By Amelia Kahaney, The Record, Columbia University, Vol. 32, No. 14.
Columbia Business School will collaborate with the nationally known Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) in a two-year partnership in which the two institutions will, in effect, help train each other’s students and staff. Beginning in the next academic term, some of the nonprofit’s staff members will attend the school’s management education offerings. At the same time, business school students will be able to intern at the social service, education and community programs run by HCZ. This is HCZ’s second collaboration with Columbia, the first being an ongoing partnership with the Mailman School of Public Health’s Harlem Health Promotion Center, which began five years ago as part of HCZ’s Asthma Initiative.
"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, director of the school’s Social Enterprise Program and its Frank R. Lautenberg Professor of Ethics and Corporate governance.
Founded in 1970, HCZ has 15 centers serving more than 12,500 children and adults, including over 8,600 at-risk children. It emphasizes not just education, social service and recreation, but rebuilding the fabric of community life, and focuses on areas where there are few other programs. The "zone" in its name encompasses a 60-block area in central Harlem, where a majority of children live below the poverty line.
"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 Columbia earlier this year for his leadership and social enterprise. Canada was the speaker at the Business School’s gala reception in February for its Social Enterprise Program. He recently was appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to co-chair a task force aimed at reducing poverty in New York City. Under the relationship, an HCZ staff member will attend the school’s Executive MBA program and 20 employees will participate in programs at the school’s Institute for Not-for-Profit Management. In addition, several faculty members will provide management consulting services on HCZ projects. For its part, the collaboration also will provide for paid summer internships for MBA students working with HCZ, as well as informal exchanges organized by the Business School’s Social Enterprise Program and the student-run Social Enterprise Club.
Support for the collaboration was provided by a grant of some $300,000 from the Carson Family Charitable Trust, the philanthropic foundation of business school alumnus Russell L. Carson. Carson, class of '67, is on the school’s Board of Overseers and endowed the professorship held by business school dean R. Glenn Hubbard. Last year, HCZ received a $25 million grant from the Starr Foundation. The grant will be distributed over five years, allowing the organization to grow and add programs for more children. In addition, HCZ has said it plans to launch a $100 million capital campaign for future projects.