Combine the youth and idealism often found on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus with a business degree, and the ability to make a difference in the world takes on new dimensions.
Through the Peace Corps' worldwide volunteer program, Leeds School of 业务 students and alumni have joined thousands of other CU-Boulder alumni who have contributed to communities around the globe.
"Not only do our graduates join the Peace Corps but we also have attracted Peace Corps alumni to our MBA and other graduate programs, which underscores our reputation as a school that values being engaged in the world,弗朗西·米尔纳说, who teaches business ethics and social entrepreneurship at the Leeds School.
弥迦书链, a CU-Boulder graduate student who is currently working on his MBA at the Leeds School of 业务 said he was never really a "save-the-world type of person" when he was an undergraduate. But at age 22 he found himself uninspired by corporate America and applied to the Peace Corps.
几个月后, Strand was helping a cooperative spice market hand grind nutmeg and cinnamon on the tiny island of Grenada. 学习商业技能, 特别是沟通, leadership and organization -- can go a long way in a developing nation, 他说.
“当你在一个发展中国家, you'd be surprised at what that little bit of experience and knowledge would mean,斯特兰德说. He helped businesses create grassroots advertising, post signs and keep records.
In 2004, 在斯特兰德在格林纳达的第一年之后, 4级飓风“伊万”来袭, damaging or destroying 90 percent of the buildings. So Strand's second year focused on disaster relief, grant writing and business recovery.
就像链, CU-Boulder alumnus Brian Lewandowski also joined the Peace Corps in 2003 to aid in small business development. Lewandowski, who received his MBA from the Leeds School in 2007 and is now a research analyst in the 业务 Research Division at the Leeds School, 和他的妻子安珀一起被安置在圣. 文森特，另一个加勒比岛屿. 他帮助当地人撰写商业计划, 领导入门级商业研讨会, wrote grants and launched a computer skills course taught by locals.
“这绝对是最有意义的事情, because you walked away wondering if you've had an impact and if any of this is really sustainable,莱万多夫斯基说. “其中一些确实是."
Lewandowski invented practical ways to teach business basics, such as a poultry project that exposed sixth graders to math, 科学与商业. He helped students build a coop at the school, 养鸡和测量食物, 还有皮肤, weigh and sell the chickens after they were slaughtered.
"The unique thing there is that sixth graders came to school with machetes on slaughter day,他说.
托德·弗里德曼, a 2009 Leeds School graduate with a bachelor's degree in management, 现在在汤加做志愿者, 斐济附近的一个太平洋小岛, 商业教学和咨询.
"I think business is a good answer to a lot of things," Freedman said. "You can't donate enough to lift a billion people out of poverty. 你可以帮助他们建立经济."
Both Strand and Lewandowski said they returned from the Peace Corps with an enriched real-world perspective.
"All these fresh-faced volunteers come onto the island and want to do the same thing: change the world. And they want to do it on the first day,斯特兰德说. But 他说 nurturing a depressed economy required patience and adaptability.
他说，变化是渐进的. "The days go by slow and the years go by fast in the Peace Corps."
With 102 alumni currently serving in the Peace Corps, CU-Boulder is No. 2 in the 2009 ranking of large schools producing Peace Corps volunteers. 自从和平队成立以来, 2,157 CU-Boulder alumni have served in the Peace Corps, 使之成为第一. 5 .永远的志愿者制作人.
To learn more about CU-Boulder's Peace Corps history visit www.科罗拉多州.edu/news/reports/peacecorps/index.html, and to see how other CU-Boulder students are making their mark in the world visit www.科罗拉多州.edu/news/reports/summer/.
To view a video perspective of Lewandowski's Peace Corps experience visit www.youtube.com/user/ColoradoLeeds#p/c/BB887B4E5FA74C71/5/Uc5pqdt897k.
To read more about the Leeds School of 业务 and its faculty, students and alumni check out the fall edition of the school's magazine Portfolio at 查看器.zmags.com/publication/685223a2 # / 685223 a2/1.
