Get to Know Class Day Student Speaker Chris Hood
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BOSTON—Chris Hood (MBA 2025) has been selected as the student speaker for Harvard Business School’s (HBS) Class Day celebration, held this year on Wednesday, May 28. Class Day honors graduating students and typically takes place on the day before the School’s and University’s official graduation ceremonies. It is planned and conducted by a committee of second-year MBA students. Hood has either 17 or 18 tattoos–he can’t quite remember. He does know that the most recent is for his two-year old daughter, Leilani. It’s a rendering of the Hawaiian translation of her name: flower from heaven. Hood’s tattoos might meld in his mind, and on the Polynesian sleeve on his thigh, but the insights gained over his 35 years, and the basis for his speech to his graduating MBA Class of 2025, is crystal clear: Embrace a habit of reflection, prioritize humility, and live a life full of adventure and courage. Hood says he had the basic concept of his Class Day speech in minutes. “I used my journals, where I’ve highlighted specific principles that I want to live by–so I grabbed a few and added the genuine feelings I have for myself and for the people that I hold dear.” “There's an interesting duality in the overarching goals that we have in life,” says Hood. “We want to let nothing get in the way of our aspirations to have big impact, but at the same time, it's a thin line between being a really awesome operator and being pretentious and ineffective. A lot of my thoughts about life revolve around this idea of pushing yourself to excel while also being humble. Sounds cheesy, but just being unimpressed with yourself.” As a teenager growing up in Western Massachusetts, Harvard never figured into Hood’s perception of his future. But after an undergraduate degree from the Naval Academy and a career as a Marine Corps pilot, he wanted similar leadership opportunities in the civilian sector. An MBA would give him that toolkit: definable skills, a chance to excel at a prestigious school, and two years of self-reflection and hard work. He and his wife Liz–also contemplating an MBA–visited for Students Day and saw the globally diverse community they were seeking. Harvard Business School was a place where they could thrive while having their perspectives challenged; where they could be supported and encouraged to grow intellectually and personally. That community was more critical than they could ever have imagined when four-month old Leilani was diagnosed with cancer in the fall of Hood’s first year. His new sectionmates delivered homecooked meals, study notes, and crucial emotional support as the new family navigated the unexpected maze of pediatric oncology care. “The community was lifesaving, and I will be forever grateful to HBS, AASU [African American Student Union], and Section C,” said Hood. Hood focused on finance at HBS, a field that has intrigued him since his undergrad years. He sees financial literacy as not only an underpinning of success and upward mobility, but as a tool to help shape a more equitable society. “If you are buying pieces of a company or supporting a startup, you are voting for that thing to exist. That's a beautiful and awesome way of ensuring that your world, and the world at large, is a better place.” Little Leilani is now a toddler in remission, Liz is in the MBA Class of 2026, and Hood just completed his first marathon, raising funds for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. As he prepares to graduate and start a new role in consulting, he’s looking back on these two years with gratitude and humility–doing the best he can, muddling through mistakes and successes like all human beings. “Sure, I'm a Black man in America who did well in school, I come from below the poverty line, and my mom's an immigrant. But while I do think there's value in being a good representative, at the end of the day this graduation speech won’t be about highlighting my life. I don't particularly think that I have a unique, special story,” said Hood. “I’m going to focus on continuing the momentum that HBS has given all of us in the areas I think are important. I’m a little older and more settled, and have some clarity on what I want out of life. Every day at HBS I could study a few cases, learn business lessons, and then mostly be with my family. Having two years to do that was critical; it allowed me to make sure I was aligned with my values and what I wanted my life to be.” |
Mark Cautela
mcautela+hbs.edu
617-495-5143
About Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School, located on a 40-acre campus in Boston, was founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University. It is among the world's most trusted sources of management education and thought leadership. For more than a century, the School's faculty has combined a passion for teaching with rigorous research conducted alongside practitioners at world-leading organizations to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. Through a dynamic ecosystem of research, learning, and entrepreneurship that includes MBA, Doctoral, Executive Education, and Online programs, as well as numerous initiatives, centers, institutes, and labs, Harvard Business School fosters bold new ideas and collaborative learning networks that shape the future of business.