An important component of the Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise MBA program is the summer practicum. GSSE students  spend the first two semesters of the program at the Colorado State University campus engaging in a rigorous academic curriculum in the College of Business. During this time, students begin to develop and refine project ideas that will comprise the bulk of their summer semester interdisciplinary fieldwork.

Working in teams of three to five students, GSSE Enterprise Teams work on ventures or projects that strive for triple bottom-line results.  Some project opportunities come from partner organizations – domestic and international – including International Development Enterprises, Philanthropiece, CHF, Wildlife Conservation Society and others large and small.  Other ventures are brought into the program by GSSE students, providing they can attract at least two other students to their idea.  For example Powermundo was an initiative of a student that became a GSSE project and that is now building as a social enterprise.  Still other project requests have come from Fort Collins partners such as Envirofit, C-Zero, and EECL.

Regardless of the source of the venture, Enterprise Teams attack the challenges with the entrepreneurial and business skills that the GSSE curriculum and faculty provide.  Far from being contrived or academic, these projects take place in the real world with real challenges, risks and opportunities.  First-year coursework supports the development of the 10-week summer practicum where students bring their knowledge to the field to turn ideas formed in the classroom to practical applications in the field. Because the summer practicum often takes place internationally, second language skills are an advantage.

Recent projects include:

• A GSSE Enterprise Team created AYZH, a social enterprise that designs, manufactures, and sells low cost household and health-related products to poor women in India.
• A GSSE Enterprise Team designed and managed a feasibility project for International Development Enterprises to determine the market for a sub-horsepower engine/pump-set for small producers in India, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh. The resulting company, Small Engines for Economic Development (SEED) is testing its design with 200 farmers in Bangladesh and hopes to go into commercial production in 2011.
• A GSSE Enterprise Team assisted a CSU scientist in feasibility analysis and market testing of a solution to generate nitrogen fertilizer from blue-green algae.
• A GSSE Enterprise Team is working with smallholders in Ethiopia on the development of high value agricultural products for greater income generation.