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Social Impact Project

Broaden your influence with projects that make an impact
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The Social Impact Project (SIP) is a five-week project for both Master and Full-time MBA students. It offers students the opportunity to serve as an economic or management consultant for an organization with specific social impact objectives.

Make a positive impact during your studies

If you are interested in getting hands-on experience and making a positive impact, all while developing your management and leadership skills, then the Social Impact Project, taken as part of the Full-time MBA, or Master's in Global Management, is for you. 

Who can take part in the Social Impact Project?

The Social Impact Project is an integral part of the Master in Global Management curriculum and also optional for Full-time MBA students during their summer term. Students act as an economic or management consultant for an organization with specific social objectives.

What are the benefits of the Social Impact Project?

  • Students get to apply management theory to a real problem, including fieldwork, research, or project management;
  • find solutions to that problem, and if possible during the project timeline, help to implement the solutions;
  • directly help society as a whole – this is not a project to maximize profit, but a project to maximize the welfare or satisfaction of stakeholders that the client organization serves.

Which organizations can I work with as part of the Social Impact Project?

You can complete your social impact project at a variety of organization types, such as:

  • The CSR department in a for-profit company
  • An NGO
  • A local non-profit organization
  • A social entrepreneurship venture
  • A company launching a new product or service that serves the poorest members of society (microfinance, etc.) 

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SIP 2024: BMW Group

Our master’s students have made remarkable contributions by their work. With the support of BMW Group, our young teams have tackled a wide range of topics, including impact through cinema, integration, youth and football, social inclusion, and education.

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SIP 2024: Supporting inclusive education in Brazil

For five weeks, this group of ESMT Master Students conducted their social impact project in São Paulo with Mais Diferenças, supported by the BMW Group. Throughout the project, they focused on concrete initiatives to support the NGO.

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Master Students' Voices

SIP students working with Fundación Bahía, a Cartagena-based non-profit organization that preserves the environment and empowers the local community.

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Master Students' Voices

A summary of the Social Impact Project with Cartera, Italy
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Past student projects

  • Allianz SE | Group Sustainability, Munich/Germany - Researching and setting up suitable models for further enhancing Global Partnerships 
  • Beca a un Pana, Venezuela - Creating a sustainable business plan for a student scholarship fund NGO
  • COVID-DATA, Berlin/Germany - Creating publicity strategy for different COVID-19 vaccines in the market
  • Freundeskreis Nepal e.V., Nepal - Developing a fundraising strategy for an education and inclusion NGO that addresses disability discrimination
  • GIZ, Cambodia - Opportunity assessment of decentralized smart grids solutions for the food & agricultural sector
  • SINA, Uganda - Plastic Upcycling in Ugandan Refugee Camp
  • UNDP, Uganda - Finding innovative solutions to make Uganda Tourism Ecosystem Platform (UTEP) financially sustainable in the mid- and long term

Student voices from the Social Impact Project

Social Impact Project Reflections

[During the SIP,] I had the opportunity to understand and witness the impact that students can have on real-world problems, get in contact with local communities, get to know their needs and in the end be able to help them.

Pino de Wilde
ESMT Alumnus
Social Impact Project Reflections

Taking a break from the conventional for-profit businesses, the Social Impact Project with Ashoka in Berlin provided me the chance to learn in-depth about the setup of social businesses.

Sopha Nem
ESMT Alumna