Social impact consulting opportunities

I was chatting with a student last week, and she said something about her “180” meeting.  I had the vaguest sense that I had heard of this 180 thing before, but I needed to dig through my email to find information.

Having done the digging, I can report that Tufts is one of a small number of U.S. universities hosting 180 Degrees Consulting.  Students from throughout the University were invited to apply to join as student consultants and team leaders.  180 Degrees Consulting emphasizes social impact, making the program a great fit for the Tufts group, which was especially interested in Fletcher students to serve as team leaders.   Here’s some additional information from the group’s email to students:

What is 180 Degrees Consulting?

180 Degrees Consulting is the world’s largest pro-bono student consultancy.  180 Degrees Consultants work with nonprofit organizations and social venture to maximize their social impact.  Groups of University students identify and overcome organizations specific challenges, developing innovative, practical and sustainable solutions.

Across the world 180 Degrees Consulting has worked with over 2,000 highly achieving youth consultants working in teams to overcome hundreds or challenges facing real organizations each year.  180 offers a broad range of consultant services, including strategic planning, financial management, communications and social impact analysis.

Rationale

180 Degrees recognizes that while raising revenue is crucial for not-for-profits, developing strategies to utilize existing resources most efficiently is equally important.  This is why students at 180 Degrees apply management consulting principles to the not-for-profit industry and develop business solutions to social problems.  Many organizations, constrained by a lack of resources, are unable to utilize for-profit consulting services.  At the same time, many high caliber university students are willing and able to develop solutions to challenges many organizations’ face.  180 Degrees Consulting strives to connect this source of untapped potential to the organizations that need it most.

How it works

At 180 Degrees, the mission is to create value for both the organizations and students consultants.  180 Degrees selects the most talented and socially conscious university students across each of our branches.  Students are given specialized training from a leading international management consultancy before being assigned to a project aligned with their knowledge and expertise.  Teams of five — plus a team leader — work closely with key stakeholders in the organization to define the deliverables, understand the organization’s specific challenges and create final recommendations over the course of a semester.

At Tufts, 180 Degree Consulting’s mission is to strengthen the ability of nonprofit organizations in the Greater Boston Area to achieve high impact social outcomes through the development of innovative, practical and sustainable solutions.  We hope to provide a transformational experience for Tufts University students as you gain invaluable real world consulting experience by delivering free consulting services to worthwhile organizations.