2015 Best MBAs: Liat Kaver

Liat Kaver - MIT-PoetsAndQuants

Liat Kaver  

 

MIT, Sloan School of Management

Business school is a truly immersive experience. But how would you fare if you couldn’t hear – and English wasn’t your first language? Those were challenges that Liat Kaver not only confronted when she arrived on campus at MIT Sloan but triumphed over. She emerged as one of MIT Sloan’s most accomplished and respected students in 2015. In addition to receiving the Dean Fellowship Award, she was also elected president of the Sloan Jewish Student Organization and leader of the Latin Business Club Cultural Function team. Kaver is, in the words of an MIT administrator, “committed to making more inclusive communities wherever she goes, empowering every member to live up to his or her full potential.”

Age: 29

Hometown: Costa Rica

Undergraduate School: Universidad de Costa Rica

Undergraduate Degree: Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Informatics

Where did you work before enrolling in business school? GBM (An IBM Alliance Company), Business Development Analyst

Where did you intern during the summer of 2014? McKinsey & Co, Boston

Where will you be working after graduation? Google, Product Manager

What is your most memorable moment from business school? Ending the core semester and celebrating it with your core team members that have become your best friends.

“I knew I wanted to go to business school when…I knew I would actively take advantage of the MBA experience by building upon my past experiences.”

“If I hadn’t gone to business school…I would be leading a tech-start up in Costa Rica.”

What are your long-term professional goals? I envision myself leading and creating breakthrough technology products that promote accessibility and inclusiveness worldwide. As a woman with a disability, I’ll be implementing strategies that help and encourage people with disabilities and other minorities to become productive members of the society.

Favorite Courses: Digital Marketing & Social Media Analytics, Product Design and Development, Entrepreneurial Strategy, Social Media Management: Persuasion in Networked Culture

Which academic or professional achievements are you most proud of? I’m proud of the impact my team had during our project for MIT’s action learning program, Global Entrepreneurship Lab. My team helped Ideaspace, a non-profit accelerator of startups in the Philippines, to develop a strategic plan that improves the organization’s long term sustainability, thus positively impacting the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the Philippines economy.  Furthermore, I’m proud to have worked with the Sloan Technology Services team to improve MIT Sloan’s accessibility services to people with hearing loss in their facilities and to raise awareness of this kind of disability through the “Ask Me Anything” events, in which members of the MIT community were able to ask any questions they had about my experience with hearing loss.

Who would you most want to thank for your success? I want to thank my parents, Manuel and Lorena, who instilled in me the notion that success requires one to adapt to change, to be willing to take on risk and to believe in oneself by embracing setbacks as opportunities. I also want to thank my husband, David, for making my MBA experience more fun and special and for the number of times he answered to the confused ones with a smile: “No, no… Actually my wife is the one doing the MBA, I’m her SO (significant other).”

Why did you choose this business school? Sloan’s strong entrepreneurial curriculum, complemented with action-learning projects and its culture based on collaboration and global focus, was a strong fit with my passions: technology, innovation and operations.

What did you enjoy most about business school?  Action-learning projects and treks around the world led by awesome Sloanies.

Fun fact about yourself: I am a proud bionic woman (dual cochlear implants) and avid lip reader!

Favorite book: Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

Favorite movie: Forrest Gump

Favorite musical performer: My talented bass player brother – Iosef Kaver

Favorite television show: Game of Thrones

Favorite vacation spot: Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica

What are your hobbies? Traveling, dancing, jogging, spending time with family and friends

Twitter Handle: @likaver

What made Liat such an invaluable addition to the class of 2015?

“On the face of it, Liat is no different than any of her other classmates – high achieving, global background (Costa Rican born in Israel), and an engaged community member.   However, as a deaf student, she faces some unique challenges and makes some unique contributions. She is fluent and reads lips in three languages.

Liat’s academic performance at Sloan has been outstanding.  During her time here, she also has been a trailblazer for students with hearing loss and a champion of diversity and inclusion more generally.  She has worked closely with the administration to pilot new and innovative support services for the hearing impaired and she is an active member of the Diversity and Community Committee.  In May 2014 she hosted the “Ask Me Anything” discussion on hearing loss where she shared her personal story and opened a discussion with her classmates about individuals with a hearing loss. She has a brother with autism, and so she has a strong commitment to supporting and engaging others with different abilities as well.

Liat demonstrates tremendous professional promise.  After a successful summer internship with McKinsey, she received offers with both Google and McKinsey, two of the most coveted employers for MBAs. She is looking forward to embarking on the next chapter of her professional life at Google.

Liat Kaver is a woman who is not only defying expectations about her own capabilities but also committed to making more inclusive communities wherever she goes, empowering every member to live up to his or her full potential.”

– Catherine Gamon, Director of Student Life

Best of 2015

The Story: Class of 2015: The World’s Best & Brightest MBAs

The Complete List: The 50 Most Exceptional MBAs of 2015

 

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