Exciting update on CBS Boston Gives Back Program - February 2010
We Are Expanding (a newly-created advisory board)
After completing 3 successful pro-bono consulting projects to non-profits in the Boston area, it is time to formalize this valuable initiative of the CBS Alumni Club of Boston. We are the only CBS alumni club in the world to have instituted pro-bono consulting services to non-profits. We are proud to be the first, and hope other clubs around the world will follow suit and use their MBA skills for volunteering in the communities in which they live while fostering closer ties amongst their fellow CBS alumni. In order to institutionalize our services, we have created a CBS Gives Back to Boston Advisory Board consisting of former alumni volunteers who have been champions of this initiative. Together, they will vote on the selection of future projects, choose the project managers responsible for the success of each project, and provide advice and help solve large issues if they come up. We will also continue to count on the board of the CBS Club of Boston for their continued advice and sponsorship.
The new advisory board members are all former participants of CBS Gives Back to Boston:
1. Supriyo Dey '07
2. Vincent Fung '09
3. Rusty Hartley '94
4. Evan Jacobs '07
5. Cathy McCarthy '79
6. Lei-Choon Ong '97
7. Yvonne Tai '00
8. Gary Westermark '91
9. Barbara Wipf '00
How We Started
I started the CBS Gives Back to Boston pro-bono management consulting to non-profits initiative in the Fall of 2008. As a a wealth advisor at Merrill Lynch and former management consultant at Booz Allen, I felt like it was the perfect time to launch the program. I was a board member of the YWCA Boston, there was so much uncertainty in the economy, and they had some strategic planning needs but no budget for it. I had consulting and project management skills, but needed talented people to work with me on this. I was also on the board of the CBS Alumni Club of Boston, and club president Ben Grossman '06 and I decided to send out a mass email to alumni to see if they would be interested in participating in a pro-bono consulting project specifically for the YWCA Boston. We had a terrific response from volunteers, and internal support from the club as well.
Evan Jacobs '07, a CBS Boston Club board member and management consultant at Capgemini, was the first to sign up, and it turned out to be a successful initial project, with many lessons learned. I was proud and impressed by the caliber of the alumni volunteers and how everyone worked as a team. I thought it would be the only project, but within weeks, 2 more project opportunities were presented to us by Columbia alums. Once again, we sent out feelers to the CBS Boston community and got a great group of people together, and 2 more projects were completed in 2009. In total, these CBS alumni (and some spouses) have donated over 1,000 hours in management consulting services since 2008, and we hope to keep this going. It will depend entirely on the dedicated participation of the small number of alums here in the greater Boston area who are willing to use their MBA skills to help local charities in a meaningful way beyond opening their wallets. Some are already consulting practitioners, and some are repeat volunteers, which speaks very highly to the value of the program in terms of what they feel they get in return for their efforts.
There is a lot of camaraderie and friendship building as you can imagine from working in a team setting. It is also a fantastic way for alums looking to try consulting to see what it is like and to participate in thought-provoking activities well past graduating from CBS. Finally, by working on projects near and dear to the hearts of Columbia alums, we are strengthening our alumni community as well.
New Projects:
We are looking for new non-profit clients who need our help. The requirements are simple: 1) Ideally, it is a non-profit in which a CBS alum is strongly involved, 2) All projects should last up to 12 weeks only and have a clear and agreed upon scope and deliverable, 3) All projects should culminate in a final presentation to the FULL board of directors on a pre-determined date at the start of the project, 4) Our key client contact must be a key board member and the CEO or COO of the organization. Please send us your requests to: Lei-Choon_Ong@ml.com
Former Projects:
Once again, our deepest gratitude and thanks to the following 14 individuals who participated in the first 3 projects with intelligence, dedication and respect for the clients they served. The alums are listed below along with the clients they served. Details of each project can be found on our website - see below.
