100 Best & Brightest MBAs: Class Of 2021

A WALK THROUGH THE WHITE HOUSE

Clinton Francis wasn’t alone among Best & Brightest in heeding this call to action. Before joining Vanderbilt University, Kenneth Barnes earned his “Dolphins” in the U.S. Navy – an insignia earned by officers after a three years of training and testing that reflects their encyclopedic knowledge of a nuclear submarine’s operation. Returning to Tennessee, Barnes co-founded the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry, a nonprofit that distributes food and clothing to the Nashville homeless. On his bicycle, Barnes confronted his misconceptions about the real issues behind homelessness.

“UBFM Nashville has helped me put faces and stories to those I would normally seek to avoid, and it has proven to me that homelessness is the result of a complicated reality that cannot and should not be explained by unfair stereotypes.” he writes. “UBFM Nashville is nowhere close to solving hunger for those living on the streets of Nashville. Still, we are doing our small part, and we are showing those who we serve that their community still cares, all while giving volunteers the opportunity to confront their own biased stereotypes about their marginalized and often misunderstood neighbors.”

UCLA’s Shoshana Seidenfeld made her mark at Accenture, where she became part of a four-person team leading the Partnership for Refugees. Responding to President Obama’s call for private sector action to support refugees, Seidenfeld’s team coordinated with a variety of agencies to drive financial commitments to the cause. In the end, Accenture produced 60 corporate commitments whose investment totaled over $650 million dollars. The work resonated particularly deeply with Seidenfeld due to her own family roots.

“Walking through the halls of the White House with a worthy mission and purpose to protect and serve refugees was one of the most memorable moments of my career thus far, especially during the tumultuous political transition of 2016. This work was further meaningful to me personally as the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor given that my grandfather was once a refugee to this country many years ago after escaping the concentration camps during World War II.”

FROM THE BOARD ROOM TO THE POLITICAL TRENCHES

In many cases, you’ll find the 2021 Best & Brightest MBAs making their name in the most powerful companies and projects. Before joining Chicago Booth, Theodore Lim was overseeing building projects on Microsoft’s Redmond campus, including designing treehouse conference rooms and the largest pedestrian bridge in the Puget Sound region. At Deloitte, Duke Fuqua’s Mike Treiser worked in the Office of the CEO, where he helped turn semi-annual “all-hands” meetings into experiential learning programming. As a public affairs supervisor at McDonald’s, Kaitlyn Wilson was a member of a team that developed the company’s sustainability goals.

“I’ve had the unique opportunity to help chart ESG (environmental, social, and governance) disclosure strategies at both CSX and McDonald’s,” writes the Vanderbilt Owen grad. “There has been a lot of change in the ESG community over the last 5 years, and it has not always been the most respected area. I’ve helped navigate the decisions around what data to disclose, which disclosure method and frequency fits the business, and how to best tailor data for the end-user audience. As long as the metrics make sense, more transparency benefits both shareholders and stakeholders.”

This commitment to the greater good extends into the public sector too. The University of Cambridge’s Aaron D’Souza started out as a journalist before moving into consulting, where he eventually headed up his firm’s strategy and operations practice and worked in the office of his CEO, Prem Goyal. That changed when Goyal ran for public office – and tapped D’Souza to run his election campaign. The result: Goyal became the “first non-white male alderman elected to the City of London in 250 years.” Oh – and Goyal assumed the role of his chief of staff. By the same token, Julia Frederick worked as a legislative assistant to Senator Elizabeth Warren before joining the Yale School of Management. Here, Frederick worked on healthcare-related policies, such as beating back the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and keeping the Children’s Health Insurance program funded.

“I’m proud of the role I was able to play in these efforts. I helped tell our constituents’ stories and build relationships that enabled us to better understand how people and health systems were really being impacted by these issues. And I helped prepare Senator Warren to be able to fight for these issues on the Senate floor, ask hard-hitting questions in committee hearings, and communicate through social media and news outlets to educate and empower our constituents.”

FIGHTING TUBERCULOSIS AND HOMELESSNESS

You’ll find medicine is a passion among many Best & Brightest. Boston University’s Dheera Keerthi Kattula describes herself as a “medical detective” whose fascination with medicine stems from her search to find the source of her autoimmune condition. The daughter of pulmonologist, Keerthi Kattula has joined her family in efforts to educate rural villagers about Tuberculosis and provide them with no cost medications. Ruchi Senthil at IMD Business School enjoyed a similar upbringing in India. Her parents were both doctors – and she soon followed their path to medical school. Eventually, she became a microbiologist in a lab governed by the World Health Organization. Soon enough, Senthi implemented the practices needed to turn it  into the first nationally-accredited government tuberculosis lab in India.

