Amay Tewari

Following the largest-ever donation to Yale’s School of Management last fall, SOM students and administrators are planning the specifics of the school’s partnership with the Broad Foundation and outlining expanded programming in consulting.

“I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished in the last 20 years and I can think of no better future for The Broad Center than Yale University,” said Broad Foundation co-founder Eli Broad in a statement in December.

The Los Angeles-based foundation endows programming that “advances entrepreneurship for the public good,” according to the Broad Foundation’s website. Among the foundation’s initiatives is the Broad Center, which, prior to the SOM partnership, worked with leaders in public education to ensure quality in schooling leadership.

The partnership with SOM will move the Broad Center to New Haven. Housed within the University, the Broad Center will develop policy and research on education in addition to offering masters degrees and professional development. SOM Dean Kerwin K. Charles affirmed the alignment of the Broad Foundation’s values with the school’s mission to develop leaders for business and society in a statement in December.

“Unanimously, we, the student body, are excited and honored by the donation, and I personally am very proud of Dean Kerwin and the administration for creating an environment worthy of such a cause,” Student Body President Reeve Harde SOM ’20 told the News. “Over the years, SOM has demonstrated its ability to educate and develop leaders of business and society. We have the faculty, mission and, now, resources, to create a world-class program in public education that will improve the lives of many for years to come.”

Deputy Dean David Bach ’99, who helped to coordinate the partnership, told the News that he envisions over 500 SOM-educated leaders in public education across the country 10 years in the future. He expects these graduates to impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of students and influence the trajectory of public education.

The Broad Center has historically emphasized work on urban school districts. Bach said that as SOM begins to craft its curriculum at the Broad Center, it will investigate challenges specific to New Haven and Connecticut and seek to blend classroom and field-based learning.

Deputy Dean Anjani Jain wrote that the gift will allow for SOM to dedicate resources in teaching and research to the objective of improving public education. This, Jain says, is a goal widely shared by students, faculty and alumni. He added that the partnership will help make SOM a “center of thought leadership and in public education.”

“Our sweet spot as a school is to prepare students to solve complex problems and the nexus of business and society and to lead organizations of all stripes, including public and non-profit institutions, with purpose,” Bach wrote in an email to the News. “Education is a calling for many of our alumni and a substantial number hold senior roles in the sector. We are excited that the transformational gift by the Broad Foundation will enable us to substantially step up our engagement in education, through new degree and non-degree programs, expanded research, and policy engagement.”

SOM administrators expect the Broad Center to welcome its first students in the fall of 2020.

John Besche | john.besche@yale.edu