MBA students outside.

Renewed call out for business consulting support in 2021

4 February 2021

The article at a glance

Cambridge MBA students offer pro-bono consulting services to those businesses still suffering the effects of the pandemic and the resulting economic crisis.

Category: News Programme news

Cambridge MBA students offer pro-bono consulting services to those businesses still suffering the effects of the pandemic and the resulting economic crisis.

With the outbreak of the pandemic in the UK in April 2020, students from the Cambridge MBA class of 2019/20 formed an organisation called Cambridge Judge against COVID-19 (CJAC), led and initiated by Matt Lisonbee (MBA 2019) and Srishti Warman (MBA 2019). Following the flood of nearly 100 projects and with weeks of organising need a total of 28 projects were completed by consulting teams of Cambridge MBA students working pro-bono.

Ashish Khanna.
Ashish Khanna (MBA 2020)

Even before starting their studies in September 2021, some class of 2020/21 MBA students got involved with the initiative in the summer of 2020.

Now after a busy first term at Cambridge and with a chance to organise a strategy for the future of CJAC across the whole cohort, the Cambridge MBA class of 2020 have put out a new call for projects.

As we enter another challenging year for small and medium sized businesses, Cambridge MBA students are here to fight with you and help your organisation tackle immediate crisis management issues alongside longer term, strategic decisions about your future.

“The world is changing – as future leaders we want to be at the forefront of those changes, making businesses more resilient and helping them reinvent,” says Student Project Co-Lead, Ashish Khanna (MBA 2020).

Melanie O'Sullivan.
Melanie O’Sullivan (MBA 2020)

CJAC in 2021 offers to apply their professional experience, MBA learning and networks to undertake short-term, pro-bono consulting projects for primarily UK-based businesses, to help withstand the current period and to plan for the future.

They are offering a small team of MBA students, with professional experience relevant to your needs, to consult for your business on a theme of your choice.

Themes might range from short term goals such as adapting a social media presence in the current climate to contributing to longer term strategic decisions, such as developing new business models for the online delivery of a service or product.

“As the ongoing pandemic and perennial lockdowns put pressure on the small business community, we need to band together to find ways to navigate this economic crisis,” Melanie O’Sullivan (MBA 2020), Student Project Co-Lead, explains.

Hendrik Westerink.
Henrik Westerink (MBA 2020)

Small teams of three or four students are offering around 15 hours per week for up to three weeks, at no cost to the business.

Cambridge MBA students have backgrounds that include accounting, finance, engineering, sciences, and the arts.

Hendrik Westerink (MBA 2020), Student Project Co-lead concludes, “Everyone has a role to play in beating the pandemic: we want to do our part to help businesses in need”. It is this sort of collaborative environment that attracts MBA students to Cambridge. This is another example of teamwork and collaboration being used to create real impact.