Loyola Consulting Group Empowers Both Students and Their Clients

Loyola Consulting Group, a club for students who provide pro bono consulting services to small businesses in Baltimore, grew in both size and sophistication this year. Structured to mentor students at every level, the group provides members with professional development, real-world experience, and business skills all while helping local organizations.

“We start with students who can join first as analysts and rise to the group’s student management team,” said CeCe Grimberg, ’28, director of marketing for the group. “We work to develop members into leaders. They start as analysts, learn how to work on a team, and get a feel for how professional consulting firms operate with objectives and deadlines.”

Three students established Loyola Consulting Group in 2020 with about 10 students serving four clients. The group has grown to more than 70 students this year and served eight clients during the fall 2025 semester. The group’s student consultants lead teams of student analysts who serve both nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses.

Students from across disciplines comprise the group, which can provide a range of services. Students develop digital marketing strategies for clients and improve their websites, social media, and email marketing, for example. They help clients streamline their operations and track their product inventory. They provide grant planning, sponsorship research, and financial projections to increase income, all made possible through the group’s strategic selection and planning process.

“Once we’ve chosen our consultants and analysts for the semester, we look at their majors, skillsets, and interests and pair them with clients who share similar values and can benefit from their qualifications,” Grimberg said. “It’s all about finding the right pieces of the puzzle.”

Loyola Consulting Group accepts new clients every semester: a senior dog rescue, an autism advocacy nonprofit, a smoothie restaurant, stationery shop, a crab sauce manufacturer, and a professional recruiting firm are examples of past clients. Student teams meet weekly and complete their work with presentations at the end of each semester.

Each student team works with a dedicated faculty mentor, and Loyola Consulting Group’s management team receives guidance from the group’s faculty advisor, Dave Luvison, DBA, executive in residence and chair of the department of management and organizations.

“It’s not just a club standing by itself. We’ve got a lot of generous faculty mentors helping the teams succeed,” Luvison said. “What happens in many cases is the student teams develop their plans and then bounce them off their faculty mentors who help them enhance their plans for their clients. Students work together within their teams, with the officers of the club, and then with their mentors.”

The mentoring process prepares the students for their regularly changing portfolio of clients.

“You get new challenges and new faces every semester,” Grimberg said. “The cycle helps keep the energy up and provides real-world experience. As a professional consultant, your firm will serve different clients and take on different projects. We want to expose students to as many companies and connections as possible.”

That exposure has helped Grimberg grow, she said, giving her real-world experience and boosting her confidence in talking with clients and adults in general. It also works the other way around, introducing organizations to Sellinger School students, which in Grimberg’s case led to an internship with one of her clients.

“If you do a good job, the clients notice that, and when they have positions or want more student insight on their team, you could be one of the first people they reach out to,” Grimberg said. “Of all my job interviews, I can’t think of a single one where they haven’t inquired about my professional experience with Loyola Consulting Group.”