The Pioneering MBAs In The Class Of 2019

Alyssa Forman, a Teach for American volunteer, is a first year at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management

Then again, it might be hard to wipe away UCLAā€™s Hoonki Hong‘s knowing smile on influencing national policy. As an audit manager at Deloitte, he developed a new accounting standard for the largest savings bank in South Korea. Just one problem: It would de-value nearly a third of the bankā€™s assets. While the model was sound, the timing wasnā€™t, with the bank postponing the implementation by five years to give it time to restructure. Soon enough, other banks ā€” and the government itself ā€” followed his lead. ā€œIt was one of my biggest accomplishments,ā€ he says, ā€œnot only because I helped build a valuation model for loans of a savings bank, but also because I contributed to deciding the nation’s policy.ā€

A CLASS THAT IS ALREADY PAYING IT FORWARD

Many MBA candidates return to campus hoping to make a career transition. But many have already managed to switch roles and industries before then. After majoring in English and playing professional hockey, New York Universityā€™s Conor Pieri turned himself into a quant, becoming the ā€œgo-toā€ on finance questions by JetBlueā€™s treasury and c-suite teams. LBSā€™ Adeyemi transformed from a project engineer in oil and gas to a footwear designer. What can you make of Northwesternā€™s Alyssa Forman? After joining Teach for America, she was asked to start up a special education department in a new charter school. Just one problem: she majored in public policy and possessed limited exposure to special ed. You can probably guess how this one turned out. A year later, the charter school network was already copying Formanā€™s model.

Pioneersā€¦Groundbreakersā€¦Inventorsā€¦Champions. Whatever word you use, the underlying meaning is the same: The Class of 2019 is willing to step up, bear the risks and burdens, and turn ideas into category leaders. Before she joined HEC Paris to become an entrepreneur, Yanji Wang spearheaded the development of the merchandising structure for Adidas Chinaā€™s Retail Factory Outlet, which resulted in 80% yearly scale growth. And she wasnā€™t above serving as the lead actress in the companyā€™s recruitment videos, either. LBSā€™ Amanda Morgan brought KFC to Myanmar. If youā€™re a fan of Girls Who Code, you can thank the University of Michiganā€™s Dayna Hine. She headed the organizationā€™s operations and built its infrastructure. ā€œI had the opportunity to work with, and learn from incredible coworkers,ā€ she says, ā€œwhile building a movement bigger than any of us could haveĀ imagined in the beginning. Iā€™m proud that my work contributed to helping thousands of young women see potential in themselves and learn skills that will help them advance in school and their careers.ā€

Yanji Wang, formerly with Adidas, is now an MBA student at HEC Paris

There is one virtue that first years share with so many past MBA classes: An irrepressible desire to give back. Yale’sĀ Rakesh Saha dumped a comfortable living as a senior software engineer to join Make a Difference, a decade-old non-profit serving children in foster homes. In less than a year, his after school support pilot ballooned from one shelter focused on 40 students to 67 shelters catering to 3,400 students. Ā At Cummins, Emoryā€™s Ryanne Fennimore inaugurated a corporate social responsibility business that forged 100 teams who donated thousands of hours of volunteer time. At the same time, the University of Michiganā€™s Kashay Sanders developed the curriculum for VOICE 4 Girls, an empowerment social enterprise for females in India, which grew from 3,000 to 34,000 participants over the past four years.

ā€œThe opportunity to work globally, lead a diverse team, and tangibly witness the impact of our content gave me a professional confidence that continues to serve me to this day,ā€ Sanders notes. ā€œThe experience instilled in me a willingness to raise my hand to tackle complex challenges at subsequent places of work. It also moved me to be proactive and find ways for my skills to add unique value to an organization.ā€

ā€œIā€™M LOOKING FORWARD TO MY FAILURESā€

So whatā€™s ahead for the Class of 2019? For one, there are the dreaded ā€œcoreā€ courses, where first years are certain to come face-to-face with a subject they dreaded ā€” and probably avoided. There are meet-and-greets with recruiters, followed by all-night prep for case interviews and hard choices on where to spend their summers. Chances are, they will have one pivotal epiphany about who they are ā€” or what they really want to do ā€” that will rock their carefully-laid plans.

Gheremey Edwards of Washington University’s Olin School plans to stretch himself in every way

Going in, these students have set the usual goals for their first year. For many, success means experience, expertise, confidence, friendship, and (of course) a coveted internship. That doesnā€™t mean this class doesnā€™t drop the serious faƧade, if only for a moment. Take Yale SOM’sĀ Britt MilanoĀ who is anticipating that Excel is more than ā€œsum(A1:A4).ā€ Chris Shen wonders if the ā€œFreshman 15ā€ also applies to graduate school, particularly with the renowned pizza joints in New Haven. And Katie Sierks isnā€™t looking for a wholesale change after year one. ā€œNext May, IĀ hope toĀ be a new, improved version of theĀ friendly,Ā sustainabilityĀ nerdĀ I am today,ā€ she jokes.

