Daniel Garcia-Pedrosa, WG '08

Before Wharton: I recruited and trained tutors/mentors for disadvantaged kids in the Washington, D.C. area. I also spent 2 years in consulting with Accenture.
At Wharton: I have been involved with Wharton Community Consultants (WCC), first as a project manager, then as co-president. Through WCC, I am able to apply business skills I learn in the classroom to support a local non-profit organization. It's also given me unique leadership experience. I'm also active in WHAMBAA and sing with the Whartones.
Summer Internship: I interned with L.E.K. Consulting in Los Angeles.

Angela Arnold, WG '08

Before Wharton: I was responsible for business activities at a religious nonprofit.
At Wharton: Wharton Community Consultants - project leader and now a Director of Project Management; Cohort Community Service Rep - organized Angel Tree holiday gift drive; Wharton Social Impact (WSI) - VP of Logistics for the annual conference and now a VP of Speakers; Leadership Ventures - summited Cotopaxi; Leadership Fellow; Wharton Women's Rugby.
Wharton and Social Responsibility: Social impact programs at Wharton are still growing and re-inventing themselves. The chance to be a part of that growth and evolution, to lead the way forward, to impact the curriculum, is why I chose to attend Wharton. The scope of social impact here is only limited by your energy and imagination. Wharton's co-production model means that students can affect change wherever they see the need. This past year, within weeks and with my classmates support, I was able to introduce a new class-wide community service initiative that was one of the most successful of the year. Such a quick implementation and adoption of a new program can only take place in an environment where people are supportive, creative, and resourceful. My classmates at Wharton are all of those things. Nearly every day one of my classmates has organized a conference, a speaker, a roundtable, or an alumni connection addressing a social impact issue. I am perpetually amazed by and thankful for their passionate interest in and commitment to the issues that will impact our future.
This summer: I needed to augment my nontraditional, media/nonprofit background with some strong analytical and business skills, so I went the management/strategy consulting route. I was a summer consultant at Boston Consulting Group in New York City.
After Wharton: I will most likely return to consulting, but I hope to do at least one social impact case a year. While consulting, I also plan to join the board of a small nonprofit, probably one focusing on education, poverty, or women's issues. Eventually, I hope to steer my career back to nonprofit management.

Brandon Belford, WG '08

Before Wharton: I traded Investment Grade credit products for Banc of America Securities.
At Wharton: Wharton Social Impact - I was Environmental Panel Lead for the annual conference and am now the VP for Environmental Sustainability ; Energy Club - I was the Project Finance Panel Director for the annual conference and am now the Renewable Energy VP; Soccer Club - Treasurer; Whitney M. Young Conference - Director of New Ventures Competition. I am also an active participant in AAMBAA, the Entrepreneurship Club, the crew team, and the scotch club.
Wharton and Social Responsibility: Wharton has enabled me to meet other students with similar interests but different backgrounds, which creates a positive environment for information sharing and collaboration as we approach these issues. In addition to the daily interaction with like-minded students, I have found that there are increasingly more professors and faculty at Wharton and throughout the University of Pennsylvania system that are dedicated to promoting and fostering higher learning around environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility. I believe that it is our responsibility as a student body to continue to shed light upon such issues, in order to convince the administration to devote more resources towards social impact.
This summer: I interned with SunEdison LLC in their market creation group. SunEdison is the largest solar energy services provider in North America.
After Wharton: I intend to pursue a career in the renewable energy industry in some capacity.

Moina Banerjee, WG '08

Before Wharton: I worked on Wall Street in Citigroup's Real Estate and Lodging Investment Banking Group.
At Wharton: WIVP - I scoped a WIVP trip in India and am now VP of Scoping;.WSI Conference - Microfinance Panel lead; International Development Club - VP of Education. I will also be a TA for the Advanced Seminar in Microfinance offered through the Management Department.
Wharton and Social Responsibility: Contrary to popular belief, Wharton's social impact efforts are very strong. I discovered this when I came for Welcome Weekend and met several students who had similar backgrounds to mine before they started business school. The variety of activities that are available to participate in at Wharton is what makes its social impact program so strong. From WIVP, WCC, WSI, to classes in social entrepreneurship, microfinance, and field application programs (FAPs) in international development, I was blown away by all the opportunities to learn, network, and immerse myself in the social impact arena.
This summer: Before starting my internship, I went on the WIVP trip that I scoped this year. Our team of four worked with The George Foundation (TGF), an NGO based in Bangalore India. We worked at TGF's school, Shanti Bhavan, located on the border of Tamil Naidu and Karnataka, where we worked with 20 children in the 9th grade, who come from the lowest caste of Indian society. For my internship, I worked at Citi Alternative Investments in New York, in their Fixed Income Alternatives Group. I primarily focused on closing the $50 million Citigroup Global Microfinance Fund, established to create a global portfolio of loans to microfinance institutions ("MFIs"); these MFIs provide micro loans to small entrepreneurs in 58 target developing countries

