Breaking the cycle of poverty in urban areas

24 Apr 2014

Breaking the cycle of poverty in urban areas

Re: Andrea Silbert (MBA 1992)

Topics: Society-Poverty Social Enterprise-Nonprofit Organizations Finance-Investment Activism

As president of Eos Foundation, Andrea Silbert (AB 1986, MBA 1991, MPA 1992) invests charitable dollars to help fight poverty and hunger in Massachusetts. In 2007 Silbert became president of the Boston-based philanthropic grant-making trust. Eos invests in innovative initiatives to fight poverty in Massachusetts. Currently, the foundation is partnering with school districts to provide universal free breakfast, after the bell rings, in schools that serve a large proportion of low-income children.

“People are getting enough calories, but they’re not getting enough of the right calories,” says Silbert. “It seems counterintuitive, but it’s possible to be undernourished and overweight.” She adds: “If we all work together and commit resources, we can break the cycle of intergenerational poverty in urban America.”

During her student days at HBS, Silbert joined the Social Enterprise Club and found compatriots with Wall Street backgrounds who wanted to change careers or make social enterprise an integral part of their career. A few years after graduation, Silbert founded the Center for Women & Enterprise, which empowers women to become economically self-sufficient and to prosper through business and entrepreneurship. Since 1995, it has helped more than 28,000 Massachusetts and Rhode Island entrepreneurs.

(Published April 2014)

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Andrea Silbert

MBA 1992

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