In the end, perhaps the best measure of the classā€™ success can be traced to what defines true pioneers: how often they fail over the next year. ā€œIĀ hopeĀ toĀ ļ¬nishĀ my first year with a concrete list of subjects or careers in which I was not successful,ā€ argues the University of Chicagoā€™s Leila Cutler. ā€œIfĀ IĀ sailĀ throughĀ ļ¬rstĀ year,Ā toĀ meĀ thatĀ means IĀ willĀ haveĀ failedĀ inĀ embracing what business school is all about: a chance to push myself outside my comfort zone.ā€

Washington Universityā€™s Gheremey Edwards admits that he has spent his life avoiding any experience that might ā€œstretchā€ him or cause him ā€œembarrassment.ā€ For Edwards, business school is his opportunity to step out of the shadows and test his leadership and technical abilities like never before. ā€œI plan on taking a supply chain course even though Iā€™m concentrating in brand management,ā€ he vows. ā€œIā€™m going to join the case study competition team despite my fear of public speaking. Iā€™ll also be attending every corporate networking mixer to learn from industry leaders even though I am quite the introvert. Iā€™m finally going to invest in my learning, and Iā€™m looking forward to my failures.ā€

DONā€™T MISS: THE STEREOTYPE-DEFYING MBAS IN THE CLASS OF 2018 and THE ENTIRE MEET THE CLASS OF 2018 SERIES

Name School Hometown Previous Employer
Ā Linsha Yao Ā Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) Ā Beijing, China Ā SmartConn
Ā BabatundeĀ OshinowoĀ Jr. Ā Chicago (Booth) Ā Naperville, IL Ā NFL
Ā Celine Tarrant Ā Columbia Business School Ā Toronto, Canada Ā Walmart Canada
Ā Barbara Demetrio Salgado Ā Cornell (Johnson) Ā Sao Paulo, Brazil Ā Itau Unibanco S.A
Ā Orlando GĆ³mez Ā Dartmouth (Tuck) Ā Chicago, IL Ā Peace Corps,Ā PerĆŗ
Ā Griffin Mueller Ā Duke (Fuqua) Ā Durham, NC Ā Cisco
Ā Richard Murray Ā Emory (Goizueta) Ā Birmingham, AL Ā Bain & Company
Ā Jennifer Rose Schwartz Ā Georgetown (McDonough) Ā New York, NY Ā FOX Business Network
Ā Kenya Hunt Ā Harvard Business School Ā Huntsville, AL Ā Chevron
Ā Luis Antonio JimĆ©nez Rivera Ā HEC Paris Ā Mexico City, Mexico Ā McKinsey
Ā Kyle Lewandowski Ā Indiana (Kelley) Ā Muskego, WI Ā U.S. Army
Ā Nourhan Farhat Ā INSEAD Ā Beirut, Lebanon Ā Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
Ā DolapoĀ Adeyemi Ā London Business School Ā Irawo, Nigeria Ā GrolightlyĀ Ltd
Ā Hannah Smalley Ā Michigan (Ross) Ā Los Angeles, CA Ā United Nations Foundation
Ā Rosa Glenn Ā MIT (Sloan) Ā Dublin, Ireland Ā Anthropologie
Ā Ian Murphy Ā New York University (Stern) Ā Old Greenwich, CT Ā Behavior-Enhanced Adaptive Smart Thermostat Ā (BEAST)
Ā Kathryn Hennigan Ā North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) Ā Mooresville, NC Ā Houzz
Ā Alyssa Forman Ā Northwestern (Kellogg) Ā Cleveland, OH Ā Kaiser Associates
Ā Andrew Engvall Ā Notre Dame (Mendoza) Ā Barrington, RI Ā Capital One
Ā Tomiko Toyota Knopp Ā Rice (Jones) Ā Houston, TX Ā Mayor’s Office (City of Houston)
Ā America Gonzalez Ā U.C.-Berkeley (Haas) Ā Monterrey, Mexico Ā Bain & Company
Ā Adi Rajapuram Ā UCLA (Anderson) Ā Lafayette, CA Ā Oracle
Ā Dan Ben-Nun Ā Texas (McCombs) Ā Austin, TX Ā Adspace Agency
Ā Ronald Replan Ā Toronto (Rotman) Ā Nueva Ecija, Ā Philippines Ā NutriAsia
Ā Julia Brown Ā Vanderbilt (Owen) Ā DeRidder, LA Ā Aon
Ā Mercedes Rodriguez Ā Virginia (Darden) Ā Pasadena, CA Ā Brazen
Ā Skyler Brown Ā University of Washington (Foster) Ā San Jose, CA Ā U.S. Special Forces
Ā Gheremey Edwards Ā Washington University (Olin) Ā Memphis, TN Ā Frayser Elementary School
Ā William Vuillet Ā Wharton School Ā Paris, France Ā U.S. Navy
Ā Rakesh Saha Ā Yale SOM Ā Bangalore, India Ā Make a Difference

 

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