Parvati Magazine, MAPS, Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary, Social Impact, Oxford, Said Business School

How Oxford University’s MBAs Train You for Social Impact

The oldest university in the English-speaking world is Oxford University, which has been in existence since at least 1096. This longtime influence on Western thought is taking its responsibility seriously and has established the Saïd Business School, one of the youngest and most entrepreneurial business school in Europe. Saïd embraces the opportunity to train international executives with a commitment to social impact. Parvati Magazine spoke with Kathy Harvey, Associate Dean, MBA and Executive Degrees at Saïd; and Antonio Potenza, a graduate of Saïd Business School and Chief Investment Officer for Parvati.org. They reflected on the potential of an MBA that helps to create positive change.

Parvati Magazine: Social impact, social awareness and social entrepreneurship may not be the first words associated with MBA programs. But they are key concepts for many Oxford MBA and Executive MBA (EMBA) alumni. What is the Oxford Saïd Business School doing differently and why?

Kathy Harvey: We see ourselves as part of a wider university community committed to investigating and solving world-scale challenges, and our students are partners in this. All our EMBA and MBA students take part in a project (Global Opportunities and Threats, Oxford–otherwise known as GOTO) which focuses on big issues such as climate change, the future of healthcare, demographic change, big data and the future of work. But this is just one example of how sustainability and the need for a responsible approach to business is part of our DNA. We teach a series of electives focusing on everything from the circular economy to inclusive business models and impact investing, and encourage our whole community to think about what it means to be a responsible leader in an age of global uncertainty and increased complexity.

Parvati Magazine: Antonio, after a successful career in investment banking and international corporate finance, you are now focused on social impact in emerging markets and fighting social injustice. Can you tell us about the moment when you realized you needed to make a change?

Antonio Potenza: Call me someone with “the mind of an investment banker and the heart of a social worker”. I asked myself one day, “What’s your why?” I looked for more purposeful investments that had not just economic returns as their focus but also environmental and social good.

Parvati Magazine: It’s been a year since you completed the Oxford Saïd EMBA. You conceptualized several potential social good projects while a student at Oxford. Can you tell us about your progress bringing them to realization?

Antonio Potenza: The year has brought even more than I imagined. I have joined The Conduit, a social impact club in London. It provides social entrepreneurs and social projects a common space in the heart of London to network and meet with funders.

Following my dream created while at Oxford, I have founded the social impact fund Proodos Impact Capital. Proodos, the Greek word for progress, incubates, accelerates and invests in social entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa, and around sustainable agriculture and renewable energy in India. Proodos was created together with a few of my classmates and faculty at Oxford.

I have co-designed and strategized a social impact crowd-funding platform to allow early stage social impact entrepreneurs access to capital, so that they can build and grow their enterprises. Thereafter, Proodos Impact Capital will invest in scale up and Series A and Series B investments.

Parvati Magazine: You included the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS) in courses you taught in India this year. Can you tell us about that?

Antonio Potenza: Having also completed a degree at Cambridge University in High Impact Leadership, I am now teaching High Impact Leadership and Entrepreneurship at Oxford Summer Courses. So I was privileged to teach High Impact Leadership in Bangalore to a group of business students from across India. The core subject was protecting the oceans and marine life—closely inspired by and built around MAPS. Students had to research how world leaders are aligned with the UN Sustainable Goals Agenda 2030 and prepare a pitch or presentation about MAPS, its benefits, and the repercussions it will have on governments and society.

It has been a busy and satisfying year.

Antonio Potenza, MBA, BBA, Executive Director at AstonBlackstone International LLC and Chief Investment Officer at Parvati.org, has experience in sustainable investments in natural resources, investment banking, impact investments, social entrepreneurship, and organizational and business development. He is now focused on bridging the missing middle and championing social justice.

Kathy Harvey is the Associate Dean, MBA and Executive Degrees at Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. She is responsible for the School’s graduate management programmes, including academic partnerships, and the professional development of women students at Oxford Saïd. She also leads the Entrepreneurship Project for Saïd’s Executive MBA.