The Class of 2021 is facing a time unlike any other in human history. In these unprecedented times, we at HBS are so grateful that these students will lead us into a better future filled with possibility, inclusivity, innovation, and collaboration. Here is the Class of 2021:
Fatima Albassam
Collaborating with a friend, Nouf, Fatima launched Jonnah, a nonprofit that would help women with sewing skills get the materials, space, and services necessary to run a garment business. By August 2018, they had successfully launched their first collection of “minimalist designs and modest wear.”
HOME REGION
Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
University of Richmond
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Jonnah, Saudi Aramco
Soltan Bryce
Looking five to ten years out, Soltan believes the true marker of success will be, “Am I more focused on being kind than being right? Will I be grateful instead of guilty? Will I have created opportunities for others? HBS shows me that living my values is my true north.”
HOME REGION
Cambridge, MA & North Carolina
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Athenahealth, The Advisory Board Company
HBS ACTIVITIES
Co-President, Health Care Club, Co-President, PRIDE Club, Soccer Club, Tech Club, Management Consulting Club
Christina Byrd
“While working on cross-functional and strategic initiatives at Uber,” says Christina, “I realized how important it was to speak the language of any role in the organization, and to communicate the value of HR to people who don’t necessarily understand it.” She decided to pursue an MBA because, “I need to meet people where they are – understanding people’s worlds is the most important thing I need to do.”
HOME REGION
Memphis, Tennessee
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
University of California, 2014
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Uber, Compensia
HBS ACTIVITIES
PRIDE Club, Rugby Club
Joy Chen
Joy seized every educational opportunity she could, first in China, and after age ten, in Canada and then the US. At age 16, she landed at Dartmouth, where she studied government and economics. “I wanted to manage organizations that changed people’s lives for the better.” While there, she cofounded local chapters of two nonprofits, in education and healthcare respectively.
HOME REGION
San Francisco, CA
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
Dartmouth College
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Udemy, Levi Strauss & Co., Fidelity Investments, International Rescue Committee
HBS ACTIVITIES
Section A Community Values Rep, Tech Club, Harvard Innovation Labs Venture Incubation Program
Merve Ciplak
Merve believes the combined JD/MBA degree best positions her for leadership in a rapidly changing world. “Today, businesses are creating innovations that law and governments struggle to keep up with. As business becomes more involved in the way society operates, it creates responsibilities that weren’t present before.”
HOME REGION
Ankara, Turkey
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
Koc University
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
UN Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials / Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Bain, World Food Programme, Goldman Sachs, Brandeval
HBS ACTIVITIES
HBS Show, Wine & Cuisine Society
Yaoxin Ding
While serving as a product manager at Fiat, Yaoxin worked closely with colleagues in finance and marketing. “The biggest growth I had as a PM was created by interactions with others,” he says. When he decided to get an MBA to “learn how to commercialize a clean tech product,” he chose HBS for its general management strengths – and its emphasis on communicating with others.
HOME REGION
Xiamen Fujian, China
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
SDIC Fund Management Co., ZhenFund, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US LLC, Cummins Inc., Robert Bosch LLC
HBS ACTIVITIES
Co-president, Transportation, Infrastructure, and Logistics Club
Brice Fodouop
With a goal of establishing a food & beverage company in his home continent, Brice has pursued a career path that prepares him for leadership in manufacturing. “That’s why I studied engineering, then joined W.R. Grace,” says Brice. Through Grace’s rotational program, Brice acquired operational experience in the company’s facilities in Albany (Oregon), Baltimore, and Chicago. “I wanted to know: what are the best practices in manufacturing?”
HOME REGION
Douala, Cameroon
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
Georgia Institute of Technology
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
W.R. Grace
HBS ACTIVITIES
Africa Business Club, Private Equity, General Management Club
Thomaz Galvao
Putting his ideals into action, Thomaz became the co-founder, in 2016, of the McKinsey Black Network in Brazil, an organization that grew from two consultants to sixteen in the two years he worked with the firm. After working at McKinsey, and motivated to “give back so many privileges I had received,” Thomaz joined Teach for Brazil (Ensina Brasil) where he was responsible for managing alumni and partnership strategies.
