Shortly after Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker issued a stay-at-home order in late March to curb the rise of critical COVID-19 cases, Booth students and faculty began to strategize how best to help. Students organized general volunteer opportunities, such as where to donate blood and money, on their internal Slack channel, while faculty began fielding requests from nonprofits and government groups they’ve worked with in the past.
“We saw that moment as an opportunity to bring in students’ MBA skills on very real and pressing needs,” said Wai-Sinn Chan, MBA ’02, MPP ’02, senior associate director of social sector engagement programs at Chicago Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation. In early April, Chan and her team sent out announcements about the Booth COVID-19 Volunteers program. The program is leveraging Booth students’ professional and academic expertise to fill temporary, project-based needs created by the pandemic crisis. Nonprofits, government agencies, and social enterprises are invited to request volunteer support from MBA students in areas including quantitative analysis, research, health-care-industry experience, strategy, project management, and information-technology support.
