Today, dog collars. Tomorrow, hibiscus leaves. Kory Caro’s impactful summer.
Few MBAs get to deep-dive into winemaking, dog collars, running a tea bar, and a subscription box service, all in one summer. This is the challenge that Kory Caro, MBA 15, is taking on with his internship with MBAs Across America, a nonprofit startup that sends teams of business students around the country to connect with entrepreneurs for week-long consulting projects. Why this internship and not one with a big brand name attached to it?
“It doesn’t seem fair that [most MBA] education doesn’t go to help small businesses, which are the lifeblood of jobs in this country,” Kory explains.
MBAs Across America gives business students the opportunity to work with small business owners while learning more about the realities of running a company. Kory’s journey has brought him and his teammates to Brooks Winery in rural Oregon, Sola Cafe and Red Tractor Pizza in Montana, Bold Lead Designs in Colorado, Ellis Island Tea in Michigan, and Batch in Tennessee (so far). All of these are chronicled through the team’s blog posts.
Kory was selected as one of our Haas Social Impact Fund Fellows for 2014 due to his commitment to using his business education to have a positive social impact. “Our team particularly wanted to focus on women and minorities,” he says. “I was a small business owner … so this is an opportunity to combine the tools that Haas has given me with real-life experiences to help people who are just like me.” Every year, the Haas Social Impact Fund selects students interested in using their internships to work with nonprofit and social enterprises or public agencies. The program is funded mostly by current Haas MBA students, who divert a small part of their summer salaries to support their classmates.
Find out more about how to get involved in the Haas Social Impact Fund.
Learn more about Kory’s adventure across the states at the Haas Achieves blog.
