon Meng ’97, speaking at the 2023 Impact Investing Conference

Governor Ned Lamont ’80 speaks at Yale SOM

Governor Ned Lamont ’80 Talks the Business of Government

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont ’80 visited the Yale School of Management on September 25 to discuss his career at the nexus of business and society.

Student working with young people in a classroom

Student Volunteers Are Making a Difference in Yale SOM’s Hometown

Many Yale SOM students build bridges to their neighbors in New Haven by pitching in with a variety of local organizations and nonprofits. Every year, student clubs and course projects offer opportunities for students to make an impact on the community by putting their business skills to work—and to learn by doing.

Our curriculum

When we teach the fundamentals of management and leadership, we include thinking that goes beyond the bottom line. In the MBA core, for instance, each course includes material that can be explicitly described as related to social and environmental issues. This material amounts to more than a quarter of classroom hours. But that’s only the beginning—social impact also comes up in discussions every day, since these are issues our faculty and students care deeply about.

Elective courses include:

Business and Environment: Management and Strategy
Business Ethics
Education Policy
Ethical Choices in Public Leadership
Financing Green Technologies
Global Social Entrepreneurship
Inequality and Social Mobility
Managing Sustainable Operations
Modern Philanthropy: Perspectives and Challenges
Strategic Management of Nonprofit Organizations
Urban Poverty and Economic Development

View course descriptions

Teachers & Scholars

Faculty from across the school study issues related to social impact and bring their expertise into the classroom.

Learn more

Opportunities for students

The Program on Social Enterprise, Innovation, and Impact (PSEII) is a cornerstone of the Yale SOM’s mission of educating leaders for business and society. The PSEII supports and convenes faculty, students, alumni, and practitioners in research, publications, conferences, classes, and experiential learning opportunities. We explore how for-profit, non-profit, and government entities can find and deploy innovative strategies to build a more equitable, sustainable, and inclusive world.

Officially launched in 2023, the Meng Impact Investment Fund is Yale SOM’s first student-run investment fund, offering hands-on learning opportunities for students interested in achieving societal impact through market-based financial tools. Students gain real-world experience by researching investments, working with founders, and running operations.

Sample additional resources

Yale SOM Conferences and Events

Major student-led conferences each year include the Philanthropy Conference, Economic Development Symposium, and Impact Investing Conference. By organizing and running these major industry events, students deepen their own leadership skills and knowledge of their chosen field.

Learn more

Global Social Entrepreneurship

Each year, as part of a for-credit course, teams of students partner with local organizations to grapple with management challenges and impact lives. Students act as consultants and travel to their partner’s home country as part of the project.

Learn more about this and other impact electives

Social Impact Lab

This weekly seminar brings interested students together to present on and discuss their experiences working in the social sector, as well as regularly inviting guest speakers from an array of domestic and international organizations.

Learn more

Student Clubs

A range of student clubs with a focus on social impact—including Net Impact, Nonprofit Board Fellows, and Social Impact Consulting—host talks, organize job treks, and catalyze interest in critical topics.

Learn more

Social Impact Landscape at Yale SOM

Numerous student groups, faculty-led centers, and other institutions at Yale provide opportunities to engage and learn about social impact.

Social Enterprise, economic development, international nonprofits: Program on Social Enterprise, Innovation, and Impact

Entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, and startups: Program on Entrepreneurship

Impact investing: Meng Impact Investment Fund

Sustainability, green business, sustainable finance: Center for Business and the Environment at Yale

Student activities, events, and career support: Net Impact

Nonprofit board service around New Haven: Nonprofit Board Fellows

Pro bono consulting: Social Impact Consulting club

Many other student clubs address aspects of social impact. View the full list.

Listen in

Faculty- and student-produced podcasts can give you insight into the conversation around impact that's always happening at the school.

CitySCOPE

A podcast about cities and inclusive economic development from Kate Cooney and her students at the Yale School of Management.

Impact & Innovation

Social entrepreneurs from around the world come to Yale SOM to share the challenges they are grappling with and the insights they are gaining in the field.