Update: James Fredrick, October 2010
Social Entrepreneur Corps Guatemala 2010 alumnus and Colorado State University graduate James Fredrick joins the Social Entrepreneur Corps team as a full-time team member. Based on James' contribution during his program, we enthusiastically invited him to join us in Guatemala as field leadership.

Update: Alison Tanker, July 2010
Social Entrepreneur Corps Guatemala 2009 alumna and Miami University graduate Alison Tanker joins the Social Entrepreneur Corps team as a full-time team member. Alison’s initiative during her program made her an excellent choice to join us in Guatemala as field leadership.

Impact: Susannah Karlsson, November 2009
Social Entrepreneur Corps Guatemala 2007 alumna Susannah Karlsson is currently in her second year at Stanford Law. She often reflects on the impact that her participation in Social Entrepreneur Corps has had on her both personally and professionally...

"After spending the summer of 2007 in Guatemala, doing my part to make an impact with the Social Entrepreneur Corps team, I went back to New York and got busy taking law school admissions exams, finishing up senior year, and graduating from Columbia.  Although time passed quickly, the projects I worked on with the entrepreneurs in Guatemala, the host families I came to count as dear friends, and the friends I came to count as family stayed close to my heart.  As I embarked on the journey toward law school, my SEC experience continued to inform my character, my goals, and my aspirations for the kind of global citizen that I hope to be -- and that SEC militated that I must be.  Even now, in my second year at Stanford Law, I find that the time I invested with SEC has been outcome determinative: it has shaped not only my individual character, but the kind of lawyer I am working so hard to become.  The SEC experience changes you in the most profound ways -- you can never go back to who you were when you got off the plane -- and I am so grateful for what it gave me; I only hope that the investment I made continues to give back to the courageous communities of which I was so privileged to become a member for even a brief time.  I would guess that all who have participated would agree: you go to change the world and instead, are changed into the person you aspired to be in your noblest moments.  The challenge is continuing to be that person when life carries on, and I, for one, will do my very best."

Impact: Alice Wei, November 2009
Social Entrepreneur Corps Guatemala 2007 alumna Alice Wei is currently working for the global management consulting firm Booz & Company. She recently requested a five month sabbatical from Booz to work in energy development in India and Africa. Alice shares the role that Social Entrepreneur Corps has played in her life post program participation...

"From January to April 2007, I learned much about the world and about myself by interning with Social Entrepreneur Corps in Guatemala. I realized that millions of rural Guatemalans lacked access to basic goods and services due to the country’s low employment rate, mountainous terrain, and underdeveloped infrastructure. I also learned how SE Corps and its sister organization, CE Solutions tackled each of these challenges by training and empowering female entrepreneurs to provide remote villages with access to life-sustaining products, such as eye glasses, LED lights, and water filters. And finally, I discovered my career aspiration – to employ market-based solutions to meets the infrastructure needs of poor, rural villages."

"Since learning these lessons, I have worked for the global management consulting firm Booz & Company to learn how to start, operate and expand businesses. While I have been busy immersed in the for-profit world, my experience at CE Solutions wetted my appetite for social impact work, so I recently requested a five month sabbatical from Booz to work in energy development in India and Africa. Taking my lessons learned from SE Corps, CE Solutions and Booz & Company, I have been working to provide clean and reliable energy to rural households and businesses in energy poor areas. Thanks to my experience in Social Entrepreneur Corps, I now have a life-long passion and dedication to helping those who are less fortunate."

Impact: John Hoeppner, November 2009
Social Entrepreneur Corps Guatemala 2007 alumnus John Hoeppner is currently working in the investment sector with a sharp focus on creating positive social change. John shares his insight on how he was able to apply lessons that he learned while interning with Social Entrepreneur Corps to begin a professional career that he is passionate about...

