Students in the Management Consulting and Analytics (MCA) major at Virginia Tech are demonstrating how business education can create meaningful impact far beyond the classroom. In the capstone consulting course at the Pamplin College of Business, students provide pro bono consulting services to external organizations and apply the full range of strategic, analytical, and problem-solving skills they developed throughout their academic journey.

One recent project combined professional consulting with a powerful social mission.

A student consulting team consisting of Ariya Amin, Amelia Curry, Georgia Kramlich, Wilson Moroz, and Jose Salazar Ureta partnered with Wish Them Well Togo, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building and repairing wells that provide access to clean water in Northern Togo.

For many communities in rural Togo, access to clean water remains a daily challenge. Women and children often spend hours searching for water, frequently relying on unsafe sources that contribute to serious health risks and waterborne diseases. Through sustainable well-building projects and close collaboration with local communities, Wish Them Well Togo is creating lasting positive change that improves health, education, and economic opportunity.

Throughout the semester, the Virginia Tech consulting team developed a strategic and operational roadmap designed to help the organization strengthen its impact, expand fundraising opportunities, improve visibility, and build a foundation for long-term growth.

“This project showed us how consulting can truly make a difference,” said student consultant Ariya Amin. “It was rewarding to know that the work we were doing could help improve lives and create opportunities for communities in Togo.”

Student consultant Wilson Moroz emphasized the value of the experiential learning approach. “This was much more than a classroom assignment,” he said. “We had to think strategically, work as a professional consulting team, and deliver recommendations that the client could realistically implement.”

The student team conducted extensive research and analysis while developing practical recommendations related to fundraising, stakeholder engagement, marketing, organizational development, and long-term strategic planning. The project challenged students to connect the dots across everything they had learned in the MCA program and transform that knowledge into actionable insight and value for the client.

Amina Capaldi, founder and president of Wish Them Well Togo, expressed her appreciation for the partnership and the professionalism of the Virginia Tech student team.

“The students exceeded our expectations with the depth of their analysis, professionalism, and passion for our mission,” said Capaldi. “Their recommendations provided us with a clear roadmap for growth, and we are excited to implement many of their ideas as we continue expanding our impact in Togo.”

“This is exactly what experiential learning is about,” said Dirk Buengel, faculty member in the Department of Management and instructor of the capstone course. “Students are not simply learning frameworks in theory. They are applying their knowledge to solve meaningful challenges and create real value for organizations and society.”

The capstone consulting course serves as the culmination of the Management Consulting and Analytics major and provides students with a fully experiential consulting engagement that mirrors professional practice. By working directly with external clients, students gain hands-on experience in strategy development, analytics, teamwork, communication, and implementation-focused problem solving.

Projects like this highlight the broader mission of Virginia Tech’s Department of Management: preparing students not only to become outstanding business professionals, but also leaders who use their skills to create positive impact in the world.

Through their work with Wish Them Well Togo, these students demonstrated that business knowledge, when combined with purpose and compassion, can truly help create more good for people and communities in need.