ESSEC & MANNHEIM Weekend Executive MBA Charity Class Project Rewarded with Diakonie Prize

High distinction for the second class of the ESSEC & MANNHEIM Weekend Executive MBA: The 27 participants have been rewarded for their joint class project "Netzwerk 08" (Network 08) with the very first 3,000 euro Diakonie Pfalz endowment prize for innovative social projects. The future top managers set a goal of arranging internships for qualified and motivated secondary school pupils (Hauptschüler) students from the metropolitan Rhein-Neckar region. The Diakonie prize was awarded in Speyer in the presence of State Prime Minister Kurt Beck as part of the ceremony for the 100th anniversary celebration of the Pfalz winery association, which donated the prize valued at 3,000 euros.

Initiator Isanthe Heberger and project speaker Kai Stenzel accepted the award on behalf of the group of Mannheim students. "According to a current study, only half of all secondary students find an apprenticeship for themselves more than a year after the end of their school career. In our experience, even qualified and motivated youths rarely have the opportunity to prove themselves," emphasizes Heberger. "This is why we decided to use our contacts for a few disadvantaged youths at the very least and help them establish a working social network." And they were successful: Five of the 30 students who participated have already found an apprenticeship. In addition to arranging internships, the Mannheim junior managers also organized a "Job Day" for the participating youths and their parents and friends. Direct discussions with Human Resources representatives from companies about future prospects and jobs requiring training were part of the program. In addition, there were also workshops on topics such as "how to write an application" and "how to behave in job interviews." "In this way, the project was also an important contribution to the professional orientation of those who didn't receive an apprenticeship place directly through the internship," says Heberger.

The "Netzwerk 08" project was chosen for the Diakonie prize from among 20 submitted suggestions. The jury, which included the former Federal Minister for Youths, Family and Health, Dr. Heiner Geißler, and the SAP board member Professor Dr. Claus E. Heinrich, was particularly convinced by the project's unique nature and professional implementation. The prize was awarded for innovative social projects. The prize money will be used to support the newly-founded "Gemeinsam studieren – gemeinsam helfen e.V." (Study together – help together) association at the Mannheim Business School. Further social projects will be developed by students through the association.

Offered by the Mannheim Business School since 2006, the career-accompanying, part-time "ESSEC & MANNHEIM Modular Executive MBA" provides managers who have at least five years professional experience in different branches, as well as various first academic degrees and nationalities with the necessary skills for a career in international top management. The program is already well-established on the European market: It came in 26th place in 2007 on the Financial Times ranking of the best Executive MBA programs worldwide and earned a top-ten placement in the "career progress" and "international course experience" categories. A fixed element of the ESSEC & MANNHEIM Executive MBA is the class project, for which the entire group of students plan and execute a project that is usually associated with a charity. "Netzwerk 08" is the class project of the cohort that began in March 2007 and will complete the program in a few months.