Annual Reports, Round 2

The first post of Annual Reports from student organizations helped me draw a few more.  I always divide student organizations broadly between those that have a curricular link and those that have their focus squarely on relaxation.  I’m sure you’ll figure out where the following three groups fall.

Fletcher Social Investment Group
Jesse Simmons

The Fletcher Social Investment Group (FSIG) will soon wrap up its second year on Fletcher campus.  FSIG is a student-run group dedicated to the study and practice of impact investing and the development of the next generation of social investment leaders.  To accomplish this goal, FSIG focuses on three core competencies: advisory services to social enterprises, investment analysis and due diligence for angel investors, and research and education on impact investing.

Over the past academic year, FSIG has provided advisory services to 10 clients, including assisting with a market entry strategy for a renewable energy analytics firm and a business development strategy for a mobile provider of produce in food deserts.  FSIG has also partnered with two angel investor collaboratives to provide support in the due diligence process.  These engagements have allowed students to develop their skill sets while addressing business and investor challenges, providing them with hands-on experience with investment cycles and consulting approaches.

FSIG has also taken a lead in providing impact investing education here at Fletcher.  FSIG led groups through a series of Acumen courses on business and financial skills for the social sector, as well as organized a set of trainings featuring faculty experts.  FSIG also co-hosted the Impact Investing and Community Finance Conference, featuring speakers from Goldman Sachs, Acumen, and Third Sector Capital Partners.  A group of FSIG members participated in the MBA Impact Investing Network and Training (MIINT) competition held at the Wharton School, with students sourcing and conducting due diligence on early stage impact investment opportunities to present to an investment committee of judges.  Finally, FSIG produces the Investing in Impact podcast, which can be found on iTunes or on the FSIG website.

As it prepares for next year, FSIG is eager to strengthen relationships with the Tufts community and with other local partners.  To help develop a pipeline of prospective clients and projects, FSIG will have an intern working closely with Fletcher’s Institute for Business in the Global Context this summer.  To partner with FSIG moving forward or keep up with its work, please visit FSIG.org.

Fletcher’s Net Impact Club
Ben Costigan and Harper Gay

Fletcher’s Net Impact Club aims to inspire, educate, and equip members to use the power of business to create a socially and environmentally sustainable world.  We strive to create an environment and community that ensures all Fletcher students graduate thinking about their social impact, whatever career path they chose.

Net Impact is a network of 95,000+ students and professionals from over 300 chapters worldwide who are collectively committed to thinking about four key issues and their relation to the business world: (1) sustainable food and agriculture; (2) social justice; (3) transportation and mobility; and (4) energy and the environment.  Fletcher Net Impact is one of the 69 graduate chapters to receive “gold status,” demonstrating that we are leading the way for Net Impact’s global network.

Our chapter actively collaborates with other Boston-area student and professional Net Impact chapters to provide access to events and speakers; internship and job opportunities; technical trainings and certification programs; and a like-minded community to empower students dedicated to achieving positive social and environmental impact through their lives and careers.

Some highlights from the past year include: a site visit to BJ’s Wholesale Club to learn about quality assurance and supply chain sustainability; a networking Happy Hour with local chapters; a roundtable with leading female entrepreneurs from the Boston area; a Global Reporting Initiative Certification Workshop; and a Career Summit panel on ESG Investing.

Fletcher Fútbol
Jesse Simmons and Liam Connolly

On Friday evenings every fall, Fletcher students close their books and start the weekend by hollering themselves hoarse in support of the Fletcher Fútbol team.  Playing in front of the beloved “Fletcher Hooligans,” Fletcher Fútbol is a co-ed all-inclusive club that plays competitively against other graduate schools in the Boston Graduate Soccer League, including MIT Sloan, Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Business School.

For 90 blissful minutes each week, Fletcher Fútbol offers students of all walks, commitments, beliefs, and dispositions the opportunity to escape from their daily travails through the therapy of long balls, short passes, cutting runs, and collective exaltation.  Fletcher Fútbol is the Fletcher School’s foremost Sports Diplomacy practitioners club.  We believe in using the world’s most common language — soccer — to connect students from around the world through a common love of the beautiful game.

Fletcher Fútbol is a cultural, athletic, and therapeutic cornerstone of the Fletcher community.  Fletcher’s 2016 team cheer — “I don’t have friends because all I’ve got is family” — highlights the unity, community, and passion with which their players wear the orange and white.