Columbia Business School announced today that the Social Enterprise Program has become the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise. This was made possible by a generous donation by Sandra and Tony Tamer, with the aim of expanding many of the existing social enterprise activities and developing new initiatives to broaden the social entrepreneurship network at Columbia University.
"We can increase Columbia’s impact by directing more resources to social entrepreneurs using business to solve society’s greatest challenges. Sandra and Tony’s interest in supporting financially sustainable solutions to social issues, especially those with a cross disciplinary perspective, fits extremely well with our mission," said Bruce Usher, The Elizabeth B. Strickler '86 and Mark Gallogly '86 Faculty Director for the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise.
In addition to renaming the center, the Tamers' gift has created many opportunities for both current students and alumni to engage with current and new initiatives. The Loan Assistance Program will be expanded to increase the number of alumni who can receive financial support and the maximum duration will be extended to 10 years. The new Tamer Fund for Social Ventures will provide seed grants of up to $25,000 to selected nonprofit, for-profit, or hybrid startup social ventures that demonstrate notable innovation and impact. Additional financial support will also be provided to social entrepreneurs who are participating in the Columbia Startup Lab and who receive funding from the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures. Additionally, the Tamer Center will develop a Social Entrepreneurs Network, leveraging the existing Social Enterprise Leadership Forum while forging new partnerships with similarly focused and established advisory networks. To further build the network, the center also will extend the Summer Fellowship Program—currently open only to Business School students—to include graduate and undergraduate students from across Columbia University.
"We’ve seen growth in interest in social enterprise from students across campus, both at the undergraduate as well as graduate level," said Sandra Navalli '03, senior director of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise. "We’re excited by what we can accomplish by scaling up and developing new programming to build connections and provide new opportunities in the social venture ecosystem across the Columbia community and beyond."
"The Tamers’ gift is a dream come true for me, personally, and for the rest of my colleagues, including Dean Hubbard, who’ve worked long and hard to create a great center in a great business school," said Prof. Ray Horton, founder of the Social Enterprise Program.
Further details about the expanded initiatives can be found in Columbia Business news and on the Center's site online at www.gsb.columbia.edu/socialenterprise
Please join us at the Social Enterprise Annual Reception on February 9th and learn more about the vision for the new Tamer Center from Professor Bruce Usher, as well as Tony and Sandy Tamer.