The DPELC–MSL Speaker Series kicked-off the Spring semester with Suzanne Klahr, JD, Founding Partner at Mayacamas Partners and adjunct professor here at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. Suzanne is also the Founder of BUILD whose mission is to provide real-world entrepreneurial experience that empowers youth from under-resourced communities to excel in education, lead in their communities, and succeed professionally. Suzanne shared her perspectives on social entrepreneurship, her personal story as a founder, and her insights on how students can maximize their potential while staying true to their own values and life purpose.

Suzanne described social entrepreneurship as the “merging of business and philanthropy.”  She told students it is possible to leave a professional legacy in a way that positively affects the bottom line and exhibits compassion for people and community. To best understand values-aligned opportunities and explore our highest potential, Suzanne advised students to spend time considering their own personal ‘why.’

Through sharing personal anecdotes from her own founding story, Suzanne explained to students how she got over the ‘fear of doing something else’ that inhibits so many of us from stepping out of the ordinary and doing great things. Suzanne said, “I am at my best when I am pushing myself to be uncomfortable,” and urged students to find their ‘sweet spot’ – the spot that sits at the intersection of what they do well, what they like to do, and what they might get paid to do.

In sharing her deeply personal story, Suzanne urged students to think about their own founding story and to consider where they will find their joy and their own sweet spot; she encouraged students to seek these things alongside their more standard career goals and ambitions. Suzanne generously fielded a no-holds-barred question and answer session with students; when asked about her time as a JD student, she talked about the intertwined power of networks and community, tying back to a theme from her own founding story and reminding students, “your network is powerful. Use it.”