CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – An academic overseas trip to learn firsthand about international business and executive leadership turned into a lesson about social responsibility for a group of USF Executive MBA students.
The Executive MBA students traveled to Cape Town, South Africa at the end of May as part of the cohort’s summer international study trip. The eight-day excursion was a chance to learn about the unique business environment within South Africa — a country with a rich history of transglobal trade yet surrounded by emerging economies.
And while summer abroad itineraries are typically packed with visits to local businesses and one-on-ones with executive leadership teams, this year’s trip, for the first time, included a community outreach component.
The group visited Home of Hope, a nonprofit care center for abused, abandoned and neglected children, most of whom suffer from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The neuro-development disorder is a permanent brain damage caused by pre-natal exposure to alcohol.
South Africa is known to have the highest number of children diagnosed with FASD — a rate with profound impacts underpinning the country’s economy and society.
An indelible teaching opportunity
The visit to the children’s care center served as an important teaching opportunity and highlighted the socio and economic connection between businesses and the communities they serve, said program organizers.
Eric Douthirt
“For global leaders, it’s important to understand some of the major challenges that different regions face in terms of society and the environment,” said Eric Douthirt, director of MBA programs at the USF Muma College of Business.
“Before we even left the facility, the students were strategizing together on how they could make a more lasting impact on the organization,” he said.
USF Executive MBA students take a group photo.
That lasting impact came in the form of a GoFundMe fundraiser to raise money for roof repairs and solar panels to improve living conditions.
Meeting the children at Home of Hope and seeing their challenges inspired the cohort to collectively do more, said Sebastian Marin, the Executive MBA student organizing the fundraiser.
“The feeling when we got there and met the children was something that you couldn’t prepare for,” said Marin, who also works as a group manager for marketing at Publix. “As business leaders we must be able to empathize with those who are less fortunate and never lose site of the impact that we can make.”
Executive MBA students toured the home and saw firsthand the hazardous living conditions. There was roof damage. The leaky roof has led to ongoing building issues that will worsen if not repaired.
USF Executive MBA students visit the Home of Hope.
The home also suffered from power outages due to South Africa’s load-shedding and blackouts. Instead of chipping in to purchase a generator, the group decided on a long-term reliable energy solution: helping the nonprofit purchase solar panels.
Inspired to collectively take action
Marin emphasized that the fundraiser was a group effort. They all wanted to contribute as a cohort.
“This fundraiser was not planned. I always believed that we can’t change everything around us, but we should never pass up an opportunity to help what’s in front of us if we have the means to do so,” he said.
Fellow Executive MBA student Katrina Hippleheuser, who owns Seaside Innovations, couldn’t agree more.
She said seeing the children’s living conditions and the challenges that they faced inspired the group to take action and raise awareness about FASD on a local and international level.
"This trip took international business and what we could have learned from a textbook to another level — a level that provided us with an experience that we will not forget" — Sebastian Marin.
The best way, they agreed, would be a GoFundMe fundraiser that could be shared across the globe.
“This experience is one that will stick with me,” Marin said. “From birth, the odds are stacked against them. Add the lack of support and abandonment they’ve all experienced and their chances of a quality life diminish drastically. However, here’s what so inspiring. Every single child had a contagious happiness and smile we couldn’t forget.”
A transformative journey
Douthirt said the international trip plays an important role in solidifying the relationships among cohort members.
The trip falls at the halfway point within the Executive MBA program, when classmates have known each other for about eight months. After spending a solid week together, the trip often becomes the most memorable and meaningful part of their educational journey, he said.
The trip featured visits to five businesses where USF students met with executive leadership at each, including King James, Western Cape EDC, Frost & Sullivan, Sea Harvest, and V&A Waterfront.
Hippleheuser said the trip was a transformative experience that showed the interconnectedness between businesses and the communities they operate in.
USF Executive MBA students visited with businesses.
Seeing the disparity between global companies and the struggles faced by vulnerable communities underscored the importance of corporate social responsibility, she said.
“The Executive MBA program has been an incredible journey, constantly pushing us to grow and challenge ourselves in every aspect,” she said. “One aspect that I found particularly valuable is the program’s emphasis on introspection and personal growth.”
Douthirt said these global experiential lessons are what sets USF’s nationally ranked Executive MBA program apart from its competitors.
In November, Fortune magazine ranked the program among the Top 30 in the nation in its “Best Executive MBA Programs” list.
“This trip took international business and what we could have learned from a textbook to another level — a level that provided us with an experience that we will not forget,” Marin said.
To contribute to the GoFundMe fundraiser for Home of Hope, go here.