“This ensured improved turnaround times and more accurate reports for our patients that would now be valid across the country. This enabled sufferers to have consistent and easy access to treatment even when they moved across state lines, something that was not possible prior to our accreditation. At the same time, our initiative motivated other laboratories to seek the same accreditation – improving the overall standard of care for tuberculosis nationally.”

At the University of California-Irvine, Ajay Sharma is known for many things. He is the president of the medical school student body, not to mention the MD/MBA class representative. He invented an award-winning online calculator that measures patient risk to stratification for C. difficile infection. However, Sharma is best known for his book, Diary of a Med Student (DOAMS), a compilation of stories from over 100 medical students that supplies inspiration, emotional support, and laughter on topics ranging from coping with death to recovering from burnout. The book, which has already sold tens-of-thousands of copies, is now being turned into a nonprofit to support medical students. Still, DOAMS is just one of the platforms that Sharma is using to advance social good. In his role as president, he has also tackled homelessness in the Irvine community.

“I recognized the great potential of our students to meaningfully contribute to our community, and I pioneered partnerships with local nonprofit organizations that provided housing support to those in poverty. These homes would directly serve the populations I saw in clinic, providing access to shelter, food, and job resources. We have since helped build multiple homes for these invisible populations and I am so proud of what we were able to accomplish for our community. We by no means have “cured” homeless in Orange County, but we have made a difference, and I think that is what has inspired me to continue fighting for my patients and think big for the challenges I will inevitably face in my future career.”

NOT ALWAYS WHO YOU EXPECT

Think big…and be different. That’s the Best & Brightest way. This year’s class didn’t always stream to campus from the usual blue chip banks and consulting firms. Before Marc-Olivier Granger was lounging along the Mediterranean as an IESE MBA, he was sweating 2,000 meters below the surface as a gold mining engineer in rural West Africa. McGill University’s Jaquelynn Mateluna worked as the chief of staff for the world’s largest commercial rooftop greenhouse – one that fed over 20,000 Montreal families during the pandemic. Sonia Agbézouhlon, an INSEAD MBA, describes her last job as a “Flavourist” – someone responsible for producing flavors and fragrances that stimulate the senses. In contrast, Amanda Wiggans developed and managed prison programs, including a 8-month curriculum that trained the incarcerated in entrepreneurship.

“I still have graduates who send me texts and emails reminding me of the lasting impact of that time, reminding me of times I made them do their homework or held them accountable or even just showed up for class,” writes the Virginia Darden grad. “To me, these times were unmemorable, but they made a difference to them. Witnessing them build lives after their release on Facebook or phone calls is the most sobering reality checks and a real source of joy for me.”

Business schools attract professionals from all corners. Olivia Mell, a Columbia MBA, is better known as Olivia Jane – her stage name. In 2017, Mell released a blues and rock album. In true MBA style, she “wrote, performed, co-produced, published, released, and marketed this record and its subsequent music videos as my own production entity and brand leader.” Chng Yu Jean maintained a second job at ESMT Berlin. She balanced being a student and club leader in an intense 1-year program with her role as a mother – or what she calls her “double shift.” Then again, Nathalya Mamane has been busy raising four children. After all, the Babson MBA earned her undergraduate degree in 1995. Despite the age gap with her classmates, Mamane often found herself in the role of mentor and leader; she was elected class representative and earned the MBA Leadership Award (not to mention the school’s scholarship for women in business). While Babson College’s mascot is the beaver, Mamane is more like a duck: poised on the surface while paddling madly below.

“The pandemic was extremely disruptive,” she admits. “I did not know that I could handle virtual learning for myself. I did not have confidence in juggling the various emotional and physical challenges in a full household. However, I had to take a step back, look at the situation and use the words I had used on my kids when they faced challenges: “Take it one day at a time and cross bridges only when they appear. Do not anticipate the bridge and do not think about a bridge. Because that bridge may never appear. Stay strong and keep moving forward.” As scary as it all was, I had to walk the walk and moved forward.”

See pages 4-5 for 100 in-depth profiles of this year’s Best & Brightest MBAs.