About the Community MBA

The Community MBA is about building social capital, plugging in and finding your space in the entrepreneurial community. The Community MBA focuses on creating diversity, inclusion, and bridging various barriers between groups in Charlotte.

the value of the community mba

The Community MBA has been designed to address the needs of different people:

• Build up your entrepreneurial skills . Our program is a great and safe way to test if you are ready to start your own business. The Community MBA springboards your entrepreneurial journey giving you opportunities to build your own network of peers, experts and mentors.
• Advance in your career. The Community MBA helps you practice your leadership skills while working on real problems of local companies with a team. Your experiences from the program will look great on your resume, and you will have more confidence to lead in your current and future roles.
• Complement a traditional MBA or an online MBA. We provide a unique complement to traditional MBA programs by focusing on helping you build your social capital in the local community and develop business skills with hands-on projects and leadership development. This program is useful before a traditional MBA, and if you did get an MBA already, it would be a good extension of your existing skills.
• Connect and plug in. Our goal is to give everyone a chance to get connected with the right opportunities and people in Charlotte.

Check out Current CMBA Students Page.

Our Accreditation

Since our program has a different focus from traditional MBA or on-line MBA programs, we are unaccredited. i.e. you will not get an actual MBA degree after completing this program. At the same time, you get incredible value which is hard to obtain elsewhere: (1) experience in addressing real world messy business problems, (2) a deeper understanding of business fundamentals, and (3) an opportunity to build social capital in the community.

OUR METHODOLOGY

The Community MBA is built around 3 real life projects for local businesses and non-profits. You join a team of fellow consultants who need to solve the problem for the customer. Here are some examples:

• Creating a pilot fundraising campaign
• Building an online community
• Starting a blog and building an audience for it
• Optimizing the hiring process
• Helping new business partners develop a partnership charter
• Developing a dashboard of key performance indicators for a small business owner

Each project must result in a specific deliverable presented to the customer in person.

Curriculum OUTLINE

Classes take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6pm to 9pm, and also on Saturdays, from 9am to 4pm, with a break for lunch. The program lasts for 8 weeks.

Week 1 is introductory:

• Team building activities
• Introduction of business fundamentals 
• Introduction to design thinking
• Introduction to agile project management

Week 2 is when the first project starts:

• Researching the context of the business problem 
• Interviewing the customer
• Designing the deliverable(s)
• Project planning
• Initiating the execution

Week 3 is devoted to completing the first project:

• Creating a proof of concept
• Receiving initial customer feedback
• Assessing the alternatives
• Presenting the solution to the customer
• Debriefing

Weeks 4-7 are similar to weeks 2 and 3, with students working on two more projects.

Week 8 is about applying the lessons learned to your own business or career challenges:

• Reflection on the lessons learned
• Creating your personal action plan
• Presenting your action plan
• Graduation party

Our Facilitators and Mentors

You will work in a group of 8 to 12 people with the help of subject matter expert facilitators. In addition, you will be paired with a mentor working with you 1-on-1 on your specific career, business or personal growth challenges.

Depending on the type of the project, different facilitators come in to help students get a better sense of direction and work out a solution. 

Apply for the March program now and save $750 on tuition.

You can also learn more about our students and facilitators.