08:40 – 08:50
Registration & welcome coffee
08:50 – 09:00
Welcome & Introduction to the Programme
- Sankar Sivarajah, Head, Kingston Business School
09:00 – 09:30
Setting the scene: Building a business school for social impact through a purpose-driven approach
- Enrico Bellazzecca, Associate Dean – Sustainability and Impact, POLIMI Graduate School of Management
9:30–11:00
Point Zero: Profiling your social impact strategy and journey through purpose
- Sankar Sivarajah, Head, Kingston Business School
This opening session sets the foundation for the rest of the programme. It invites participants to pause and identify Point Zero. Using the Social Impact Canvas, participants will map their institution’s current position in its social impact journey: clarifying purpose, identifying strengths, and surfacing gaps between aspiration and practice. By the end, each participant will have a visual profile of their current impact strategy – an anchor point from which the rest of the workshop builds. This shared starting framework enables honest conversation, peer exchange, and a clearer sense of direction for embedding purpose more deeply into organisational DNA.
11:00–11:30
Networking Coffee Break
11:30–12:30
Module 1: Purpose as a strategic approach to Social Impact Part 1
- Enrico Bellazzecca, Associate Dean – Sustainability and Impact, POLIMI Graduate School of Management
- Sankar Sivarajah, Head, Kingston Business School
This session focuses on how a clear institutional purpose can anchor and strengthen a business school’s social impact strategy. Participants will reflect on how vision, value proposition and guiding principles shape culture, priorities, and societal contribution. Through short activities, they will have an opportunity to reflect on their own institutional purpose narrative, ensuring it aligns with their school’s identity and aspirations. By the end, participants will have a concise foundation for a purpose-led strategy that informs decisions and future impact initiatives.
12:30– 14:00
Lunch
14:00– 15:00
Module 1: Purpose as a strategic approach to Social Impact Part 2
- Sankar Sivarajah, Head, Kingston Business School
- Enrico Bellazzecca, Associate Dean – Sustainability and Impact, POLIMI Graduate School of Management
Building on Part 1, this session focuses on translating purpose into priorities. Through brief exercises and peer discussion, they will stress-test their purpose narratives and explore how these can guide strategic decisions and impact priorities. By the end, participants will have a clearer, more actionable foundation for embedding purpose into their school’s social impact strategy.
15:00– 15:30
Networking Coffee Break
15:30– 17:00
Module 2: Business & Community engagement
- Angela Montagano, Sustainability & Impact, Internationalisation and Quality COO, POLIMI Graduate School of Management
- Martina Giulianelli, Project Manager and Designer, OpenDot Foundation*
- Marta Savoldelli, Project Manager, OpenDot Foundation
This session explores how partnerships with businesses, public bodies, and community organisations enhance a school’s social impact. Participants will look at models of effective collaboration and consider how their own institutions can build stronger, more inclusive relationships with key stakeholders. Through stakeholder mapping, they will identify opportunities for shared value and more sustainable engagement. The session concludes with participants outlining priority partnership actions that can deepen community impact and better connect their school to its wider ecosystem.
*Opendot, a Milan-based open innovation and design research lab, works at the intersection of technology, social inclusion and community co‑creation. Its projects demonstrate how participatory approaches and cross‑sector collaboration can generate meaningful social impact and scalable solutions.
19:00-21:30
Welcome dinner
