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Overview

The Impact Entrepreneurship graduate minor is offered through Parsons School of Design.

The Impact Entrepreneurship graduate minor offers students an opportunity to further develop their entrepreneurial knowledge, skills, and mindsets, so that they can identify opportunities to create positive social impact in our rapidly changing world.

By drawing on interdisciplinary courses that build on their interests and needs, students take a collaborative, design-driven, systems-oriented approach to recognizing and developing business opportunities that are financially sustainable, address unmet social needs, and have the potential for scalable impact. They develop diverse skill sets in areas including cross-sector leadership, management, venture development, design research and prototyping, fundraising, finance, marketing, and social responsibility.

Curriculum

This graduate minor requires successful completion of 9 credits. The required core course for this minor is either Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship or the Fellowship Cohort Course (for fellowship holders only). In addition to the core course, students must select two electives from the chart below.

Course availability may vary from semester to semester. Some courses may be in development and offered at a later time. Students seeking to pursue alternative coursework in other subject areas to fulfill the minor should consult with their advisors.

Learning Outcomes

A student who has completed this graduate minor should be able to demonstrate:

• An understanding of the fields of impact entrepreneurship and social innovation as approaches to social change across diverse geographies (both within the United States and globally), social challenges, and contexts.
• Knowledge of the methods and conceptual frameworks used to design, test, and evaluate entrepreneurial opportunities that seek to address diverse social challenges.
• Knowledge of various approaches to leading, resourcing, and managing social impact organizations.
• A greater capacity to work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and communicate their ideas.
• An understanding of the issues of power and privilege related to striving toward social impact with a commitment to social justice.

Faculty

Co-director: Rhea Alexander, Assistant Professor of Strategic Design and Management
°ä´Ç-»å¾±°ù±ð³¦³Ù´Ç°ù:ÌýSwale Nunez, Part-Time Lecturer

Additional Faculty
Sujatha Jesudason, Professor of Professional Practice in Management

Michele Kahane, Professor of Professional Practice in Management

Cynthia Lawson, Associate Professor of Integrated Design

Latha Poonamallee, Associate Professor of Management and Social Innovation

Eligibility

The Impact Entrepreneurship graduate minor is available to graduate degree students across Â鶹´«Ã½É«ÇéƬ. 

Students can retroactively apply successfully completed courses toward a minor upon declaring or applying. After a student successfully completes a minor's requirements, the minor will appear on the student's academic transcript at graduation.

For questions about this minor, please contact the Impact Entrepreneurship Initiative at [email protected].