On Wednesday, the School announced plans to collaborate with nationally acclaimed social services and education nonprofit Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ). Beginning in the spring of 2008, HCZ staff members will participate in several of the School’s management education offerings and students will have the opportunity to intern with HCZ. Thanks to a generous gift from the Carson Family Charitable Trust, the program will span two years. “Given the extraordinary need in Harlem, we are committed to expanding our services to as many children and families as possible,” said Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of HCZ, who was honored by the School earlier this year for his extraordinary leadership in social enterprise. “We are thrilled that this collaboration will help us maintain the quality of our services as we grow.” As part of the collaboration, an HCZ staff member will be selected to attend the School’s Executive MBA program; 20 HCZ employees will participate in programs of the School’s Institute for Not-for-Profit Management; several faculty members will provide management-consulting services on HCZ projects; and paid summer internships will be available for MBA students working with HCZ. There will also be informal exchanges organized by the School’s Social Enterprise Program and the student-run Social Enterprise Club. Called “one of the most ambitious social experiments of our time” by the New York Times Magazine, HCZ provides an interlocking network of social service, education and community-building programs for children and families in some of New York’s most devastated neighborhoods. The name refers to a 60-block area in central Harlem in which the majority of children live below the poverty line. “This collaboration provides our students and faculty the opportunity to be involved in, to learn from, and to contribute to one of the most dynamic and important social service organizations of our day,” said Ray Horton, the Frank R. Lautenberg Professor of Ethics and Corporate Governance and director of the Social Enterprise Program. “We’re all grateful to the Carson family for their generous support in making our two neighboring organizations even stronger.”