UPF Barcelona School of Management joins ‘Leave Your Mark’, an international network that puts managerial skills at the service of non-profit organisations

The business school will participate for the first time in the initiative promoted by POLIMI Graduate School of Management, which connects students, alumni and faculty with third-sector organisations to develop high-impact pro bono consulting projects.

UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM) is joining Leave Your Mark, the international professional volunteering initiative promoted by POLIMI Graduate School of Management, with the aim of putting the knowledge and expertise of its community at the service of third-sector organisations through pro bono consulting projects. By joining the initiative, UPF-BSM becomes part of a project that aims to create a European network of management expertise serving non-profit organisations.

In Spain, the social economy generates more than 1.2 million direct jobs and accounts for 4% of national Gross Value Added, according to the Social Economy Satellite Account 2019–2023 published by the National Statistics Institute (INE). At the same time, the sector has highlighted the need to strengthen the professionalisation and sustainability of organisations in order to expand their social impact. In this context, initiatives such as Leave Your Mark seek to connect management talent with the real needs of these organisations through pro bono consulting projects.

Through the initiative, UPF-BSM students, alumni and faculty will be able to put their knowledge at the service of third-sector organisations, taking part in pro bono consulting projects in areas such as strategy, marketing, innovation, digitalisation, communications, fundraising and organisational development.

“At UPF Barcelona School of Management, we believe it is our responsibility to help educate leaders who are not only outstanding professionals, but who are also capable of creating value for society. We are very pleased to join forces with leading business schools across Europe in an initiative that demonstrates how collaboration between institutions of excellence can amplify our collective impact and generate meaningful social change beyond borders,” says José M. Martínez-Sierra, General Director and Provost of UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM).

"At UPF Barcelona School of Management, social impact is deeply embedded in the way we understand our role as a business school. Over the years, we have built a strong network of organisations with whom we collaborate on projects aimed at improving people’s wellbeing and helping organisations better understand and measure their social impact. Joining forces with POLIMI GSoM through Leave Your Mark is an opportunity to strengthen this ecosystem, connect our communities and multiply the impact we can generate together", explains Ana Freire, Vicedean for Social Impact and Academic Innovation of UPF-BSM.

An international network putting knowledge at the service of the third sector

Promoted by POLIMI Graduate School of Management together with the Gianluca Spina Association, Leave Your Mark was launched in 2021 with the aim of connecting the talent and expertise of the academic community with the needs of third-sector organisations.

Through teams made up of alumni, faculty and professionals from participating schools, the initiative develops pro bono consulting projects tailored to the specific needs of each organisation. Participants work alongside organisations to design strategic plans, organisational models, fundraising strategies, digital transformation processes, communications plans and innovation initiatives, among other areas, with the aim of delivering practical solutions and generating lasting impact.

“Leave Your Mark was born from a simple but powerful idea: skills can create social value just as financial resources can,” says Federico Frattini, Dean of POLIMI Graduate School of Management. “Through this initiative, alumni, faculty and staff put their knowledge, experience and time at the service of organisations that face complex challenges every day and generate a tangible impact in their communities. It is a project that creates value for all those involved and that, today, thanks to its expansion, has the potential to become a model for collaboration on an international scale.”

The addition of UPF-BSM marks the beginning of a new stage for the project, which in its sixth edition is expanding its international dimension with the participation of new partners.

A well-established project that continues to grow

Since its creation in 2021, Leave Your Mark has worked with 44 non-profit organisations, supported 59 projects and mobilised 268 alumni, faculty and professionals from participating schools. In the 2025 edition alone, 15 organisations took part, 20 projects were developed and more than 120 volunteers collectively contributed over 1,250 hours of pro bono consulting.

The organisations that have participated in the initiative include Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam Italy, CESVI, Banco Alimentare, Dynamo Camp, FightTheStroke Foundation and Humana People to People Italia, which have worked alongside participating teams to strengthen their organisational models, develop new fundraising strategies, drive innovation processes and expand their capacity to collaborate with other social stakeholders.

Leave Your Mark aims to consolidate an international community of business schools committed to generating social impact, demonstrating that management talent and specialised knowledge can become powerful tools for strengthening the third sector and helping address some of the major social challenges of our time.