Meet Stanford’s MBA Class of 2018

Ruth Adu-Daako

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: I have an intimate relationship with my mind that allows me to think, process and do.

Hometown: Kumasi, Ghana.

Fun fact about yourself: At age 5, after learning proper nouns in school, I insisted everyone calls me Ruth with a capital R and I could sense when you mentioned my name with a small letter ‘r.’

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of Cape Coast; Bachelor of Commerce.

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

Assistant Management Controller – Golden Exotics Limited

Summer Associate (Mobile Money Division) – PEG Solar

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I developed an internal audit system for an organic certification label for a new 32-hectare organic banana farm at Golden Exotics. We had just commenced organic farming and we were concerned about whether we can control pest, weeds and produce compost on a large scale to meet all organic certification requirements. After two years, the project successfully expanded to 100 hectares and we began a process to convert our existing 1,500 hectares of conventional bananas into organic bananas.

Looking back on your experience, what advice would you give to future business school applicants? The most important aspect of the application process is self-awareness and authenticity. This is very helpful in creating your story in your essays and ensures consistency in what you share in the other parts of the application.

The beginning of business school can be quite overwhelming, knowing who you are and what you want from this process will provide some guidance as to how to navigate career search and leadership development in general.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? Stanford GSB is a small community of amazingly talented individuals and has a strong focus on leadership skills and interpersonal dynamics. Also, there are a lot of experiential learning opportunities around the topics that interest me most like social innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship.

Tell us about your dream job or dream employer at this point in your life? My career goal is to develop financial and technological products for emerging markets in Africa. It appeals to my passion to see economic transformation on the continent.

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from this program? I would love to be remembered as an authentic person who provided a unique source of inspiration and an accurate narrative about the story of Africa.