Dear MED colleagues,
You are warmly invited to our off-site PDW on Purpose-Driven Organizing and Experiential Learning, in collaboration with Saxbys Coffee, on Friday, July 31, 2026, from 12:00 to 1:30 PM. Co-developed with Saxbys' leadership and learning teams, this PDW offers an immersive, field-based exploration of social enterprise, experiential learning, and purpose-driven organizational design through a site visit and facilitated dialogue with Saxbys-a Philadelphia-based education company known for its Experiential Learning Platform (E.L.P.®) and pioneering "Student CEO" model. In this model, undergraduate students hold paid, full-time operational leadership roles with responsibility for people, performance, and day-to-day decision-making, integrating management education and leadership development directly into business operations.
Participants will engage directly with Saxbys leadership, current Student CEOs, and program alumni, then move into small-group conversations on the tensions and design choices that shape a mission-driven organization in daily practice. The session is designed to be dialogue-driven rather than presentational, with the cafe itself serving as the case site.
What Participants Will Take Away
- Direct access to a working experiential-learning model and the people inside it
- A practitioner-grounded perspective on mission-margin tensions, role design, and scaling in a mission-driven organization
- Reference materials on the ELP model for use in their own teaching, research, and program design
- Open invitation to follow up with Saxbys for case development, classroom visits, or future collaboration
Pre-registration is required (owing to limited capacity) using the following form: https://forms.gle/AY31cUoB8ZbFTY8HA
PS. And Because no one should have to contemplate purpose-driven organizing on an empty stomach - coffee and light refreshments will be provided!
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Hyeonjin Cha, PhD (he/him)
Assistant Professor of Management & Organizations
Freeman College of Management
Bucknell University
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