Innovations That Inspire

Why it matters: Johns Hopkins Carey Business School’s experiential learning opportunity, the Community Consulting Lab, is among AACSB International’s Innovations That Inspire.

The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School’s Community Consulting Lab was selected by AACSB International as one of 24 Innovations That Inspire in 2022. The annual awards program recognizes institutions that serve as champions of change in the business education. This year’s emphasis was on innovations that elevate diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

The Community Consulting Lab is a business accelerator program that pairs Carey Business School students with minority-owned small-businesses in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., regions. Students work directly with businesses to help them overcome complex challenges and grow through innovation. The six-month pro bono engagement empowers students to use their classroom learning and apply it to the problems and opportunities at hand, and to help the business owners plan and implement changes. Through firsthand experience, students develop key consulting skills such as business communication, client engagement, effective teaming, and strategic problem solving with empathy. Throughout the process, students are coached and mentored by faculty and local entrepreneurs and the business owners participate in weekly skill-building workshops that focus on finance, marketing, legal issues, and staff development.

Community Consulting Lab is supported in part by the Carey Business Schools Community Impact Fund, which provides small minority business owners with funding and other resources to help grow their business and make a difference in their communities. The fund is supported by Constellation Energy and Truist.

AACSB International is the world’s largest business education alliance, connecting educators, learners, and business to create the next generation of great leaders.