Angela Sinisterra-Woods

Stanford Graduate School of Business

“Happy. I strive to find joy in everything life has to offer.”

Hometown: Carrollton, Kentucky

Fun fact about yourself: I love scuba diving and am obsessed with whale sharks!

Undergraduate School and Degree: Duke University, BSE in biomedical engineering and BS in biology

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? I was working with the McKinsey Social Responsibility team right before enrolling in business school.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2019? Over the summer, I worked with Generation: You Employed, Inc. as a Global Launch Fellow in Sydney, Australia.

Where will you be working after graduation? After graduating, I will be returning to McKinsey & Company as an Engagement Manager.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:
Leadership roles: Co-President of Christians in Business, Healthcare Deal Team Lead for the GSB Impact Fund, Peer Mentor for first-year MBA students, and a Global Study Trip Leader
Awards: Siebel Scholar

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I spoke at Stanford’s LOWkeynote program about the potential for the nonprofit and for-profit sectors to collaborate and drive impact at scale. I appreciated the experience of developing and delivering this talk. I learned how to take a topic about which I care deeply and convey the most important points. It also gave me the opportunity to share my experiences with a broad audience.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? From my professional career, I am most proud of helping to launch Generation in new countries, including Australia, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates. Generation is a McKinsey-founded nonprofit that seeks to transform education-to-employment systems, helping people who are unemployed, underemployed, or need to learn new skills.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? There are so many great professors at Stanford, it’s impossible to choose just one!

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite tradition at Stanford is TALK, where two students per week voluntarily share their life stories. The stories are often very vulnerable in nature, demonstrating how much we trust each other with our deepest and often still-in-process challenges and emotions. TALK is an example of the culture – authentic and supportive –that is characteristic of the GSB.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose Stanford GSB for business school because the mission of the school (Change lives, change organizations, change the world) resonates deeply with me. I knew that I would be surrounded by people who want to create positive change in the world, and this is a major source of inspiration in my own life.

What is your best advice to an applicant hoping to get into your school’s MBA program? I know it sounds cliché, but just be yourself. There is no magic formula for getting into the GSB, but the culture here very much values authenticity and vulnerability, so don’t be afraid to tell your full story –where you are coming from and the hopes and dreams you have for the future.

What is the biggest myth about your school? I think a lot of people view the GSB as a start-up hub, which is actually quite true. While the GSB is full of diverse interests and backgrounds, the entrepreneurial energy of the school is contagious and very energizing!

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I would try to integrate with the rest of Stanford University (outside of the GSB) and with the broader Bay Area more quickly. Especially in the first year, there are so many new people to meet and so many things happening at the GSB itself that it becomes easy to forget to involve oneself in the wider ecosystem. There are passionate, talented people at other schools at Stanford, and in the Bay Area, so it is nice to get out of the “GSB bubble” and engage with them.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? There are many classmates at GSB whom I admire. I have met some of my closest friends at Stanford, and I most admire people who are living out their values. I love the concept of doing well while doing good, and I appreciate my classmates who are serving as role models for that.

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? N/A – did not pursue business in college/undergrad (only now in MBA).

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? The top two items on my professional bucket list are: 1) Start a social enterprise focused on increasing access to healthcare and/or education. 2) Find meaningful ways to share my experiences with others and learn from others via coaching, mentorship, board memberships, and teaching.

In one sentence, how would you like your peers to remember you? I would like to be remembered as someone who loved others and brought positive energy to any situation.

Hobbies? Yoga, fitness classes of all types, playing music, spending time outdoors with family and friends.

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