" Following my summer of social entrepreneurism (Social Entrepreneur Corps, Guatemala & StartingBloc Global Institute for Social Innovation, England), I returned to the mid-Atlantic refreshed for the job search.  My experience with grassroots sustainable development was exactly what I had been looking for to complement my background in
financial research.  I found a way to combine these two passions by returning to an investment job with a sharp focus on creating positive social change.  The accomplishment I am most proud of since returning from Guatemala, is leading my firm's efforts to join the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment .  The experience of supplying people with glasses to improve their vision or equipping them with the tools to generate fresh water is something a draw upon regularly.  Inspiring sustainable systems, using a thoughtful balance between capital and compassion, is
at the core of SEC's success.  I'm confident that creating sustainable solutions will be a theme throughout my career and I have an excellent model for what can be done with few resources. The possibilities are endless..."

Impact: Andrea Coravos, November 2009
Social Entrepreneur Corps Guatemala 2008 alumna Andrea Coravos is currently finishing up her senior year at Duke University and is writing a thesis on how Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) can use credit scoring during their small business loan origination and still maintain their "mission" clientele. An interest that was sparked by her participation in Social Entrepreneur Corps...

"I traveled to Guatemala during the summer between my sophomore and junior year of college. I was involved in some entrepreneurship activities at Duke, and the year before I tried my luck starting-up a business idea with a few friends at Duke. I was thrilled to work on my entrepreneurial skills in Guatemala and learn more about a culture
different from my own. I expected to learn business and language skills. I didn't expect to become part of a Guatemalan family or for the program to change my career ambitions."

"My host family in Magdalena was one of the defining experiences of my Guatemalan experience. My host mother made it her personal mission for me to understand the Spanish language, and we would talk for hours in the evenings. She taught me how to cook Guate-style and completely immersed me in her family's life. We still regularly communicate via email -- her son even sent me photos of his new baby only days after
his birth!"

"Development and aid work are often, unfortunately, completely divorced from business. For many people the idea that business can have a positive social mission seems counter intuitive - but in fact, development actually often needs business characteristics to make it sustainable. I learned valuable business and social lessons on my trip and I often had to synthesize information from vastly different sources and make a coherent recommendation for the entrepreneurs."

"Our final team project was a proposal for a new portable stove initiative in northern Guatemala.  I worked collaboratively to bring the initiative from an unwritten idea to a full-fledged plan that received initial seed money. I brought this pro-active grassroots
business knowledge into a more professional consulting setting when I worked for McKinsey and Company, a consulting firm, the following summer."

"I am now finishing my senior year at Duke. I am writing a thesis on how a community development financial institutions (CDFIs) can use credit scoring during their small business loan origination and maintain their "mission" clientele, which includes women, minorities, and low-wealth individuals. Domestic CDFIs have roots in microfinance and microconsignment and SE Corps played an instrumental part in sparking my interest in this subject."

"I experienced both the ugly and beautiful in Guatemala, and I could not pin-point another time in my life where I grew so quickly from my personal failures and successes. I am looking forward to continuing Social Entrepreneur Corps's legacy in my career after I graduate this spring -- until then, my roommates will have to still listen to my
"Guate Reggaeton Mix" on repeat."

Impact: Michael Sherry, October 2009
Social Entrepreneur Corps Guatemala 2006 alumnus Michael Sherry is now in NY working as an Educator at Uncommon Schools, a college prep charter school working in low-income neighborhoods. Mike shares his thoughts on the impact that his participation in Social Entrepreneur Corps had on his personal and professional life...

"I traveled to Guatemala in the summer of 2006 between my first and second year of teaching in New York City.  I thought it would be an incredible opportunity to travel, develop my Spanish speaking skills, and learn more about social entrepreneurship.  While SE Corps definitively fulfilled those expectations, the experience also enhanced my understanding of development.  Rather than providing service or charity, SE Corps provided business opportunities for local individuals to take advantage of in order to both improve their society socially and enhance their own economic well being.  The organization’s work alleviated poverty for individuals by creating jobs and providing much needed services to the communities they worked in, such as improving the water quality and providing eye glasses to communities.  Most importantly, I saw how the organization’s work provided hope, whether that was the ability of a local entrepreneur to now be able to afford send their child to school or a person regaining the simple ability to see, so that they could return to work or read a book."

