Dear xxxxx,

We are delighted to inform you about a newly established scholarship for the MBA programme, for those students pursuing social or green ventures.
The Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship has been established at the GSB as a result of a partnership between the GSB and The Bertha Foundation.

The centre will drive research in, and promote the practice of social innovation and entrepreneurship and will provide courses and is designing an elective action learning programme on the MBA. Furthermore, the centre will run an outreach programme training social entrepreneurs. This moves the GSB one step closer to reaching a goal of motivating “business for better”.

The focus will be on encouraging MBA students to fully realise projects and business ideas that make a real positive impact on society and they will have access to communities and to mentors to build on their ideas and create companies.
The school aims to continue catering for those students looking for the traditional MBA, but there will be an unavoidable added facet – students will graduate with a social conscience.

As part of the Centre’s outreach, five MBA scholarships have been established. Please see the information below about eligibility and applying for the Bertha scholarship.

ELIGIBILITY FOR THE BERTHA SCHOLARSHIP

The criteria used for selection of Bertha Scholars are:

Candidates must be a resident of an African country
Candidates must have started or worked in an entrepreneurial social or green venture, or have worked on developing base of pyramid or social business strategies in a corporation for at least 1 year
Candidates must demonstrate a strong moral character, strong entrepreneurial drive, a track record of action, leadership qualities, traits of social activism and a commitment to the sustainable development of emerging economies
Through the submission of an essay, candidates must show how the MBA at this stage in their career will help to accelerate their impact and how it will contribute to the wider creation of value for society
Candidates must demonstrate some need for the scholarship, through either previous work experience, personal background or demonstrated commitment to start a social venture, which make self-funding the MBA a significant burden.
HOW TO APPLY FOR THE BERTHA SCHOLARSHIP

Candidates must independently and concurrently apply for the MBA of the UCT Graduate School of Business. See www.gsb.uct.ac.za/mba for full details about the MBA programme, eligibility, criteria and how to apply to the business school.
At the time of applying for the MBA, or after their submission, interested candidates must state their interest in the scholarship by emailing the Bertha Centre at berthacentre@gsb.uct.ac.za with the words “Bertha Scholarship” in the subject line and your full contact details in the body of the email.
After the submission of your MBA application, GSB admissions will first assess your application to ensure that you meet the academic requirements sought by the school. Those candidates accepted onto the MBA will be sent an essay question for application to the Bertha Scholarship that should be submitted to berthacentre@gsb.uct.ac.za.
Following the submission of the essay, the Bertha Centre will consider the candidates for the Bertha Scholarship and will invite a shortlist for a video, phone or personal interview.  The final decision and award of the scholarship will be made by a panel decision of the Bertha Centre and the MBA staff representative shortly afterwards, following which candidates will be informed.
THE VALUE OF THE BERTHA SCHOLARSHIP

The Bertha Scholarship covers full costs of the MBA programme at the UCT Graduate School of Business.  The Scholarship may also assist with a modest stipend to partially cover living expenses or travel to Cape Town to those candidates who demonstrate such a need.  The Scholarship Committee assesses need based on previous earnings, personal circumstances, geographical location, and future earning potential. 


For further information, see www.gsb.uct.ac.za/berthacentre
For any queries about the Scholarship, please email berthacentre@gsb.uct.ac.za with the words “Scholarship Query” in the subject line.

If you fit the bill and are interested, give it a go.

Would be interesting to see Nigerians interested in BOP strategies and social entrepreneurship.
Nigerians, as the saying goes, neva chop beleful

No interest in the house?