28/03/2023
Each year, students from IE Business School start off the semester by working on a community service project in collaboration with Splash Projects. Although the main focus of each project assigned is to serve the local community around Madrid, they vary in scale and scope year after year.
Past projects have included building shaded seating areas, playgrounds and sensory gardens. While putting their time and energy into helping others, students learn about themselves and one another through this large-scale hands-on construction project.
With community service at its core, IE Business School’s Splash Projects are team-building and leadership development programs with a purpose.
They strive to help students develop leadership skills not by taking a leadership class, but by diving head first into a challenging situation where they learn through doing while also thinking about the well-being of their community.
Long-lasting skills and personal growth
What students learn through these projects is not just the ability to assemble community spaces and serve their community, but real-world skills that they can apply to many situations, as well as the feeling that comes behind impactful actions.
The project was a lot of fun and a great learning experience—I really enjoyed working with my team. We had to practice our communication skills and find a mode of working that worked for everyone. It was fun to work outside together and see everyone so motivated to finish our part of the project. – Paolina Buck, Master in Management student
By approaching challenges with a new mindset, students gain new thinking and behavioral skills through their work with these types of projects.
By learning more about themselves, students are able to effectively work together and foster an environment where everyone can thrive.
We all learned a lot from each other, you could see who was a leader and who had a strong work ethic. I found it to be very positive. Starting the program with this project was a great ice breaker—it helped us get to know each other. – Gonzalo Rengifo, Master in Management student
Out of your comfort zone and into a new you
This community service project was designed to throw students into an unfamiliar environment with a seemingly impossible task: build something out of nothing, together.
Students come into the project understanding who they are; which could be someone with a mind for business but perhaps a personal adversity against assembling IKEA furniture or a fear of using power tools. But by the end of the day, they emerge as a new and improved version of themselves, someone capable of assembling something useful from scratch with the help of their peers.
IE Business School’s commitment to finding the next best you
The transformation that students experience through these service projects can be seen as a prelude to the personal and professional growth that students experience in their programs.
Through service projects and helping communities, students are able to explore their passions, find their purpose and further develop leadership skills in a real-life setting.
As a result, these students are able to make a positive impact on their community, improve leadership and communication skills and become part of a new generation of business professionals dedicated to making a better world.
For me, the project was very fulfilling. I could tell we were generating a very positive impact for the school, the kids and the community. – Gonzalo Rengifo, Master in Management student
Making a purposeful impact
Building a playground or seating area isn’t just about construction–it’s about creating connections and making an impact within a team, a community and in the lives of the people these projects touch. Community service projects such as these can have a widespread and long-term impact, creating spaces for people of all ages to enjoy for years to come.
