More than five years ago, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business created the Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI) to support the aspirations of students and alumni to impact societal issues and conduct further research on how institutions help solve problems. A gift from John Edwardson,’72, enabled SEI to expand social entrepreneurship at Booth. Earlier this year, Tandean Rustandy, ’07 (AXP-06) committed $20 million to create the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation (Rustandy), Chicago Booth’s hub for people tackling social and environmental problems

Elizabeth Bleakley and Bruce Fischer, both alumni of Booth, through Chicago Booth Alumni Club organized and moderated a program featuring David Friedman,’89. He was joined by Karrie Pece. David is the Social Entrepreneur in Residence at Rustandy and the founder of social venture AutonomyWorks. Dave provided an overview of the major programs and initiatives in Rustandy and shared the inspiring story of his social venture. The program provided an interesting opportunity to learn and network.