BINGHAMTON, NY -- The Young Woman’s Christian Association (YWCA) of Binghamton will be awarded $2,000 as the result of a partnership with Binghamton University’s Strategic Leadership class and Manley’s Mighty Mart.

The Manley’s Service Learning Project partners with teams of Binghamton University students, acting as management consultants, with not-for-profit organizations. Nine teams recently presented their recommendations and reports to their respective executive directors and boards of directors. The projects were then evaluated by two judges, Binghamton University alumni; Jeffrey Saltzman, chief executive officer of OrgVitality and Lisa Abbott, chief human resource officer at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, to determine the winner.

Top honors went to the Quantum Consulting team, who were selected for the appropriateness and implementable nature of their recommendations. The team, consisting of Jacob Bogossian, Jared Helfand, Bryanna Merrill, Krysti Stratton, and Jianbo Zuo, spent 12 weeks and 900 hours working with the YWCA, which offers a variety of emergency and long-term housing programs, childcare, and other services to women and families in Broome County. During the first half of the project, the team conducted research of the YWCA and similar organizations. The scope of their work included surveying clients, staff and community members. The latter half of the project was dedicated to analysis, developing recommendations, and creating a 200-page report for the YWCA of Binghamton.

“We were extremely inspired by the YWCA and the services that it offers,” said Jacob Bogossian, a School of Management student and member of Quantum Consulting. “We wanted to make a tangible impact on the YWCA and offer them recommendations that were simultaneously creative and achievable.”

“The project that Quantum Consulting delivered to the YWCA will make a positive impact on the organization for years to come,” said Carole Coppens, executive director of the YWCA. “Finding out that the project won the competition is the icing on the cake. This is one of the best programs we have ever participated in. Thank you to Professor Jaussi, the students on the Quantum Consultants team and to Manley’s.”

This was the twelfth year that the course has been offered in the capstone class for leadership and consulting majors, and the seventh year Manley’s has sponsored the class. Additional teams of students worked closely with The Handicapped Children’s Association, Cub Care, The Endicott Performing Arts Center, and the Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition (BRSC), amongst other local non-profits.