Our Fellow’s Purposeful Growth Journey During a Summer with Inspiring Capital

The Inspiring Capital MBA Impact Fellowship is a professional development opportunity that provides knowledge, tools, and community for MBAs committed to using their business education as a force for good seeking to grow purposefully into a high-impact professional. Topics covered include latest thinking and practice in social and environmental impact, as well as the skills and personal development tools required to navigate a successful purpose-driven career. The program is fully virtual, designed to complement any summer internship, regardless of location, industry, or project assignment.

Today we are interviewing Destiny Davis, a 2019 Inspiring Capital MBA Impact Fellowship alumni. She speaks about her experience throughout the Fellowship, how it impacted her professional career and her key takeaways from her summer with Inspiring Capital.

Tell us about yourself! What is your name, university and program that you attended, your IC Impact Fellowship year and your professional career?

My name is Destiny Davis and I was an Inspiring Capital Fellow during summer 2019. I attended Washington University in St. Louis and pursued a joint MSW (Master of Social Work) and MBA degree. I finished both my programs this past May 2020 and am currently living in Chicago. I am currently an Associate Consultant for Mission Measurement, where we focus specifically on measurement and data for social good. We also help companies with grant making and allocating funds.

What was your background before the IC MBA Impact Fellowship? What led you to pursue this Fellowship opportunity?

Prior to graduate school, I was in social work. I got my bachelor’s degree in social work and had always wanted to pursue the clinical route, which is why I initially went to Wash-U to pursue my MSW. Once there, I quickly realized I wasn’t interested in direct practice anymore. Although I loved working with people and the work brought me joy, there were a lot of inefficiencies in the organizations that I was working with. This realization led me down the business school route. I wanted to gain the tools and leadership skills needed to address these issues on a macro level.

I wanted to pursue social impact, so I knew my business school path would be not be the traditional one. Given the untraditional nature of the career path I chose, a lot of weight fell on me to figure out what my summer internship would be. In doing my research I came across Inspiring Capital, and I saw it as a great opportunity to blend both of my worlds (that of social work and of business) together.

This opportunity opened a lot of doors for me and really helped me understand what “social impact” and “social good” really mean. The tools and the professional and interpersonal development skills that I gained were really useful.

Inspiring Capital defines purposeful growth as “growth that helps you understanding how you are uniquely positioned to contribute to a fairer, healthier, more sustainable way of working and living,” how do you feel like you grew purposefully this summer?

Going into the Fellowship I had a very narrow view of the opportunities that I had available based on my previous experience. The Fellowship opened doors for me and made me intentionally think about my career goals. It made me ask myself: “What area of focus do I want to be in and what does that actually look like?” It helped me hone in on “My Why” because the world of social impact is so broad. We also talked a lot about purpose and impact, which helped me understand what was truly important to me and the avenues that were available for me to work in alignment to my purpose.

How did your IC Fellowship experience further your professional development? What were your key learnings and takeaways from the Fellowship that you will take with you along your Purposeful Growth Journey and onto your purposeful career path?

The Fellowship taught me a lot about being a leader, understanding who you are, what you want to do and what you can actually bring to the table. I was already very familiar with the term “social impact” and I felt like I knew what I wanted to do, but it really helped me ask myself the right questions. I left the Fellowship with a more defined outlook and “pitch.” I came to understand what business-for-good looks like today and what it means to be purposeful in work and life. The Fellowship helped me ask myself the right questions and look internally, which can sometimes be scary and hard to do on your own.

Regarding purposeful growth and professional development, what you would tell an MBA interested in the IC MBA Impact Fellowship?

Be flexible, be adaptable, be willing to be uncomfortable and ask questions. Growth in general is not easy and when you think about purposeful growth there’s an intentionality that comes with it. You have to be willing to ask yourself hard questions and focus on who you are as a person and what you want your career path to look like. You have to have the willingness to be uncomfortable, which is an important part of purposeful growth and professional development.

There is so much you can learn about yourself through this opportunity, so I would definitely say take it! It will help you grow; it will push you and it will help you understand how you want to impact this world and make a difference.

Inspiring Capital is a NYC-based B Corp that offers learning and development services for professionals and organizations. Inspiring Capital’s mission is to guide people to meaningful lives. IC exists to give others the permission, invitations, tools, guidance, inspiration, and accountability that we all want and need to grow purposefully toward our wholehearted potential. So that, together, we can build healthier, fairer, more inclusive, equitable, just, and regenerative teams, organizations, societies, and economies.

Learn more about Inspiring Capital here.

Learn more about Inspiring Capital Impact Fellowship here.

Interested applying for the Inspiring Capital Impact Fellowship? Click here!

Watch an Informational Webinar on YouTube to learn more about Summer 2021 IC MBA Impact Fellowship details, logistics and program adjustments here.