The HBS African American Student Union (AASU) aims to create a close-knit community for its members from the time they choose to join HBS, through their transition to the second year, and extending beyond graduation. In this feature, we highlight the experiences of two AASU members who entered HBS as joint degree students, sharing insights from their time before and during the MBA program.
Swanee Golden (MBA/MPP 2025)
Where is your hometown?
My hometown is Princeton, New Jersey.
What was your pre-MBA industry and role?
Before HBS, I worked on Google’s Social Impact Team as a Global Elections Lead. In this role, I partnered with government agencies, nonprofits, and corporations to promote authoritative voter information across Google’s products.
At what point did you decide to pursue an MBA/MPP program, and why?
During my senior year of undergrad, I applied to HBS’s 2+2 program. I chose to apply to 2+2 because it granted me the flexibility to try new things early in my career, while also allowing me to think strategically about how best to leverage my time at HBS. After working in the social impact space, I decided to pursue a joint degree with the Harvard Kennedy School. I hope to have a career that spans the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Through the joint degree program, I am building skills that will allow me to leverage the strengths of each sector to drive economic and social impact.
How have you leveraged your unique educational experience at HBS?
One of the most unique components of the educational experience at HBS is the case method. This collaborative approach to learning has exposed me to new ways of thinking and has provided creative methods of structuring solutions to problems. It has also sharpened my ability to contribute to discussions. Learning from both my professors and my classmates has made the classroom experience at HBS especially rewarding.
What has been the highlight of your HBS experience thus far?
The highlight of my HBS experience so far has been building community with my joint degree cohort and with my section. From retreats to seminars and impromptu lunches in Spangler, spending time getting to know my classmates has been incredibly gratifying.
What do you wish all applicants knew about HBS and the greater Harvard community?
In addition to helping students build skills to pursue pre-existing goals, HBS also exposes students to new careers and opportunities that they may not have been aware of before graduate school. I hope applicants are aware of the incredible asset that is HBS’s ability to expand students’ views of what is possible.
Michael Amoako (MS/MBA 2025)
Where is your hometown?
My hometown is Teaneck, New Jersey.
What was your pre-MBA industry and role?
I explored several different roles prior to attending HBS. My post-MIT career began at Microsoft, where I spent several years as a Product Manager working on Artificial Intelligence, eventually specializing in Responsible AI and Ethics. After Microsoft, I spent a few years exploring entrepreneurship, both on the operator side – joining and founding startups in the crypto space – and on the investor side as a Venture Partner and mentor at firms including Bessemer and A16z. Right before HBS, I did a pre-MBA internship at Wellington Management on their small-cap value team, gaining exposure to software public equities investing.
At what point did you decide to pursue an MS/MBA, and why?
I applied to Harvard through the 2+2 program long before I fully knew what I wanted to pursue with my MBA. The deferral program gave me the flexibility and confidence to explore several career paths, knowing that the MS/MBA would always be a future option. My final decision to pursue the MS/MBA came towards the end of my deferral period, at which point I wanted to hone my skills at the intersection of technology and business.
How have you leveraged your unique educational experience at HBS?
The MS/MBA has given me many unique opportunities to learn through hands-on projects. Within the first year I have: delivered a product design around Generative AI to a multinational engineering and technology company, built a prototype for an electromechanical device, and learned about AI-integrated hardware from my classmates.
What has been the highlight of your HBS experience thus far?
Every year each HBS section hosts a flag day, where we celebrate the countries that the HBS class collectively represents through food, presentations, and a ceremonial flag-raise. Growing up Ghanaian-American has shaped me significantly, and it was great to be able to share this with my peers while also learning about their roots. The campus-wide sense of pride and enthusiasm on this day was certainly the highlight of my HBS experience thus far.
What do you wish all applicants knew about HBS and the greater Harvard community?
The Harvard network is incredibly vast. Engage in conversations with everyone—peers, faculty, and others—and remain open-minded!