About Us
The Impact Studio at the Ross School of Business is a campus hub for impact creators and innovators. Launched within the Business Impact Initiative in 2019, our mission is to bring impactful ideas to life using business knowledge, design tools, and research expertise. The Impact Studio encompasses a collaboration space, an interdisciplinary graduate course, a design lab for impact-focused ventures and projects, and workshops and events. Our model activates the vast expertise and research insights from across campus to support the development and launch of powerful, impactful concepts.
Our work is inspired and defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for a sustainable future free of poverty, hunger, and inequity. While we seek to advance all facets of impact, we place priority on activities that address climate action and/or diversity, equity, inclusion & racial justice (DEIRJ). While we bring business tools and management principles to bear, we are agnostic to the vehicle that solutions may take. We welcome for-profit, nonprofit, or open source models, policy briefs, etc. Our guiding principles are learning and co-creation across disciplines, sectors, and spaces, with core values of creativity, empathy, and equity.
Studio Pillars
Meet the Team
Jerry Davis
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Jerry Davis is the Gilbert and Ruth Whitaker Professor of Business Administration at the Ross School of Business and Professor of Sociology, The University of Michigan. Davis received his PhD from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Davis’s research is broadly concerned with the corporation as a social and economic vehicle. His current book project examines corporate power in the 21st century, and how to tame it.
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Cat has developed, launched, and led social enterprises with organizations such as Ben & Jerry’s and Goodwill Industries, and led social impact initiatives in higher education. She most recently served as COO of a Detroit social enterprise internationally recognized for impactful product design innovation – a sleeping bag coat for individuals experiencing homelessness. Cat holds a BA, MBA, and MSW from the University of Michigan.
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Entrepreneur-in-Residence Moses Lee (BBA’02, MA’03) is an experienced educator and social entrepreneur who is passionate about working with students to discover and take action on their passions. In 2011, Lee founded Seelio, an educational service and technology company that partners with universities to prepare students for their careers. Previously, Lee directed TechArb, the U of M student startup accelerator, where he coached and mentored students across all disciplines.
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As the Impact Studio Program Specialist, Erica manages various programmatic aspects of the Impact Studio, such as the Impact Studio Founders and Applebaum Design Fellowship Programs, and fosters continued partnerships with key partners across the U-M entrepreneurial ecosystem. Erica brings several years of experience in program and project management working for nonprofits and local businesses. She received her B.A. in English, Sociology and Creative Writing from the University of Michigan.
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Glenn manages marketing and communications for Business+Impact. He has worked with a variety of local and national nonprofits in member services, events and marketing roles. He worked for Ross in Executive Education and Ross Marketing Communications prior to coming to the Business Impact. His work with nonprofits like the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, Microsoft Healthcare Users Group, the Ann Arbor Symphony, and Ann Arbor Civic Theater has prepared him for his work with the Impact Studio. Glenn has an MFA from Purdue and a BA from the University of Michigan.
Cat Johnson
Moses Lee
Erica Yang
Glenn Bugala