As I read the article MBA Route Boosts Non-Profit Sector in Monday's Financial Times, a comment I heard six years ago came back to mind. Somewhat early in my career, I sat in a business school classroom at one of the top universities with other equally eager young nonprofit professionals. Our organizations (and sometimes our own pockets) dished over a decent amount of hard-earned cash to take management and leadership classes at the business school to learn more "hard" skills and enhance our impact. After reading a handful of Harvard Business Review cases and role-playing various management scenarios, a young woman raised her hand. "I am really sick the underlying message that this course and everything else I seem hear these days that nonprofits need to be more business-like. The implicit assumption is that we do not know what we are doing...."

As she went on, more hands were raised. Not shy half-raised arms, but pointing fingers, waving arms - "you need to let me talk before I collapse" raised hands. A debate was ignited. The core question behind this debate was whether nonprofit leaders and the strategies they employ are effective....or not. People had a lot to say.

This insightful article centers on the trend of MBAs pursuing the nonprofit route and nonprofit firms looking to hire MBAs (Disclosure, I was quoted in the article as someone who thinks there is value to hiring MBAs). But I think back to the debate I took part in many many moons ago and more so, what is underneath this trend. Perhaps it is connected to the growing interest in among Americas to pursue "meaning" through one's career, whatever your path (math, science, business, it doesn't matter). Perhaps, as the author suggested, it is driven by new philanthropists, who earned their "keep" through employing their well-developed "business-skills." Perhaps it is about opening up choice to line-cross throughout one's career.
So, once again, I am curious...what do you think? What does the trend of getting an MBA (or taking classes as I did) as part of the nonprofit career experience mean to you?