Parenting Arizona, a nonprofit agency focusing on educating parents to prevent child abuse, faced a problem — How would they bring their teachings to remote areas?
The answer came in the form of a group of ASU students. When Parenting Arizona advisory board member and ASU professor Daniel Brooks heard of the problem, he saw an opportunity for the students involved in ASU’s new Venture group, which he serves as the faculty advisor.
The new Venture group, started in 2008 as an affiliate organization by seven undergraduates of the W.P. Carey School of Business and Barrett, the Honors College, allows students to serve as consultants to local companies.
“(Being part of the group) has given me a great opportunity to see how I feel about consulting and it’s given me experience for my future career,” co-executive director and supply chain management senior Stephen Sharr said.
Sharr is one of 53 students in the group, a huge jump from the original seven. The students are divided into teams, where they work with 12 diverse clients, among them Banner Health and American Express.
For Parenting Arizona, the new Venture group initially put together a website, parentingaz.org.
This year, a new team is helping develop a better business plan, Parenting Arizona Executive Director Julie Rosen said.
“They were all very professional and delivered a great product,” Rosen said.
This professional attitude is important to the organization, which Brooks said is structured like a consulting company.
“We want the Carey School to become a high-priority recruiting area for management consulting,” Brooks said.
Management-consulting firms have already hired seven or eight alumni of the new Venture group, Brooks said.
Brooks said this provides a nice network for the current students when they begin looking for careers.
While it may seem geared toward business students, Brooks said that the new Venture group wants students from different concentrations as well.
Recruiting begins in January and any student in his or her sophomore year or higher may apply, Brooks said.
Reach the reporter at julia.shumway@asu.edu or follow @JMShumway on Twitter
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