1. Hamid Benbrahim '07 - YWCA Boston
2. Niki Brinkman (spouse of Todd Ofenloch '07) - YWCA Boston
3. Victor Chin '94 - Kwong Kow Chinese School
4. Supriyo Dey '07 - YWCA Boston & Aspergers Association of New England
5. Vincent Fung '09 - Aspergers Association of New England
6. John F. Hartley Jr. (Rusty) '92 - Kwong Kow Chinese School
7. Evan Jacobs '07 - YWCA Boston & Aspergers Association of New England
8. Cathy McCarthy '79 - Aspergers Association of New England
9. Greta Meszoely (spouse of Hamid Benbrahim '07): YWCA Boston
10. Naomi Nuta (spouse of Evan Jacobs '07 and Columbia B.A. '01) - Aspergers Association of New England
11. Lei-Choon Ong '97 - YWCA Boston, Kwong Kow Chinese School, Aspergers Association of New England
12. Yvonne Tai '04 - Kwong Kow Chinese School
13. Gary Westermark '91 - YWCA Boston
14. Barbara Wipf '00 - Aspergers Association of New England
Many thanks for your encouragement and support. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Lei-Choon Ong '97
VP of Philanthropy, Columbia Business School Alumni Club of Boston
Chair, Columbia Business School Gives Back to Boston Advisory Board
CBS Alumni Club of Boston Gives Back - Fall 2009
Supriyo Dey, Class of 2007
Vincent Fung, Class of 2009
Evan Jacobs, Class of 2007
Cathy McCarthy, Class of 1979
Naomi Nuta (spouse of Evan Jacobs ’07 and Columbia B.A. 2001)
Lei-Choon Ong, Class of 1997
Barbara Wipf, Class of 2000
Please find attached a letter of appreciation from the Executive Director and Board Chair.
The Client: The Asperger's Association of New England is a rapidly-growing 13-year-old non-profit organization with the mission of improving the quality of life for those with Asperger Syndrome (AS). Their mission is to foster awareness, respect, acceptance, and support for individuals with AS and related conditions and their families. AS is a neurological condition - people who have AS are born with it, and have it for life, although as they mature they may gain new skills, outgrow some of their AS traits, or use their strengths to compensate for their areas of disability. AS is generally considered a form of autism, an autism spectrum disorder.
AANE’s key objective for this project was to improve the organizational structure (and they were open to all ideas), specifically between Watertown (the HQ) and the organization's 7 chapters. Their goal is to take their "start-up" non-profit to "the next level," and requested that the CBS team explore the current organizational relationships within AANE.
The Project: Barbara Wipf '00, a member of the team, said, "Working on the CBS Gives Back program this fall was an extremely rewarding experience for me. I was hoping to keep my resume fresh while doing some good for a local charity, but what I got out of it (and put in!) far surpassed my expectations. The charity was dear to my heart because of how Asperger's Syndrome has touched those around me, but I never realized how fulfilling it would be to know that our group was truly making a difference for those in the AS community. Working with folks in the non-profit community was an eye-opener for me as I witnessed a level of dedication and selflessness that I hadn't experienced in my professional career. And I learned so much from the other 6 CBS alums in our project group as each of us brought different expertise to the table: project management, presentation skills, strategic planning. Their level of commitment and zeal was very inspiring. The project was a lot of hard work but the personal payoff was tremendous."
After a 12-week project, the 7 volunteer consultants completed a successful final presentation to the full board of directors on December 8, 2009. "I am grateful that this project offered me a unique opportunity to leverage different skill sets to solve an organization problem. The direct interactions made me feel that I learned a lot more about Asperger Syndrome and how I can make a bigger impact in the community," Vincent Fung '09 remarked.
38 people were interviewed individually for this project, including board members, key staff, management, and chapter directors. Research was conducted on AANE programs as well as similar Asperger's organizations nationally, and the competitive landscape in the New England area and other non-profit business models were analyzed as well. In the end, this information was synthesized and presented, including 4 potential recommendations for AANE’s future organizational structure and role in New England. AANE will use the group's presentation as a starting point to begin the rigorous discussion on how to grow and excel moving forward.
Based on a typical billable hours measurement, the 7 volunteers spent approximately 500 hours on this project. Our CBS pro-bono consultants visited the Watertown HQ a couple of times, had several breakout meetings with the Strategic Planning Committee as well as the organization's board chair and executive director, and met as a team frequently. The results were vetted with AANE and understood prior to the final presentation to the full board.
"I thought the presentation was amazingly well-received. The remarks I heard after were thoughtful as well as appreciative. I felt we delivered some extremely useful information and perspective that they can act on going forward. It was definitely worth the time!" Cathy McCarthy '75 said.
A special thank you to the volunteers! Please stay tuned for 2010 news on exciting CBS Alumni Club of Boston Gives Back initiatives. We hope to have repeat volunteers and gather some new ones too!