Grace Kim, WG '08

Before Wharton: I worked for five years in Morgan Stanley's global capital markets group in New York and Hong Kong. I then took a year off before coming to Wharton to explore the nonprofit and education sectors. For nine of those months, I volunteered six days a week for six organizations in the NY area.
At Wharton: WSI - Education Panel Co-Lead for the annual conference, and Alumni Events Lead and now VP for Alumni Affairs; Follies -Business Team (Co-head of Auction); WIVP -Fundraising Committee; Cohort Community Service Rep; Say Yes to Education -tutor; Dance Studio; International Cultural Show.
Wharton and Social Responsibility: I can very humbly say that I was part of the school of thought before I came to Wharton that it was 99% a finance school. However, there are so many people at Wharton involved or interested in social impact, whether that means they want to work in this area after graduation or at some point in their careers. It's been great to interact with so many diverse individuals in learning about their passions and how getting an MBA at Wharton will help them to do that. I knew little about education when I first came to Wharton but I met a fantastic group of colleagues who made themselves available to me to talk about their current and past work and volunteer experiences. People from the Graduate School of Education, from the Vice Dean to graduate students, were also very helpful to me. My time at Wharton has given me the chance to take a step back and really explore the issues in education I have always wanted to learn more about but never had the opportunity to do before.
This summer: As a Fellow with Education Pioneers, I spent the summer working with the Development team at Victory Schools, a private manager of charter schools in New York, Philadelphia, and (coming this fall) Chicago. Victory is a full service management company that works with the Boards at each of its schools to make sure that the schools are operating effectively in all aspects, including curriculum and instruction, finances, operations, human resources, payroll, and technology. Concurrently, I was part of a 27-person cohort in the Education Pioneers fellowship program. We are all graduate students coming from different walks in life (ex-bankers, ex-consultants, ex-teachers, ex-social workers, etc.) with a common passion for enacting change in education. Every other week, we participated in an all-day training session to meet with leaders in different areas of education and to discuss the hot topics in the industry.
After Wharton: I am still trying to find my near-term "place" in the education reform space, but I want to be in a management position in an educational organization in the future, whether that means I start my own organization or serve on the management team of an existing one. Whatever I end up doing immediately after graduation (whether it be in the private or public sector), I will continue to volunteer my time in working on social impact related issues.

Craig Isakow, WG '08

Before Wharton: I was working in Private Equity in Shanghai China. I also worked as a consultant with McKinsey and Company as well as spent 6 months working on the 2004 Presidential campaign full time.
At Wharton: Wharton Energy Club - President; Wharton Graduate Association - Executive Director of Alumni Affairs; Politics and Public Policy Club - VP; "Into the Streets", Say Yes to Education, Rebuilding Together (house co-manager). I was also a Wharton Entrepreneurial Intern Fellow and participated in the South America Global Immersion Program and the Field Application Project, United Nations Global Compact Survey.
Wharton and Social Responsibility: Prior to Wharton I had made the decision to work in Renewable Energy after graduation. Being a part of the Wharton community allowed me to learn about renewables from my fellow classmates, leverage the Wharton brand to build a strong renewable energy network, and secure an excellent internship with a renewable energy company. As part of the Wharton Social Impact Club and Wharton Energy Club I was able to reach out to industry and thought leaders to learn their views on what the clean technology revolution will look like. The Energy Club ran the country's first MBA Clean Tech Trek in 2007, where a small group of students interacted with some of the worlds leading Clean Tech Venture capital companies. The Wharton Entrepreneurship Program (WEP) has helped me to work towards building a business in Renewable energy. The Venture Initiation Program funded a company started by a classmate to bring solar power to public schools, and together we worked on the business for the first year of school. WEP also supplemented my summer salary so that I could more easily take a lower paying job at a solar startup. The Wharton brand gives you the credibility to pursue social entrepreneurship. No one will question your capability to execute your social venture.
This summer: I worked for EI Solutions, a leading solar integrator and solar technology development firm in California
After Wharton: I plan to pursue an entrepreneurial venture in Clean Technology, promoting ways to reduce their global impact on the environment.

Tracie Neuhaus, WG '08

Before Wharton: I worked for the Archon Group, a real estate investment subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, for four years.
At Wharton: Summer Public Interest Fund (SPIF) - Co-President & Director of Selection; WSI - VP of Careers; WIVP - volunteered with an NGO in Senegal in August 2007; Wharton Women's Soccer - Co-President; Europa! Club - Co-VP of Public Relations. I also participated in the Ecuador Mountaineering Leadership Venture, where I climbed Cotopaxi, a 19,348 glaciated volcano, and the Africa Global Immersion Program, a study tour of Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa. I am also a member of Wharton Women's Rugby, and the Ultimate Frisbee team.
Wharton and Social Responsibility: At Wharton, I have been able to get involved in clubs and organizations that focus on social impact issues. Through my involvement with WSI, SPIF, and WIVP, I have been able to meet other like-minded individuals who are interested in socially-minded careers and activities and to network with students and alumni in order to find opportunities available in this field. Moreover, by attending the Net Impact National Conference at Kellogg, the Wharton Social Impact Conference, and numerous panel discussions focusing on social impact issues, I have been able to learn more about the different sectors within this field. Through WIVP I gained experience working with an NGO in Africa. Finally, with the financial support of SPIF, this summer I was able to pursue an internship with Ashoka, a global citizen sector organization, in India. I gained first-hand experience in the field of grassroots economic development and was able to better understand the major issues and challenges of working in this sector.
This summer: As part of Ashoka's Full Economic Citizenship internship program, I worked with one of its partner non-profit organizations, Rural Innovations Network (RIN), in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. Ashoka is a global citizen sector organization that invests in social entrepreneurs by providing funding and professional support. RIN, which is run by one such social entrepreneur, incubates grassroots innovations that can have a significant impact on rural lives. It believes that many rural innovations can be successfully commercialized as enterprises that benefit rural consumers and contribute to sustainable wealth creation. I developed a franchise expansion strategy for RIN, so that it may expand its operations to other parts of rural Tamil Nadu.
After Wharton: My current plan is to pursue a position in management consulting immediately after graduation, with the intention to concentrate on international development consulting after a few years. I haven't given up on the sector, but I'd like to gain additional experience in various sectors so that I can be more prepared for my career move into this field.