"Since returning to the US, I taught for two more years in New York City, worked at a consulting firm in Chicago, and am now teaching at a charter school in upstate New York.   SE Corps has made me a better educator, as I do not give my students any hand outs or charity, but provide parents and students with opportunities to empower themselves to close the achievement gap in the US.   My time with SE Corps in
Guatemala was invaluable in terms of challenging my beliefs, providing me perspective and practical skills, and inspiring me to do more to work for social change here at home and internationally.  I can’t wait to go back and hope that anyone that has the opportunity to join this incredible program seizes it."

Update: Michael Duchen, October 2009
Social Entrepreneur Corps Guatemala 2009 alumnus and Miami University graduate, Michael Duchen joins the Social Entrepreneur Corps team as a full-time team member. Michael ’s initiative and leadership during his program was such that we enthusiastically invited him to join us in Guatemala as a Regional Coordinator/Field leadership.

Impact: Conor Thomas Powell, September 2009
Social Entrepreneur Corps Guatemala 2006 staff member shares his thoughts on the impact that his work with Social Entrepreneur Corpshas had on his personal and professional life...

"Since my time in Guatemala, I've found myself surrounded by opportunity. I' ve worked for a wilderness therapy company in Utah and now I am in Beijing working for an education and business training consultancy. Due to my experience in Guatemala and my work with SE Corps, I've been able to discover my strengths and balance them with my weaknessess so as to have the confidence and ability to add value in the workplace. In other words, my Guatemalan experience planted a seed in me that has grown and bloomed over time. That seed is my passion for service. I learned with SE Corps that service isn't only about giving to others but empowering yourself and the people around you with the undeniable truth that opportunity and success are always achievable given the way you approach life and apply yourself to opportunity. SE Corps is a valuable organization in that its mixture of field experience with a proven model and formal training has a way of bringing to the forefront ones strengths and abilities while enforcing them with professional knowledge and experience. I am grateful for this lesson because I now see its effects in my professional life and it has brought a satisfaction and purpose to everything I do."

Update: Elizabath Peer, May 2009
Social Entrepreneur Corps Guatemala 2008 alumna and Notre Dame graduate, Elizabeth "Izzy" Peer, joins the Social Entrepreneur Corps team as a full-time staff member. Izzy's contributions during her program along with her work ethic make her an excellent choice for our Guatemalan team.

Impact: Ayla Bonfiglio, August 2009
Social Entrepreneur Corps Guatemala 2007 alumna Ayala Bonfiglio shares her thoughts on the impact that her participation in Social Entrepreneur Corps has had on her personal and professional life...

"Traveling to both urban and rural locations throughout Guatemala to work with Soluciones Comunitarias through the SE Corps, I gained my first experiences carrying out field research; understanding the cultural, social, economic, and political constraints experienced by locally-based NGOs in their efforts to sustain themselves and add value to the communities in which they operated; learning from and assisting local women in their efforts to become self-sufficient entrepreneurs; and evaluating how to maximize my contributions to ongoing projects."

"Involvement in Soluciones Comunitarias and SE Corps led me to enroll in a semester-long development studies program in Uganda, and subsequently, to work in Senegal assisting in the evaluation of the model of a start-up NGO working on issues of community health. Much of what I learned about the operations of Soluciones Communiatrias and the SE Corps has informed my work both at development organizations and in the private sector."

"Presently, I am furthering my studies in the field of forced migration. I find that the exchanges I had with individuals displaced as a result of environmental change and/or conflict near Panajachel, Guatemala, continue to shape my academic thinking and writing."

Update: Mary Claire Sullivan, October 2008
Social Entrepreneur Corps Fellow and Notre Dame graduate Mary Claire Sullivan joins the Social Entrepreneur Corps team as a full-time team member. Based on Mary Claire’s contributions during her program, we enthusiastically invited her to work with us in Guatemala in our continuous work.

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