By José Ángel de la Paz

Nineteen students from six Global Network for Advanced Management schools came together at EGADE Business School in Mexico City to explore the topic of Social Innovation during the June 2019 EMBA Global Network Week.

The participants, of 11 different nationalities, are MBA students from EGADE Business School in Mexico, Haas School of Business at the University of California—Berkeley in the United States, Yale School of Management in the United States, ESMT Berlin in Germany, Fudan University School of Management in China, and UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School in Ireland. 

Through conferences, debates, and experiential learning, EGADE Business School’s “Social Innovation” module immersed the participants in the process of finding innovative solutions for social transformation. 

The program explored the idea of social innovation from three perspectives: 

• Context: Which factors foster or hinder social innovation in a particular context?
• Agent: Who generates social innovation, why, and what for?
• Mechanisms: What makes it possible to combine existing elements in new ways, across sectors and disciplines, forming new social relationships?

The EGADE Business School academics who taught the course were Eric Porras, national director of MBA programs, and professors Ezequiel Reficco, Francisco Layrisse, Ezequiel Reficco, and Luli Pesqueira, specialists in corporate Sustainability, social Entrepreneurship, and sustainable development. 

Further, guest speakers from Ashoka and Gentera, among others, offered participants diverse viewpoints to understand the social innovation scenario in Mexico and Latin America.  

Through business, cultural, and recreational trips, the participants visited the Impact Mx innovation hub, the “green” accelerator New Ventures, the archeological zone of Teotihuacán, Mexico City’s historical center, the National Museum of Anthropology, and the Coyoacán neighborhood. 

During the week, some of the participants in the EMBA Global Network Week held in Mexico City commented on their experience: 

“[I have met] people from around the world sharing ideas, willing to participate, to connect with you, to stay in touch, to share all about what are they doing, and how they do it in their countries," said EGADE Business School student Juan Pablo Préstamo. 

"This experience at the Global Network Week has been amazing. It's been fantastic to meet new people from all over the world," said EGADE Business School student Karla Peña. 

“Coming to EGADE taught me so much about this industry [social innovation] that I was not aware of,” said Haas School of Business student Anuja Verma. 

“I was able to interact with different [social] entrepreneurs, see their ideas, their passion, and offer some guidance and advice afterward. It was an amazing experience. I loved this [Global Network] Week,” said Yale School of Management student Caleb Cheng. 

“The GNAM experience at EGADE has been so impactful for me. I wanted to experience its city and its wonderful Mexican culture. I would 100 percent recommend this experience. The program is phenomenal, putting social innovation in action,” said Yale School of Management student Ashley Lorenz. 

This edition of the EMBA Global Network Week took place from June 10 to 14 at 15 of the Global Network schools, including EGADE Business School. 

A total of 48 EGADE Business School students, from the EGADE MBA and MBA in global business and strategy programs, participated globally. 

The EGADE Business School students who participated outside of Mexico traveled to 11 Global Network member schools, including UNSW Business School in Australia, IE Business School in Spain, Asian Institute of Management in the Philippines, Hitotsubashi University Business School in Japan, Seoul National University Business School in South Korea, among others. 

EGADE Business School is a founding partner of the Global Network, composed of 30 leading business schools from diverse regions, countries, cultures, and economies from across the world.