The Center for Social Impact Learning (CSIL) is proud to announce a new way for the MIIS community to engage with emerging markets: the CSIL Research Fellowship. The research fellowship combines a placement with a local partner in a frontier market and an independent research project to create an opportunity for CSIL to explore global business innovation more deeply than ever before. The inaugural Fellowship was granted to Molly McKeon MAIEP ’15 to conduct research on the future of micro-finance in Mongolia. Molly will be based out of Ulaanbaatar with the Executive Excellence International Business Center working on local small and medium business development, while exploring the link between micro-finance and entrepreneurship in larger Mongolia.
During her time at MIIS, Molly developed a keen interest in and research portfolio on Mongolian economic development. After participating in the Frontier Market Scouts (FMS) program she began to explore the nascent social entrepreneurship field in Mongolia. Now, in preparation for her project, Molly is currently a Title VIII Fellow in a summer intensive Mongolian Language program. The CSIL Research Fellowship will allow her to build off the skills she acquired in the FMS program while leveraging her background in research methods, and pursuing her fourth language. We know Molly will make a great addition to the CSIL family and we can’t wait to see what she will accomplish!