HOME REGION
São Paulo, Brazil
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
Universidade de São Paulo
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Ensina Brasil, McKinsey, PayPal
HBS ACTIVITIES
Soccer Club Leadership, Education Club, Latin America Club
Adriana Garcia Ceja
As Adriana makes plans for her future – “growing a business through operations and investments” – she reflects on the key leadership insight she has gained so far. “Humble inquiry,” Adriana says. “The importance of listening, being receptive – that’s my number one leadership takeaway.”
HOME REGION
Mexico City, Mexico
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
Columbia University
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
IGNIA, Home Depot, Houlihan Lokey, Inc., Bank of America Merrill Lynch
HBS ACTIVITIES
Student Association, Section D president; Women in Investing Club, director of private equity education; Latino Student Organization
Mark Giragosian
Instead of going directly to college, Mark Giragosian followed high school by going to Chicago – to dance with the Joffrey Ballet. During his eight-year tenure with the dance company, Mark not only fulfilled principal dance roles, but also completed his undergraduate degree at Harold Washington College and Northwestern University, including internships in consulting and investment banking.
HOME REGION
Manassas, VA
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
Northwestern University
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Linden Capital Partners, Morgan Stanley, The Joffrey Ballet
HBS ACTIVITIES
Christian Fellowship, Crimson Parents Club, Health Care Club, Outdoors Club, VCPE Club
Hunter Goble
With a long-term goal to become an executive in a life sciences company, Hunter is already beginning to realize his ambitions on campus through his involvement in Activate, a joint Harvard/MIT life sciences incubator that connects MBA students with scientists in Harvard and MIT’s ecosystem.
HOME REGION
Indianapolis, IN
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
DePauw University
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Eli Lilly & Company
HBS ACTIVITIES
Health Care Club, VCPE Club, CPD Student Advisors, Activate Program
Peter Gumulia
Growing up in Indonesia, Peter Gumulia experienced life as a cycle of “school, athletics, homework, and repeat. Discipline played an important role early on in my life.” This pushed Peter onto the national golf team when he was only sixteen years old, but even at an early age, he knew that golf was not his central passion.
HOME REGION
Jakarta, Indonesia
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
Georgia Institute of Technology
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
GoPay (part of GoJek Group), Bain & Company, Clutch Technologies, Argus Information and Advisory Services
HBS ACTIVITIES
Education Club, Tech Club, Asia Business Club, Southeast Asia Club
Phillip Jones
Phillip recognized that the general shape of his ambitions crossed multiple sectors. “The future,” he says, “requires leadership from both the private and the public sectors. I wanted to grow as a leader grounded in a combination of skills I was lacking. To be grounded in both worlds, private and public, I wanted to go to the best business and policy schools available.” For Phillip, that meant pursuing the joint MBA/MPP degree at HBS and HKS.
HOME REGION
Newport News, VA
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
United States Naval Academy
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
United States Marine Corps
HBS ACTIVITIES
African American Student Union, Armed Forces Alumni Association
Janina Motter
Janina wanted an MBA because she is “passionate about empowering others – I’m looking for more client-facing roles. I want to set myself up with more long-term possibilities.” The joint degree program with Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) proved to be the right choice for Janina. “It’s a newer program targeting people like me interested in joining or launching startups and launching technical products. It also provides many opportunities for project-based coursework.”
HOME REGION
Tallahassee, FL
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
Stanford University
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Heliotrope Technologies, MadeSolid
Abena Nyantekyi-Owusu
Born and raised in Ghana, Abena Nyantekyi-Owusu saw “the impact that business and the private sector have on developing nations.” After graduating from Ashesi University College, she pursued a dynamic career at General Electric where she fulfilled multiple roles. “I worked on products and solutions that contribute to development and are crucial for growth.”
