Congratulations 2014 Rotary Club of Seattle scholarship recipients
For the last 17 years, members from the Rotary Club of Seattle have mentored students from the UW Foster School of Business in their work to grow companies in underserved communities or those owned by people of color and women. Nearly 2,000 UW business students have benefited from the mentoring they’ve received.
2014 Rotary Club of Seattle Scholarship recipients (left to right) Jonathan Matson, Kelly Butler and Simran Singh.
This Program, provided by the UW Consulting & Business Development Center, also awards scholarships to participating students, which is funded by the Rotary Club. The UW Consulting Center congratulates the recipients of the 2014 Rotary Club of Seattle Scholarship.
Kelly Butler, Senior
Studying Business Administration
Ellen Chang, Senior
Studying Philosophy
Jonathan Matson, Senior
Studying Operations & Supply Chain Management
Simran Singh, Junior
Studying Information Systems
This year, more than 25 Rotarians volunteered nearly 900 hours of mentorship to students and their business clients. This resource is vital to the success of our students’ work as they provide consulting services to their clients.
“The program offers a unique opportunity to work through ambiguous problems and develop creative solutions. The stakes are significantly higher when your work has a real impact on real business,” states Jonathan Matson, whose student team consulted a local acupuncture company.
Jonathan’s Rotary mentors helped his team create a marketing plan for their client. “The added dimension of managing a client relationship is another aspect that doesn’t exist in most of the work we normally do as students. This made the program much more rewarding from a student perspective”
“This is what makes this program a great learning opportunity!” explains Ellen Chang. “You never know what to expect. Yet with the help from our mentors and advisors, we came out feeling comfortable to deal with uncertainty and a versatile working environment.”
Scholarship recipients were selected by their ability to demonstrated exemplary performance in the areas of team leadership, multicultural/cross-cultural communication, and application of business strategies for their client.
“This program can be thought of as a quarter-long internship,” says Simran Singh. “When I go into job interviews today, I use this experience to showcase my skills in leadership, critical thinking, and ability to work within a team.”
Kelly Butler’s team helped develop a branding strategy for a local grocery store. “The UW Consulting Center offers an experience unlike any other offered at the Foster School. Students are given the opportunity to witness the struggles of business in the real world and are taught to think on their feet, dealing with day-to-day uncertainty beyond any case study or homework assignment. This program takes the material that other courses have taught in a vacuum, and applies it to reality; real people, real money, real risk.”
