Smith Business magazine-summer24-paperturn - Flipbook - Page 19
Photos provided by Junior Achievement of Greater Washington
ON CAMPUS
Serving the Community Beyond Campus
Students, Faculty Use Business Expertise to
Fight Fraud, Educate Local High Schoolers
Having an impact in the community
is an important part of the Smith
School’s mission—and Smith faculty
and students are striving to make an
impact in their work, both in and out
of the classroom. Together they are
assisting vulnerable communities,
helping small businesses in the region,
and bringing business education to
high school students.
JUSTICE FOR FRAUD VICTIMS
In this collaboration between the
Smith School, the Prince George’s
County Financial Crimes Unit and the
county State’s Attorney’s Of昀椀ce, Smith
students provide pro bono forensic
accounting and analytics to investigate
昀椀nancial fraud, often involving
rhsmith-editor@umd.edu
vulnerable underserved populations.
The program also hosted a free fraud
prevention seminar for businesses in
November 2023.
Recently the program started
offering free risk assessments for
small businesses and nonpro昀椀ts,
which Samuel Handwerger,
accounting lecturer and program
director, says are most vulnerable
because of their size.
“We can help 昀椀nd and institute easy
mitigating controls without increasing
the organization’s budget,” he says.
JA ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT
Last summer, a group of Maryland
high school students from Prince
George’s and Montgomery Counties
participated in this 12-week
program to build new ventures,
hosted by Smith’s Dingman Center
for Entrepreneurship with Junior
Achievement of Greater Washington.
The program culminated with
the Entrepreneurship Summit Final
Pitch Competition.
“The students launched and ran
two businesses, pitching to investors
for funds and selling to customers at
Union Market in Washington, D.C.,”
says Dingman Managing Director
Michael Hoffmeyer.
BUSINESS INSTITUTE PROGRAM
In fall 2024, the Smith School will kick
off the Business Institute Program.
The program offers rigorous sessions
on leadership, corporate management
and entrepreneurship for students
from Crossland and Potomac High
Schools in Prince George’s County, Md.
summer 2024
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