HOME REGION
Accra, Ghana
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
Ashesi University College (Ghana)
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
GE Healthcare
HBS ACTIVITIES
Africa Business Club, Tech Club, African American Student Union(AASU), Beyond Dance Club
Kam Phillips-Sadler
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Kam Phillips-Sadler was “virtually born in a saddle.” Kam’s parents are both riders and ranchers who instilled a love of all things horse and cow in Kam. “I was a rodeo cowgirl,” says Kam, who participated in a number of timed events including barrel racing, pole bending, and goat tying throughout childhood and into her young adult years. In college, however, she turned from wrangling cattle to mentoring children. “I volunteered with children in dream deserts whose idea of fun was throwing rocks at cars,” Kam says. “I wanted to broaden their horizons beyond their neighborhoods.”
HOME REGION
Fort Worth, TX
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
University of Missouri
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Dream Outside the Box, Office of Senator Wendy Davis, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
HBS ACTIVITIES
Black New Venture Competition Co-Director, Women in Investing Club Board Member, African-American Student Union
Maren Quezada
“I came from a background where I was expected to just listen. The case method puts me in a decision maker’s mindset. How can I articulate my mission? Being required to participate gives me the power to share my perspectives.”
HOME REGION
Peru
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
University of California, Berkeley
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Twentieth Century Fox, Johnson & Johnson
HBS ACTIVITIES
Latino Student Organization, Entertainment & Media Club, HBS Tech Club, Volleyball Club
Laura Sandoval
“I almost didn’t apply here because I didn’t think I’d get accepted – why waste time on a long shot? But I’m glad I accepted the risk and took a chance. My advice: aggressively chase your dreams. Don’t self-select yourself out of an opportunity because you think you might not qualify.”
HOME REGION
New York, NY
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
University of Florida
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Zarbee's Naturals (Johnson & Johnson), General Mills
HBS ACTIVITIES
Latino Student Association, Women Student Association, Marketing & Advertising Club
Rob Self
“I started my career in auto,” Rob says, “because it’s simultaneously something that impacts just about every person in the world while being a huge contributor to carbon emissions. I wanted to help people live more comfortable lives while conserving resources on our planet.”
HOME REGION
Ann Arbor, MI
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
University of Michigan
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Ford Motor Company, University of Michigan, Tesla Motors, Inc., BMW Group AG, BMW Manufacturing, Sunventrix LLC
HBS ACTIVITIES
Heartland Club co-president, Midwest Student Association co-president
Bobby Tuohy
A native of Kentucky, Bobby Tuohy “always worked with my hands and built things growing up.” He was naturally attracted to engineering, and like many young people, he dreamed of becoming an astronaut: unlike most young people, however, he actually pursued a path of action that brought him close to his dream.
HOME REGION
Washington, D.C.
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
United States Naval Academy
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
LGS Innovations, Naval Special Warfare Development Group, National Security Agency, Strike Fighter Squadron-122
HBS ACTIVITIES
Armed Forces Alumni Association, LGBT Student Association
Whitney Wilson
Whitney Wilson began her career in international development, assuming a role with the American Chamber of Commerce in Jordan during the midst of the Arab Spring. “I was introduced to CEOs involved in international trade,” Whitney says. “Through them, I was exposed to the business world and the business problems they were solving.” After the Chamber, she accepted a consulting position with Deloitte in Washington DC where she “worked in the strategy and analytics practice for public sector clients. I focused my work around emerging tech and innovation – new processes that could align with their strategic missions.”
HOME REGION
Coos Bay, Oregon
UNDERGRAD EDUCATION
University of Oregon
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Amazon, Retail Leadership Development Program
HBS ACTIVITIES
Outdoors Club Vice President; Member of VCPE, Technology, and Entrepreneurship clubs