"This summer I worked for the board of Microlumbia, Columbia Business School’s student-run impact fund. My project was to design a five year growth strategy and business plan for the fund in collaboration with two other summer fellows, specifically defining its target AUM, fundraising requirement, annual budget, average deal size, annual number of deals, student team size, and other relevant dimensions. We were also tasked with detailing the steps for the fund’s transition from a nonprofit entity to a donor-advised fund (DAF). Moving Microlumbia to a DAF structure and hiring a third party to manage back-office operations will enable year-over-year continuity for the fund operations, resolve necessary infrastructure challenges, and enable the ability to solicit larger donations/grants in the future. As a result, the project occurred at an inflection point where we had the opportunity to work with the team that formed a fresh vision for the fund and an action plan to achieve its growth target of increasing the AUM by 10x over the next five years. The project is critical to amplifying Microlumbia’s impact and furthering its mission — to support underserved communities around the world, and educate and inspire the next generation of impact investors.

Formulating a comprehensive business plan and determining its fundraising and budgeting considerations required me to apply many of the skills I have acquired through the MBA program. One of my key responsibilities was to design the educational initiatives and underlying budget requirements that Microlumbia will use to carry out its vision of inspiring the next generation of impact investors. Through my learnings in the core, as well as electives such as Investing in Social Ventures, I had a greater understanding of what technical skills are required for an impact investor. These learnings brought me to the conclusion that there should be a robust training requirement for students in the Microlumbia fund, a plan which I designed with my two colleagues. In addition, my exposure to Microlumbia in the first year of my MBA was instrumental in helping me formulate a vision and business plan for the future of Microlumbia.

Due to the pandemic, our team had to become comfortable with working in a virtual environment. While we were able to meet a few times in person, working virtually for the duration of the fellowship was challenging due to unclear communication and technical difficulties. It was also more difficult to develop team norms organically, and so we had to work harder to clearly define objectives, deliverables, and due dates and delegate tasks to allow each team member time to work individually. In some cases, this was less efficient than being able to work together in person to complete a task. I was fortunate to have worked with team members that shared the same enthusiasm for the project and took ownership of their work as it simplified collaboration. We also used tools available through Microsoft Teams and other applications extensively to successfully facilitate remote work. The innovative solutions and frequent communication from each team member enabled us to overcome these challenges.

My internship with Microlumbia over the summer was a great opportunity to learn the intricacies of operating an impact investing fund, understand the unique fundraising challenges nonprofit funds face, and ultimately exercise my passion for impact investing. Through my summer experience with Microlumbia, I learned how the fund offers students a unique opportunity to develop hands-on impact investing and fund operation experience while being a student. I also witnessed how deeply dedicated the board is to its mission and felt privileged to be part of the team that shapes its future. Each member of the team was dedicated and passionate about Microlumbia’s mission and driven by its mission statement to educate the next generation of impact investors. I am leaving this summer with a renewed passion for the impact investing space and dedication to carry out the plans we designed for Microlumbia’s future."