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Ask the right questions. Know when to reach out for help. Leverage the power of storytelling, and stay open to new ideas.

Those are just a few of the takeaways for participants in this year鈥檚 Golub Capital Board Fellows Program, which connects Chicago Booth MBA students (鈥淔ellows鈥�) with Chicago-area nonprofits to serve as nonvoting board members and pro bono business consultants. This year, 87 students and 34 nonprofits participated in the program, a partnership between Booth鈥檚 Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation and the Net Impact student group.

During a closing workshop and reception, this year鈥檚 Golub Capital Board Fellows and their nonprofit partners came together with Rustandy Center leaders to share insights, plan for the future, and celebrate their achievements.

A Time to Reflect
The afternoon began with a workshop for representatives of participating nonprofits facilitated by the Rustandy Center鈥檚 executives in residence, Todd Connor and Dorri McWhorter. Attendees reflected on 鈥渢he four Ls鈥�: what they loved about the program, learned from it, found lacking, and longed for. They also considered how to turn the Fellows鈥� deliverables into actionable, strategic next steps.

After the workshop, Fellows and nonprofit leaders gathered for a reception to celebrate their work together through a project showcase that highlighted the impact of many of the partnerships.

Finally, attendees came back together for a closing program featuring remarks from Fellows, nonprofit participants, and Rustandy Center leaders.

Sharing Experiences
Felix Contreras-Castro, a second-year MBA student, noted that his experience working with the Cure Pogz Disorders Foundation had helped him understand what 鈥渞eal impact鈥� looks like. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about securing $100,000,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about equipping organizations with the language, the structure, and the confidence to raise $100,000 on their own.鈥� 

Speaking next, first-year MBA student Sunny Hong shared takeaways from her partnership with Organic Oneness, a grassroots organization focused on eliminating racism and creating healthy communities. 鈥淥ne of the key lessons I learned was that so many organizations are doing powerful and impactful work, but they鈥檙e often constrained by their infrastructure and capacity,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ocial change is not a spectator sport. We as individuals, as communities, as institutions, and as a society need to come together.鈥�

Carrie Spitler, executive director of , noted that participating in the Board Fellows Program this year had enabled her organization to make meaningful headway on a project that鈥檚 been on its agenda for a decade: connecting internal software to a tool that can help them track impact.

鈥淥ne of our Fellows has expertise in this area and really took it on, designing reports and going a step beyond,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is something we鈥檝e wanted for the past 10 years, and we weren't able to get it off the ground until now.鈥�

Echoing Spitler鈥檚 remarks, Rae Perez, a board member with the , said the program helped her organization jump-start a long-held goal. 鈥淲e tasked our Fellows with working on a model for offering classes and workshops,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e never done that because it鈥檚 kind of a can of worms, but our Fellows went above and beyond at every stage, bringing curiosity, energy, and brilliance to the process.鈥�

Winning Awards
As part of the retreat, attendees voted on which team had made the strongest contributions, based on the posters displayed during the project showcase. Caroline Grossman, MBA 鈥�03, executive director of the Rustandy Center, announced the three winning teams:

First Place was awarded to The Artistic Home, a theater company that worked with Booth Fellows , , and to create a marketing and fundraising strategy to grow audience engagement and highlight its unique actor training model.

Second Place went to the , which developed a major-donor playbook to help accelerate research funding for children with rare neurodevelopmental disorders. The organization was supported by Fellows , , and Sambhav Sharma.

Third Place recognized the and Fellows , , and for their work on a pilot workshop series that offers accessible, community-driven skill-building opportunities.

All three winning nonprofits received a $1,000 award, and each of the Fellows on the first-place team received a $100 award.

In Closing
The evening concluded with a look to the future. Wai-Sinn Chan, MBA 鈥�02, MPP 鈥�02, senior director of nonprofit and civic engagement programs, encouraged Fellows to continue to identify what they can bring to the social impact landscape. She then shed light on the recently expanded Golub Capital Nonprofit Board Fellows Network, which supports the program鈥檚 impact at Chicago Booth and 10 other distinguished business schools.

鈥淲ith this new network, you will soon be able to connect with Board Fellows alumni from the other business schools in the Golub Capital Board Fellows Network across the country,鈥� Chan said. 鈥淔or students, this is an invitation to take an active role in shaping the future of the social sector. Because in the end, nonprofits don鈥檛 grow solely because of generous funding. They grow because you continue to want to make a social impact, wherever your next steps take you.鈥�

For information about how you can get involved in the program as a Booth Board Fellow or a partnering nonprofit, please see Golub Capital Board Fellows Program on the Booth website.