May 7, 2021: Anna Agbotse (MPA’22) and Ana Karina Olivera (MPA’21), currently enrolled in the Rutgers University-Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA), have been selected for a three-week Impact Investing Bootcamp scheduled from July 12- July 30, 2021. This year’s UI Bootcamp will engage students from South Africa and the United States, and is sponsored through the U.S. Department of State’s University Partnerships Initiative (UPI). UPI is an initiative focused on strengthening existing ties and fostering new collaboration between U.S. and South African universities.
The Bootcamp is run by University Impact (UI), which helps fund companies and nonprofits solving social and environmental problems. UI hosts the Triple Donor-Advised Fund, a social impact fund that makes donor investments while creating the next generation of social venture leaders.
As part of the partnership with the School of Public Affairs and Administration, Ms. Agbotse and Ms. Olivera will be the first students from Rutgers University-Newark to join the UI Impact Investment training. Their cost participation is covered by a scholarship from the Global Educator Network.
For Ms. Olivera, The Impact Investing Bootcamp opportunity caught her attention due to its emphasis on social impact investment. “As I move forward with my goal to start my own nonprofit, the Bootcamp is a perfect opportunity to learn complex problem solving for organization management. It is also an excellent platform to learn the soft skills needed to be a successful impact investment professional who can transcend across industries allowing for a unique perspective in future opportunities”, she said.
“I run a nonprofit that is now developing a stern foundation for both the platform we are building to amplify the voices and attaining investments from our projects,” said Ms. Agbotse. “The Impact Investing Bootcamp presents a solution to both challenges of the organization, and I simply could not pass this opportunity to access solutions to the Nonprofit I lead.” For Ms. Agbotse, learning how to invest in a nonprofit globally, building an organization’s financial structure, and identifying solutions for social issues from an economic standpoint are some of the key motivations behind applying for the Impact Investing Bootcamp.
For both Ms. Agbotse and Ms. Olivera, SPAA Professor Dr. Kyle Farmbry’s encouragement, and recommendation have been vital in applying for this opportunity.
“This is an exciting opportunity for Rutgers University- Newark and SPAA to be represented in this impact investing Bootcamp with students from South Africa and the United States,” said Dr. Farmbry. “It also provides an opportunity for SPAA to build on some of the exciting university partnerships we have been building with colleges and universities in South Africa. Ana Olivera and Anna Agbotse are great representatives of our student body, and I know they will represent SPAA well in this inaugural year of partnering with University Impact.”