Ben Chapman, Manager of HR and Institutional Development
"For nonprofit management, choose a strong generalist MBA or an MBA with a nonprofit track."
Education
- MBA, Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, 2001
- Bachelor of Science in Development Studies Co-op Program, 1991
What I Do
Manager of HR and Institutional Development for an international development agency
Ottawa, Canada
My agency is an international development agency operating in 9 countries to help improve health, education, and rural development. I recruit and train interns to go abroad and work in South Asia and East Africa, and I manage a scholarship that brings staff from our partner organizations to study in Canadian universities.
Words of Advice for This Career…
You must be a multitasker because of stretched resources. You must also learn how to motivate volunteers and staff who are there for idealistic rather than monetary reasons. I tend to motivate them around an issue or an injustice rather than a product; the power in that is strong (for the right people).
… And on Choosing an MBA Program
For nonprofit management, choose a strong generalist MBA or an MBA with a nonprofit track. I definitely enjoyed the case method and found it a superior way to learn as an older student. It is also important to choose a program that requires considerable prior work experience of its students, because this enriches your learning enormously.
