The USB's Social Impact Initiative

It's about being socially relevant

The USB's social impact initiative is aimed at sustainable human development through all our academic, research and other activities. To be a socially relevant business school, the USB has created a front end – the USB's Social Impact Initiative – to drive the collective social-engagement efforts of the school and its stakeholders.

Social impact at the USB is about far more than a handful of projects, memberships and alignments. Instead, it is ingrained into the academic fabric of every programme we offer – from our MBA, Master's in Development Finance, MPhil in Coaching to our PhD degrees. It also drives the research we undertake and the critical thinking we encourage.

Social responsibility is also entrenched in the shorter business education programmes offered by our executive education arm, USB Executive Development Ltd (USB-ED). USB-ED was the first management development company in a business relationship with a university to obtain BEE accreditation. USB-ED currently has Level 3 BBBEE status.

The USB's social impact efforts tie in with Stellenbosch University's Hope Project. In fact, two of the USB's research units – the Africa Centre for Dispute Settlement and the Unit for Corporate Governance in Africa – have been singled out by the Hope Project as key drivers of the University's social investment in this country and continent.

Social impact projects

USB's Management Programme for Non-profit Organisations

One of the USB's oldest social-impact projects is its five-day Management Programme for Non-profit Organisations aimed at NPO managers. This programme is offered at a reduced fee. The programme enhances managerial effectiveness, service delivery and good governance in the NPO sector. It also deals with the competency to attract, secure and retain funding. This programme is run by a committee of USB alumni with support from USB-ED and external sponsors. The classes are presented mainly by USB lecturers and alumni.

After successfully delivering this programme for a decade, follow-up programmes have been developed under the auspices of USB-ED and its Centre for Business and Society. Therefore, the popular Management Programme for NPOs is now complemented by the NPO Plus Programme which takes the participant into the transformative leadership space. Another programme – Effective and Sustainable NPO Strategies – provides NPO leaders with practical insights into the complexity of a NPO organisation and the competence to manage it in a way that is authentic and delivers impact.

Annual Gala Dinner

This is the USB's foremost fundraising event of the year. Its aim is to raise money for the USB Future Fund Trust which provides bursaries and other forms of financial support. The fundraising Gala Dinner is held under the auspices of the USB Alumni Association and patronage of alumnus Francois Groepe, CEO of Media24. The highlight of the evening is a keynote address by a prominent person.

USB Future Fund Trust

The money from fundraising events, sponsorships, donations, pledges and bequests are deposited into the USB's Future Fund Trust. This financial resource funds bursaries for deserving students and support for social impact projects. Sponsors and donors may also choose to support a specific bursary or project.

Local community support

The USB's Future Fund Trust supports local charities in the community in which the USB operates. One of the current recipients is TSiBA Education in Pinelands, Cape Town, which provides undergraduate business administration programmes with full scholarships to students with academic and leadership potential.

Past recipients include the Paediatric Cancer Unit of the Tygerberg Children's Hospital, the Alta du Toit Centre for the Intellectually Disabled, the Durbanville Aninke Centre for the Intellectually Challenged in Cape Town, the Living Network Crisis Centre in Bellville, the Durbanville Schools Foundation. Other projects include the USB's Cyber Café with 24-hour online access and network connections for notebooks.

Projects in the pipeline

The USB is currently engaging in a series of highly significant social engagement projects which includes a tri-continental initiative aimed at understanding and addressing issues of stratification. More information on this will be announced soon.

International recognition for USB's social initiatives

  • Beyond Grey Pinstripes: The USB is ranked 39th on the New York-based Beyond Grey Pinstripes Top 100 Schools list for promoting social and environmental sustainability, and for preparing students for the environmental, social and ethical complexities of modern-day business.
  • Principles for Responsible Management Education: The USB is one of the first 100 business schools and universities from around the world that has endorsed the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), a UN-backed global initiative developed to promote corporate responsibility and sustainability in business education. Participating institutions have made a commitment to align their strategies and programmes with UN values embodied by the six PRME principles. This includes curriculum development around the corporate responsibility agenda, research in support of sustainable management systems, and public advocacy and opinion leadership to advance responsible business practices.

More about Stellenbosch University's Hope Project

The USB's Social Impact Initiative ties in with Stellenbosch University's Hope Project, which brings together the key research initiatives the University has selected to help build a better future for us all. These research projects can be grouped into five focus areas that correspond with the international development agenda: poverty eradication, democracy and human rights, human dignity and health, peace and security, and a sustainable environment and competitive industry. In essence, the Hope Project is about using science to find solutions for South Africa and Africa's most pressing problems.

How to support our social investment

We need financial support from private and corporate donors, philanthropic foundations, research partners, alumni and people like you to make the most of our social impact programme.

  • If you would like to contribute to the USB's Future Fund Trust, click here.
  • For more information contact Gavin Morris at gavin.morris@usb.ac.za or call +27 (0)21 918 4242.