Esade-URL alumni carry out 130,000 hours of social consultancy in 300 third-sector organisations
Esade Alumni Social was created fifteen years ago: the first social consultancy venture in Spain and Europe set up by a business school
Thursday, 27 Abril 2021. Esade Alumni Social, the social consultancy wing of Esade Alumni, was created 15 years ago and in this period (2006-2021) more than 2,000 Esade alumni have helped build bridges between third-sector organisations and the business world. The volunteer alumni have generously carried out more than 130,000 hours of pro bono consultancy (supportive, non-remunerated work) worth €13 million. Esade Alumni Social is the first social consultancy venture set up in Spain by a business school and it has provided social consultancy services to 300 third-sector entities including Unicef, Greenpeace, Fundación Vicente Ferrer, Fundación Hazloposible, Caritas, the Spanish Red Cross, Fundación Èxit, Sant Joan de Déu, Fundació Adsis, Suara, Fundación Gil Gayarre and Fundación Aldaba. The NGOs involved implement up to 70% of the recommendations made by the volunteer consultants.
“Here at Esade Alumni we have no doubt about the crucial contribution that Esade alumni can make to the transformation of society now under way: a paradigm shift in which companies are essential agents of change”, said Isabel Rallo, director of Esade Alumni Social. “This is why we have been working for the last 15 years to facilitate, inspire and offer guidance to all those willing to work in this direction, using their professional skills with solidarity and responsibility to provide support where it is needed most whilst working towards a far more engaged, responsible and sustainable business ecosystem”, she added.
The alumni in this venture have provided free advice on such a wide range of subjects as marketing, branding and communication (21%); strategic analysis (22%); feasibility studies for new spheres of work (21%); financial analysis and funding combinations (12%); sales of goods and services (7%); human resources (7%); improvements to in-house processes (6%), and legal matters (1%).
Experience and social change
“During the last academic year (2019-2020), one lesson we have learnt from the coronavirus crisis is that companies can indeed change course and become leading players in the social transformation that such transcendental circumstances need”, emphasised the director of Esade Alumni Social.
Daniel Ibarz, director of the Bayt-Al-Thaqafa Foundation, whose main aim is to become a seamless meeting point for different cultures that helps migrants by showcasing their social, cultural, academic and religious backgrounds, pointed out that “80% of the strategic targets defined in conjunction with the pro bono consultants from Esade Alumni Social have already been achieved far and beyond.” “The focus and direction they gave us were fundamental for our change. We are now more robust and have increased our services to final users more than two fold,” he added.
Collaboration with and impact on communities
During the last academic year, a special edition of the Foro de Gobernanza de Entidades Sociales was held, a venture designed to increase the inclusion of Esade alumni in the governing bodies of third-sector foundations and associations. For several weekends, more than forty alumni shared experiences, opinions and testimonies with professors and other governance experts, preparing themselves to take on governance responsibilities in NGOs. Such posts are not remunerated but do involve considerable commitment and responsibility in both personal and legal terms.
In addition, the Together Project is becoming well established. This venture directed by Esade Alumni Social and Esade SUD (Esade University Development Service) enables students and alumni to spend a few months of their lives helping create a productive economy in developing countries for the benefit of their inhabitants and local communities. Senior alumni and current students engage with projects designed to ensure the medium-term sustainability of different third-sector ventures – mainly cooperatives and small local craft companies – with a view to making a positive impact on communities. One example is GIE Experna, a company in Senegal that transforms baobab tree derivatives and moringa seeds and leaves into a variety of products. The Esade Alumni team of consultants visited Senegal in January 2020 and conducted a diagnosis of the company’s situation. They then plotted a roadmap for the strategic plan that will be implemented over the next three years during future visits with the aim of achieving a five-fold increase in the company’s production capacity and sales.
More information
Mar González
Director
Esade-URL Communications Unit
Tel. 93 495 20 99 | mar.gonzalez@esade.edu
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