Honors Students Offer Strategic Advice to Help Nonprofits Thrive
When classroom learning meets community need, powerful things happen.
That’s what students in Bentley’s Honors Program discovered during two recent courses. Acting as business consultants, they used their knowledge of marketing, finance and operational strategy to help four resource-challenged nonprofits strengthen their operations and expand their reach.
Working in groups, students identified new funding opportunities, created branding guidelines and developed marketing and business plans. Along the way, they also learned how the knowledge and skills they’ve gained at Bentley can drive meaningful social change.
Business Strategy Meets Community Service
Last spring, students participated in two Honors Pathway Community-Based Research courses. One was taught by Mike Bravo, senior lecturer emeritus in Management. The other was led by Jonathan White, associate professor of Sociology and executive director of the Bentley Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Center (BSLCE), and Samantha Eddy, senior associate director of academic programs for the BSLCE. Supported by faculty, students provided strategic advice to four nonprofits serving diverse communities ranging from Massachusetts to Mali.
The 440 K Project, Inc.
Founded by Bravo’s wife, Sandy, this Massachusetts-based organization is dedicated to foster care reform. It offers a variety of programs that support the roughly 440,000 children currently served by America’s foster care system.
A particular area of focus is helping youth “aging out” of the system — 18- to 22-year-olds who transition from state-supervised care to independent adulthood. Lacking family and financial support, these young adults face significant challenges, including homelessness, unemployment, substance abuse and incarceration.
The 440K Project hopes to change that through several initiatives. One is creating a location-based, AI-powered app that connects youth with resources in their neighborhoods, including free or low-cost food, housing and health services, as well as employment opportunities and resume building. Bravo’s students helped the nonprofit lay the groundwork by:
- Identifying and engaging with potential donors
- Developing a pitch deck to help recruit corporate partners
- Interviewing other foster youth-serving nonprofits to identify best practices
- Creating business and marketing plans to support long-term growth
For Bravo’s students, the course was eye-opening. “Before working on this project, I hadn’t fully grasped the breadth of challenges faced by foster youth,” says Lauren McCreight ’26, a double major in Management and Marketing. “Everyday milestones we take for granted, like obtaining a driver’s license, can pose significant barriers for youth transitioning out of the foster care system. This experience opened my eyes to the systemic obstacles they encounter and deepened my appreciation for the importance of providing targeted support.”
Patagonia Youth Enrichment Center (PYEC)
Located close to the Mexican border in Patagonia, Arizona, PYEC provides after-school learning and enrichment opportunities for a diverse population, including Latinx and Native American youth. Students in White and Eddy’s course worked with PYEC board president Caleb Weaver to help the nonprofit strengthen its donor engagement strategy and organizational identity. Their efforts included:
- Updating the organization’s logo and website
- Developing branding and communications guidelines
- Creating templates for brochures, annual reports and other marketing materials
For Ryan Mayerberg ’27, a Corporate Finance and Accounting major and former summer camp counselor, the opportunity to work with a youth-serving nonprofit was especially meaningful. “It felt great to be helping an organization that creates inclusive environments where kids can learn and grow.”
Shades of Thorpe
Students in White and Eddy’s course advised this Montana-based nonprofit, which is named in honor of Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe, a member of the Sac and Fox Nation. The newly founded organization aims to empower Native youth through athletics, leadership and education.
Students worked closely with three board members: Myltin Bighorn, a member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribe; Elwood Pipestem-Ott, a member of the Otoe-Missouria Nation; and Randy Estrin, MSF ’26, a Bentley graduate student and member of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. The students helped Shades of Thorpe differentiate its mission and programs by:
- Conducting a market analysis of Native youth-serving organizations
- Identifying opportunities for community and corporate partnerships
- Developing an events management checklist and participant feedback forms
- Creating a social media marketing plan
The group also participated in a “secret sauce” workshop led by business consultant and Bentley alum James Purdy ’17. The session helped Shades of Thorpe identify what sets it apart from other nonprofits: the support of Jim Thorpe’s family (his granddaughter, Mary Thorpe, is a board member) and its ability to provide authentic, culturally grounded empowerment opportunities for Native youth.
As a result, Bighorn says, “We’ve become increasingly confident in articulating who we are, what we do and how we deliver measurable impact. We’re now working to expand our programs to tribal communities in other states.”
Sun Powered Water Works
Founded by Waltham resident Lamine Savadogo, this nonprofit provides solar-powered infrastructure to bring clean water — and economic opportunities — to rural communities in Mali. To date, Savadogo and his organization have provided eco-friendly water systems for six villages and two health centers, bringing 10,000 liters of water to 6,000 residents each day. White and Eddy’s students offered advice on how Sun Powered Water Works can expand its reach, including:
- Creating a new name, logo and visual brand identity
- Providing step-by-step guidelines for achieving 501(c)(3) status, a designation that allows individuals to provide tax-deductible contributions
- Developing a fundraising strategy guide, including a grant proposal template and investor pitch deck
Working with the nonprofit gave students a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by Mali’s rural residents. “I was surprised to discover how not having clean and drinkable water affects not only the health and hygiene of a community, but also its economic opportunities,” says Aliyah Isaacs ’26, a Management major and Psychology minor. Solar-powered water supply systems, she explains, allow villagers to cultivate crops year-round and invest in small-scale aquaculture ventures, like fish farms. This creates a nutritious and sustainable food supply for residents while providing an additional source of income.
For Isaacs, the experience was a powerful reminder that she and fellow Falcons “can be a force for good beyond our Bentley community.”
Business Education Powered by Purpose
This awareness, says Eddy, is what Honors Pathway Community-Based Research classes hope to foster. “The true richness of this course happens when students realize that the skills they’re learning at Bentley can be used to powerfully shape their communities for the better,” she says. “In fact, these are essential skills the nonprofit sector is clamoring for.”
Bravo agrees, noting that the courses help Honors students understand that “nonprofits are businesses and they do make profits. They just pour their profits back into their organizations to support their mission and purpose.” Nonprofits can benefit as much from the expertise of business consultants as Fortune 500 companies, he says.
Likewise, working with nonprofits can help students gain knowledge and skills they’ll use long after graduating. McCreight, who consulted for the 440K Project, says the experience “strengthened my communication, research and presentation skills — foundational tools I will carry with me throughout my career.”
Sanay Mehta ’26, an Accounting and Data Analytics double major, also consulted for the 440K Project. He appreciated being able to apply concepts learned in his Bentley classes to help identify and address real-world problems — and help other young people like himself in the process.
“Experiential learning opportunities like these are so important,” Mehta says. “I never thought I’d take a class at Bentley where I’d consult for a nonprofit, but I’m so grateful for the experience. Just by choosing to take this course, I felt like I was making a difference.”