"SmartJob LLC is the first global company singularly dedicated to closing the disability wealth gap by catalyzing employment through impact investment. SmartJob makes pre-seed and seed stage investments in disability-led solutions for the future of work. While my summer experience at SmartJob touched many facets of the business, including meeting with social entrepreneurs, diligencing companies, and setting up operational procedures for the new-to-market fund, my overarching project for the summer was to research and develop SmartJob’s impact metrics. This involved becoming familiar with major theories of social change and impact, as well as several frameworks for impact and outcomes measurement. It was incredible to know that this research would be pivotal to the impact diligence of early-stage companies focused on eliminating the disability wealth gap.

Throughout my fellowship, I was able to apply lessons from several of my courses at CBS. Corporate Finance gave me the framework for financial modeling, Foundations of Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Finance taught me about the structures and processes of early-stage investing, and I even used some Managerial Negotiations skills in negotiating deal terms

The only challenge I faced during my fellowship was wanting more hours in the day! I was so inspired and energized by SmartJob’s founder and CEO, Regina Kline, and the fund’s mission that I wanted to contribute all that I possibly could in the relatively short timeframe of the fellowship

Through the help of the Social Enterprise Summer Fellowship, I was able to take all my experience in social enterprise startups and apply it towards impact investing, a field that was new to me when I began my MBA but to which I became deeply committed. I came to believe strongly in the fund’s thesis that entrepreneurs with disabilities are some of the best problem solvers in the world, and that a world crafted with inclusive and universal design principles is a world that is better for everyone. I feel that direct investment into these communities will result in measurable improvements in labor market participation and an overall reduction in disability poverty; I felt lucky to be able to work towards this mission."