A cornerstone of the University of Washington MBA student experience, Challenge for Charity (C4C) demonstrates students' commitment to civic consciousness.

Each year, UW MBA students donate thousands of hours and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Special Olympics of Washington and the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County as part of the Challenge for Charity – a competition between the major business schools on the West coast.

Challenge for Charity was founded in 1984 by Stanford MBA student Duncan O’Brien in order to raise money for Special Olympics, an organization which had a tremendous impact on the life of his sister.

C4C has grown into a consortium of nine business schools, providing significant volunteer hours and raising over $400,000 annually for Special Olympics and other community organizations.

University of Washington C4C competes with MBA programs at Stanford, Pepperdine, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC Davis, USF and USC for the coveted Golden Briefcase award. Scoring is tallied by community volunteer hours, fundraising, and an annual springtime athletic competition.