Changing the World One Child at a Time: Dean Crowe, CEO of Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research, Receives Social Impact Award from the Harvard Business School Club of Atlanta

It is not often that asking a friend what you can do to help results in a life-changing event for yourself and others. In 2005, Dean Crowe asked this question of a mother whose 14-year-old son was diagnosed with a brain tumor for the second time in two years.  The mother responded, “Raise money for childhood cancer research and fund the best research, wherever it may be.” The Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research was born.

On September 19, 2024, the Harvard Business School Club of Atlanta awarded Dean Crowe, Founder and CEO of Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research, with its inaugural Social Impact Award at its 90^th anniversary gala.

Dean exemplifies the essence of why the Club invests in local nonprofits and their leaders.  In describing the award, Ed Shartar, VP – Social Enterprise Initiatives, Harvard Business Club of Atlanta, said “The Social Impact Award is given to a nonprofit leader who is affiliated with Harvard and whose Georgia-based organization has had a significant community impact and a track record of continuous growth. Dean was the Club’s unanimous choice for the inaugural presentation of this award as she has fundamentally changed the dialogue and funding for childhood cancer research in the U.S. Her story as a founder and business leader is inspiring. She and Rally are literally increasing the quality of and saving lives.”

“Receiving the inaugural Social Impact Award is truly humbling. I am deeply grateful to the HBS Club of Atlanta for its scholarship program which made my transformative experience at the Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management course possible. Each day at Rally, I apply valuable insights I gained from the case study method and what I learned from the global leaders in attendance. I also recognize that many Atlanta scholarship recipients are equally deserving of this honor, and I am honored to be among them,” stated Dean Crowe.