William Towns
Adjunct Professor in Kellogg’s Sustainability and Social Impact Program
William W. Towns PhD, MBA is a distinguished educator, strategist and consultant whose work sits at the intersection of business, public policy, leadership, and social impact. With a deep commitment to developing purpose-driven leaders, his teaching emphasizes cross-sector collaboration, inclusive economic development, and strategic innovation. Dr. Towns designs immersive, real-world learning experiences that challenge students, executives, and entrepreneurs alike to think critically, lead with intention, and develop scalable solutions to today’s most pressing societal challenges.
As a seasoned advisor, Dr. Towns has counseled more than a thousand executives across nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and Fortune 500 companies. His expertise spans strategic planning, organizational transformation, and system-level change, helping leaders address structural imbalances while achieving measurable, long-term impact.
Through his work in the classroom, the boardroom, and beyond, Dr. Towns is committed to bridge the gap between theory and practice. He equips students and leaders alike with the tools to drive innovation, foster growth, and navigate the complexities of an ever-evolving world. His mission is clear: to inspire and empower transformative changes that allow businesses, their employees and communities to thrive.
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PhD, Benedictine University,
MBA, University of Notre Dame
BA, Loyola University
Venture Equity (SSIMX-962-0)
Investing for Community Impact (SSIMX-945-0)
Corporate Social Innovation (SSIMX-917-0)
Investing for Community Impact (SSIM-945-0)
In this experiential learning course, student teams evaluate local community development investment opportunities and present their recommendations to an internal investment committee to guide the deployment of capital from Kellogg’s Community Impact Fund. The course equips students with the tools, frameworks, and hands-on experience to deploy capital that creates meaningful social and economic change. Working in teams, students partner with community-based organizations, small businesses, and municipal leaders to evaluate and structure investment opportunities that advance growth across key areas such as housing, health, food systems, and workforce development. Through applied research, due diligence, and engagement with civic and philanthropic stakeholders, students learn how to align financial strategy with measurable community impact bridging business acumen and social innovation to strengthen local economies.
Corporate Social Innovation (SSIM-917-5)
Measures of business success have changed as the expectations of consumers, investors and employees shift beyond such basic key performance indicators of free cash flows, revenue growth rates, and inventory turnover. Today's businesses are also assessed on their contributions to address many of today's most pressing social ills, such as climate change, economic disparity, and structural discrimination.
William W. Towns, Ph.D., MBA founding Executive Director of Benefit Chicago will teach this course about purpose within and across the enterprise. This course will examine how companies are responding to this challenge through the use of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies. You will gain an understanding of CSR's key concepts and its continued evolution, learn how to create organizational shared value through a Corporate Social Innovation framework, explore specific examples of successful CSR strategy implementation, and come away better equipped to identify innovative CSR opportunities and approaches.
Field Study (SSIM-498-5)
Field Studies include those opportunities outside of the regular curriculum in which a student is working with an outside company or non-profit organization to address a real-world business challenge for course credit under the oversight of a faculty member.
Field Study (SSIM-498-0)