Sincerely,
Lei-Choon Ong '97
VP of Philanthropy, Columbia Business School Alumni Club of Boston
CBS Alumni Club of Boston Gives Back - Spring 2009
On behalf of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club of Boston, I would like to thank and recognize the following volunteers for participating in the second pro bono project of the CBS Boston Gives Back initiative this past spring:
Victor Chin, Class of 1994
John F. Hartley Jr. (Rusty), Class of 1992
Lei-Choon Ong, Class of 1997
Yvonne Tai, Class of 2004
The Client: The client was the Kwong Kow Chinese School on 87 Tyler Street in Boston (KKCS). KKCS was established in 1916 for the purpose of helping immigrant families to obtain their education while maintaining their Chinese language and heritage. Its mission is to disseminate Chinese language and culture to Chinese and non-Chinese learners through formal and informal learning opportunities. Its main programs are after-school programs, weekend Chinese programs, English/Math tutoring, Summer School, Martial Arts and Chinese Painting for children. Approximately 850 children are served each year.
The Project: The KKCS board was looking for opportunities to generate revenue from renting its building space to the Boston community when not occupied by its programs in order to supplement its tuition income. The board was also looking to identify best practices and potential pitfalls as well as other creative ways to monetize their real estate assets. "I thoroughly enjoyed working with the team and look forward to doing it again. It was especially gratifying for me in that it enabled me to work with the Chinese-Asian international community, an area which continues to hold my interest and fascination," John F. Hartley Jr. (Rusty) said of the program.
Based on a typical billable hours measurement, each team member spent approximately 50-100 hours on this project. Our CBS pro-bono consultants presented their findings twice to the board and management of KKCS. The project involved identifying potential revenue streams to supplement KKCS income, conducting real estate rental market research in order to understand the competition and market rates, and identifying actual potential tenants.
The team segmented the rental market into 7 potential revenue sources and interviewed approximately 80 organizations over the course of 3 months including several follow up calls per organization. The team narrowed the search to focus on the most likely candidates and completed the project by leaving behind a database of potential clients, best practices needed for a successful rental strategy, and a marketing plan.
Please find attached a letter of appreciation from KKCS’s Vice Chair of the Board, Theresa Tsoi.
Sincerely,
Lei-Choon Ong '97
VP of Philanthropy, Columbia Business School Alumni Club of Boston
CBS Boston Gives Back in the News
Columbia Business School wrote a nice piece on the Gives Back initiative. Here's a link!
CBS Alumni Club of Boston Gives Back - Fall 2008
On behalf of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club of Boston, I would like to thank and recognize the following volunteers for participating in the first pro bono project of the CBS Boston Gives Back initiative this past fall:
Hamid Benbrahim, Class of 2007
Niki Brinkman (spouse of Todd Ofenloch, Class of 2007)
Supriyo Dey, Class of 2007
Evan Jacobs, Class of 2007
Greta Meszoely (spouse of Hamid Benbrahim, Class of 2007)
Lei-Choon Ong, Class of 1997
Gary Westermark, Class of 1991
Project: The client was the YWCA of Boston (www.ywcaboston.org). Faced with significant financial challenges in recent years, the organization’s leadership is planning to launch an extensive strategic planning process within the next twelve months. In preparation and under the rubric of “you can’t know where you are going if you don’t know where you are,” the organization critically needed to document its current health education and youth development programs which have organically evolved over time. Specifically the YWCA sought the support of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club of Boston in mapping the service delivery model of its two programmatic areas, articulating their underlying theories of change, identifying the intended and actual community impact of the programs, and making recommendations on how the programs could work more effectively to achieve their intended outcomes
“It's very satisfying knowing that I could put some of my skills developed at CBS to good use in the community helping an organization like the Boston YWCA. The adage, 'it is better to give than to receive' was true here. I got more in return as I was able to connect with fellow alums that cared to make a difference,” Gary Westermark, '91, said of the program.
Based on a typical billable hours measurement, each team member spent approximately 50-100 hours on this project. Our pro-bono consultants took time off their full-time jobs to interview every staff member involved in social programs at the YWCA Boston. A half dozen conference calls between the team members, a few after work meetings, and a couple of Sunday afternoons were spent preparing our report, and it culminated in a successful presentation to the CEO, COO, and some key board members.
Here's a link to a letter of appreciation from the CEO of the YWCA Boston.
Sincerely,
Lei-Choon Ong '97
VP of Philanthropy, Columbia Business School Alumni Club of Boston