Mara Rose

Mara has spent nearly 30 years working across nonprofit organizations, government agencies, higher education, and for-profit social ventures. Throughout her career, she has moved between sectors in management and consulting roles, balancing hands-on experience in building social-impact ventures with mentoring and supporting students and entrepreneurs navigating the complexities of mission-driven work.

She has founded and led two social-impact companies and served as the executive director of two nonprofit organizations—one in Colorado and one in New York City. In addition, she has played a key role in funding, educating, and advising impact-driven entrepreneurs as the Director of Social Entrepreneurship at the NYU Stern School of Business, a Program Officer at the Louis Calder Foundation, and a mentor with Watson Institute and Entrepreneurship for All. As a consultant and coach, she has provided growth strategy, business planning, and marketing support to values-aligned businesses and nonprofits.

Mara’s work has always been deeply rooted in social and environmental impact, with a focus on education, sustainability, social entrepreneurship, and community resilience. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, an MA in Education from Columbia University’s Teachers College, and a BA in Religious Studies from Macalester College.

Mara's Coaching Philosophy 

Since 2020, I’ve had the privilege of working with MENV students as an instructor, capstone partner, capstone advisor, and career coach. What I love most about coaching is meeting students exactly where they are—helping them connect their values to professional opportunities and, ultimately, to meaningful career paths.

Because so many MENV students pursue work in emerging fields, you must be creative, tenacious, and proactive. My approach starts with understanding your motivations, background, and goals. From there, we refine materials, shape a compelling personal narrative, clarify the skills you have and the ones you want to develop, and design strategies to test your hypotheses, prototype opportunities, and build connections.