Meet Yale SOM’s MBA Class of 2018

Nina Straathof

Yale School of Management

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Very positive, social, and ambitious, but in a laid back manner, sometimes chaotic and often lucky (see fun fact below)

Hometown: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Fun Fact About Yourself: My friends often tell me I am too lucky for my own good – I always mysteriously retrieve what I lose. (e.g the time I realized way up in the air that I had forgotten my laptop at a coffee shop at the airport in Oman; my laptop was safely returned to me by a pilot three days later. Or, it was the time when my wallet was stolen in Kings Cross in Sidney; when I walked into the police office to report the theft, a friend of the thief was sitting there with my wallet in hand; he had witnessed the theft and had talked his friend out of it, and into handing it over to the police.

Undergraduate School and Major: BA Liberal Arts & Sciences – Utrecht University

BA Psychology – VU University Amsterdam

MA International Administration – Leiden University

MA History of Political Cultures and National Identities – Leiden University

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

Strategy Consultant – Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company)

Political Affairs Coordinator – European Hematology Association

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment in my career so far has been to lead a partnership between a large health insurer and a teaching hospital. In Holland, hospitals (and sometimes even doctors personally) are paid for the ‘volume’ of care they produce. This financial incentive on production has resulted in severe overdiagnosis and overtreatment, which is both costly to society and harmful to patients. The goal of the partnership was to eliminate incentives on production, so that doctors are incentivized to provide optimal instead of maximal care. After long and tough negotiations, we reached a very innovative 5-year financial agreement, and identified over ~€10mn of savings potential. By eliminating unnecessary care, we not only reduced Dutch healthcare spending, but also improved the quality of care in the Netherlands.

Looking back on your experience, what advice would you give to future business school applicants? In the end, I think my most important advice would be to not be intimidated by the process. If you apply to a school that really fits your personality, goals, and interests well, your best chance of getting in is by being yourself; relaxed and confident.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? What I love about the Yale SOM program is the emphasis it places on the importance of different perspectives. I have always had broad interests. I like to work internationally and to cross the border between the public and the private sector. Yale SOM, with its close engagement with Yale University, focus on diversity, and global experience immediately felt like the perfect fit for me.

Tell us about your dream job or dream employer at this point in your life? It is my dream, and has been since as long as I can remember, to become a politician. I believe politics is where we ultimately decide what kind of society we want to live in – and I want to be part of that discussion. So in the long-term, I want to run for a seat in Dutch parliament. In the short term, I really love my work as a consultant for Strategy&.

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from this program? I hope they say they can’t wait to come visit me in Amsterdam.