Social Enterprise Visionary
John Whitehead Played a Key Role in Developing the HBS Initiative
AUSTIN, WHITEHEAD, AND RANGAN: Social enterprise pioneers.
Photo by Neal Hamberg
In the early 1990s, legendary Wall Street executive and former deputy secretary of state John Whitehead (MBA 11/’47) decided there was a pressing need for graduate education to prepare leaders for the nonprofit sector. Approaching then-Dean John McArthur, he offered to fund an initiative focused on research, teaching, and programs related to nonprofit management. “John Whitehead’s vision for what would become the Social Enterprise Initiative [SEI] was inspired by years of experience on nonprofit boards,” recalls HBS professor and director of research Kash Rangan, SEI’s cofounder and current cochair. “He firmly believed that by elevating the management capability of these valuable institutions, we would enhance their performance and contribution to society. He saw management education as a way of achieving that goal.”
Over nearly two decades, SEI has developed from a visionary concept to a mainstay in the School’s mission of developing business leaders who are concerned not only with the bottom line but also with the well-being of society. In announcing his retirement as chair of the SEI Advisory Board last January, Whitehead, who will stay on as chair emeritus, noted, “I am very proud of what the School has accomplished with the Social Enterprise Initiative. The progress we have made, and the extent to which the program has benefited the students, the School, and social enterprise organizations all over the world has far exceeded my fondest dreams.”
Following an April 13 SEI Advisory Board luncheon in Spangler Center honoring Whitehead, Thomas Tierney (MBA ’80), chairman and cofounder of The Bridgespan Group, was named the advisory board’s new chair.
Key figures in the initiative credit Whitehead with playing a pivotal role in the program’s success. Professor emeritus Jim Austin, a cofounder and former chair of SEI, calls Whitehead “an extraordinary social entrepreneur who envisioned how HBS could channel its amazing capacities toward strengthening leadership and management in the social sector.”
“What he did went well beyond just providing funding,” emphasizes Robert Burakoff, who worked with Austin and Rangan as the initiative’s first executive director. “There was a creative partnership between John McArthur, who knew how to make the initiative happen within the framework of the School’s mission, and John Whitehead, who helped keep the expectations high, worked with faculty to develop the vision, and lent the networks and influence to support it. He has been a model venture investor.”
In a 2003 HBS case study documenting SEI’s history, Austin and his coauthors identified the decision to mainstream social enterprise material into every aspect of HBS research and teaching as “a defining strategic choice.” Today, the initiative’s strategic objectives range from cultivating outstanding faculty to tapping the potential for social-value creation among all HBS students and graduates. It supports leaders across all sectors — nonprofit and for-profit alike. Aspiring MBAs have taken notice. The Admissions Office reports that potential students often cite SEI as a key factor in their decision to apply to the School.
“One of John’s original objectives was to motivate young graduates to go to work in the nonprofit sector as their first or second job, and he has certainly done that at HBS,” says Rangan.
— Deborah Blagg
