The Wharton School's MBA Impact Investing Network and Training program teaches MBA students skills such as impact management, measurement practices, and early-stage valuation models — all through an online learning platform.
Credit: Sukhmani KaurThe Wharton School recently announced a $2.5 million commitment from 1984 Wharton graduate K. Robert Turner and 1985 Wharton graduate Lauren Golub Turner to sustain and strengthen its MBA Impact Investing Network and Training program.
The 10-year-old MIINT program, now renamed Turner MIINT, is a partnership between the Bridges Impact Foundation and Wharton Social Impact Initiative that teaches MBA students skills such as impact management, measurement practices, and early-stage valuation models — all through an online learning platform. Students in the program participate in a global competition to present for a seed-stage impact investment, in which winning companies can receive up to a $50,000 investment.
Impact investing is investing money in companies with the goal of positive social change.
To date, 2,925 students from various business and graduate schools across the world have participated in the program, according to a Wharton News press release. Thirty universities — including Wharton, Harvard Business School, and London Business School — currently participate in the Turner MIINT program.
“The MIINT program is an excellent experiential learning opportunity for students and this generous gift from Bobby and Lauren Turner will widen its potential for making impact through investing,” Dean Erika H. James wrote in the Sept. 23 press release.
The grant will serve the program's mission to train impact investors, build links between companies and leading business and graduate schools, and create a network of students and investors in the impact investing field, according to the press release.
This donation is the Turner family's latest contribution to Wharton. In 2015, the Turners announced a $1 million gift establishing the Lauren and Bobby Turner Social Impact Society Fund. The fund was directed towards the Turner Social Impact Society, a group for students in all undergraduate schools interested in applying business strategies to social issues. Six years earlier, they established The Lauren and Bobby Turner Social Impact Executive Speaker Series, which brings high-profile speakers and celebrities to campus.
The Turners have also established the Lauren and Bobby Turner Social Impact Curriculum Development Fund to promote social-impact education and the Turner Endowed Scholarship Fund, which provides funding for minority Wharton undergraduate students from Los Angeles and other urban areas, according to the press release.
Robert Turner, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in finance, currently serves as the principal and CEO of Turner Impact Capital, LLC, an investment management firm that seeks to find solutions to societal issues based in Los Angeles. He also sits on Wharton's Board of Overseers, according to the press release. Lauren Golub Turner graduated from Wharton with a bachelor's degree in entrepreneurial management.
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