Community Consulting Lab
Develop your skills and deliver business expertise to local entrepreneurs
The Community Consulting Lab is a unique, eight-week hands-on, fully supported, consulting experience and business accelerator program open to Johns Hopkins graduate students, including Carey Business School and local minority-owned small businesses of the Greater Baltimore and DMV area.
Through a collaborative, matched partnership, student participants will apply their business toolkit and knowledge to assist a local small business, startup, or non-profit.
CCL’s core focus is to empower student consultants by serving BIPOC business owners and entrepreneurs in ways that strengthen their business trajectory and confidence to generate revenue and impact.
Program outcomes as a student consultant:
- Develop and refine key consulting skills, including business communication and strategic planning
- Manage client relationships to grow local economies while participating in effecting teaming
- Discover innovative problem-solving techniques to deliver solutions with impact
Deliver business expertise to local entrepreneurs.
The Community Consulting Lab has had over 4,000 hours committed to service and learning each year. Students have partnered with BIPOC owned businesses in industries like health and nutrition, technology, graphic design, clothing and apparel, education, and social impact.
Past participating companies have included Black Girls Eat, Envision Creative A.R.T, Full Blast STEAM, CLLCTIVLY, Mindstand Technologies, and DIFFERENTREGARD.
Graduate students from all Johns Hopkins disciplines participate in the Community Consulting Lab.
Our student participants have comprised from:
Carey Business School | JHU Krieger School of Arts & Sciences | JHU School of Medicine
JHU School of Nursing | MICA | Bloomberg School of Public Health
Take part in corporate networking opportunities as part of the Student Final Showcase. Participating companies have included AT&T, KPMG, Deloitte, T. Rowe Price, and more.
Program Details:
All program advising led by Tracy Akinade, Associate Director, Community Engagement & Economic Impact.
"I had the opportunity to educate my business owner on expenses, profit, pricing, and revenue as well as identify a challenge and provide recommendations. My proudest moment was when my business owner began to speak in the language of numbers, projections, and use other business terminology."
Alea Marks, MBA '22
"When I first met my client, they seemed hesitant about the process. Once I saw my client get excited about the action plan and show up prepared to tackle our agenda for the day, it made me proud to have sparked that response."
Jessica Figuero, MBA '22
“I wanted to get a hands-on look at what it takes to be a consultant - and I was able to do that. I was able to learn that I enjoyed being a consultant. And I was then able to take the skills I learned in CCL and use them in my summer internship.”
Guy DeWeever II, MA/MBA ‘22
CCL Judging Employers
- CCL Judging Employers
- AT&T
- Bon Secours
- CVSHealth
- Constellation
- Drake Strategy & Assoc.
- Hilton
- KPMG
- NcKinsey & Company
- Morgan Stanley
- TGC Agency
- Johns Hopkins Carey Business School
- Johns Hopkins University of Medicine
- Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures
Questions about the Community Consulting Lab and how to apply?
Please contact Tracy Akinade, Associate Director, Community Engagement & Economic Impact, at Tracy.Akinade@jhu.edu