Saturday night 15 students from the School of Business will take the stage to perform everything from Bach to the Beatles—all to raise money for a nonprofit organization that mentors D.C. high school students.
The fundraiser is the first organized by Business Gives Back, an initiative started by MBA students last fall.
“We want to showcase and support initiatives that make an impact in the city, and we want to provide an incentive for people to be leaders in the community,” says MBA student Steve Smith, co-founder of Business Gives Back.
An accomplished musician, Mr. Smith will play the piano at the fundraiser.
Business Gives Back plans to hold one major fundraising event each year to benefit organizations led by GW students, alumni or employees that make a difference in the D.C. community, he says.
The proceeds from this year’s fundraiser, which will be held at the House of Sweden on the Georgetown Waterfront, will go to LearnServe International, a nonprofit led by MBA student Scott Rechler.
LearnServe helps high school students develop business planning, innovative problem-solving and cross-cultural fluency skills. Sixty high school students in the D.C. area were selected this year to participate in the LearnServe Fellows Program.
And this summer, 55 area students and teachers will be traveling on international service trips to Zambia, Paraguay and Jamaica with LearnServe.
“I am honored that my GW classmates have chosen LearnServe International as the beneficiary of the first Business Gives Back fundraiser event -- and really excited for the event itself,” says Mr. Rechler, who serves as director and CEO of the nonprofit.
Business Gives Back co-founder Mr. Smith, along with many of his classmates, has volunteered for LearnServe. A veteran who served in Iraq, Mr. Smith has been a mentor to a D.C. high school student interested in providing long-term care to service members injured overseas. Mr. Smith calls it an “incredible experience” and says it’s great to be involved in the community.
Business Gives Back’s efforts to promote LearnServe got a boost from a range of sponsors that are helping fund Saturday’s event, including Lockheed Martin, RBC Wealth Management, Wiley Rein LLP and Philip Carter Winery of Virginia. “We’re really grateful to them; their donations have made the fundraiser possible,” says Mr. Smith.
A joint-degree student who’s also earning an M.A. at the Elliott School, Mr. Smith says he has learned a lot at GW. “What has exceeded my expectation is the caliber of people,” he says. “The diversity of experiences and life stories that you hear from your classmates add a great deal of value to the academics.”
“On Saturday we want to have a good time but also support something we believe in,” Mr. Smith says.