Black History Month: Celebrating Representation At Stanford GSB

Davon Robertson, MBA ’22

Area of MBA study: Entrepreneurship & Consulting

What made you want to pursue an MBA? In undergraduate, I did not get an interview from a single consulting firm. Playing Division 1 sports (football) can sometimes blind you of the power of various career paths. I, unfortunately, dropped the ball and was not as focused as I needed to be to get a consulting gig. Instead, I graduated without a job. After countless applications and some advice from mentors, I ended up in Kansas City working in corporate strategy and development for Sprint, which would then become T-Mobile with the merger in a couple of years in 2020.

I applied to MBA programs early in my corporate career to make an early pivot into consulting. Fortunately, I was able to do the Bain Base program and used the offer I received from the program to interview with McKinsey early. By the end of the first week of school, I had crossed out the biggest checkbox for why I wanted to get an MBA. Everything else has been icing on the cake. My classmates, professors, and mentors at the GSB have allowed me to see the many opportunities to pursue my mission of increasing economic mobility in the Black community, especially through entrepreneurship.

Why Stanford? Stanford GSB is a school full of people who follow their passions. I had zero knowledge of Stanford GSB when I graduated from Harvard until I met Aaron Thomas, a Harvard Football alum, and current CEO of Accelerator for America. He spoke about his experience and noted that many GSBers graduate unemployed not because they did not get plenty of offers from tech, finance, and consulting firms, but because they were trying to find the right opportunity to achieve their personal goals through their career work. Eventually, they found them and became incredibly successful in their respective domains. This piece continues to resonate with me today. I had no idea if I would get into GSB, but I knew if I did get in, I would be in the best place to push me towards my goals. Lastly…the place is beautiful. Palm trees. 65 degrees in January! Nothing like it.

What value do groups like the BBSA provide? BBSA and Black identity groups provide room for a much-needed community at Stanford. Black people are significantly underrepresented at the GSB and all MBA programs across the U.S. There are thirty-six Black people in the class of 2022 at GSB, only 8% of the population. That number shrinks when you exclude international, first, and second-generation students to be less than 15 students, 3% of the population. Whether you come from an immigrant background or a background that has roots in American slavery, it is important to have people that you can relate to, confide in, and trust. The function of BBSA is to share commonalities that differ from the larger GSB community and appreciate the uniqueness of different black backgrounds.

Further, it is an institution that has the potential for power. BBSA can push for an increase in admissions of Black students and the hiring of faculty of the administration. We can be a resource for students that are Black at Stanford, at other universities, or out of school.
To me, BBSA holds an even larger responsibility of pushing to increase the admission numbers of Black students and advocating for the hiring of more Black faculty members and administrators. We have a special ability to be a resource for Black students at Stanford as well as an example to universities and graduate programs across the country.

What projects or work of the BBSA has been most impactful? Within the past year, there are few that stick out:

• Dream Big Lead Boldly is an event we collaborated with the Allies for Black Lives Matter group on campus. We collaborated with HBCUs and Black undergraduates across the nation to put on an event to demystify the MBA admissions process and the career paths that come from traditional MBA programs. BBSA members spoke on industry panels including tech, consulting, and finance. We received phenomenal feedback from the over two hundred undergraduates that participated and are excited to continue the program again this year. Big shoutout to Belinda Nui, Jenny Zhou, and Drake Pooley who were so critical in the development of the program from the Allies for Black Lives Matter side.
• The Black Experience Panel highlighted eight BBSA students, exploring multiple identities and experiences of Black students at the GSB. Over one hundred people attended, and we received an overwhelmingly positive response from attendees. The event kickstarted many conversations for the class as GSBers began reaching out to our members for a further understanding of their Black experiences in America.
• Lastly, the Black Business Conference was a hit last year with Nas as our keynote speaker. Although virtual, it brought the Black community at Stanford and across the country together. We had several phenomenal panels and are looking to replicate the event in person this year. Mark your calendars – we look forward to seeing you on campus on May 7th! More details to come soon.

Why is Black History Month important? For me, it is a time to reflect. Especially reflecting on my familial heritage and the times they lived in. My great-great grandfather was born a slave in New Roads, Louisiana. After the Civil War, he worked as a sharecropper, working the same land he was born into slavery on. Both his son and his grandson lived as sharecroppers. My father changed the professional trajectory of my family and took a role as a jail guard for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s department.

Within those four generations so much has happened. The evils of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, mass incarceration, discriminatory housing loans, Black Wall Street, urbanization…the list goes on in. Despite the setbacks, the Black race in America has persevered. The Black race has brought the great entrepreneurial accomplishments of Robert Abbott, the intellectual contributions of W.E.B. Dubois, the courage of civil rights leaders such as Rosa Parks, MLK, and Malcom X, musical scores by Duke Ellington and Aretha Franklin, and the literary contributions of James Baldwin. There is so much to celebrate and that is only scratching the surface. Black History is American History and February is another reminder that there is so much more to our history than the cameo that it makes in American history books.

What are your future career goals? At the end of the day, all I can ask for is to maximize my ability to create opportunities for the Black community. I have taken an associate position at McKinsey while simultaneously building my own company, Athlete Hours, which helps student-athletes monetize their Name, Image, and Likeness. If I can scale the company, I believe I can help Black athletes that had previously would have been exploited by the NCAA. If not, I will work at McKinsey for a couple of years and assess whether to continue to rise the partner path or take another shot at entrepreneurship.

I entered business to attain a position of power that can mentor, employ, and fund impact that aligns with my mission. What that is, I cannot give an exact answer now, but it is likely either within telecom or in the sports space.

What don’t your classmates know about you? This question made me laugh. This may be known by my classmates, but I am quite into birdwatching. I took an ornithology class (study of birds) at my post-graduate high school, Phillips Exeter, and I have been a bird watcher ever since. It is common to see me stopped somewhere on campus looking up into the trees when I hear a Red-Tailed Hawk screech. When I go back home to Rhode Island, I always make a stop at Sachuest Point where one or two Snowy Owls and a population of Harlequin Ducks, my favorite bird, winter. Strongly encourage you to take a nature walk there.

Monique Malcolm-Hay, MBA ’23

Area of MBA study: MBA / MA in Education Candidate

What made you want to pursue an MBA? I really enjoyed working on future of work related projects and wanted to plug myself into the startup ecosystem to drive product innovation in the future of work and education space

Why Stanford? “Change Lives. Change Organizations. Change the World.” – GSB’s mission strongly aligned with my purpose and after speaking with alums, I excited to hear the GSB attracted other diverse global citizens who had empathy and a yearning for social change like myself

What value do groups like the BBSA provide? The BBSA provides a sense of community among the Black students which I have found particularly valuable as a minority, not only in terms of race and gender but also due to the fact I’m an international student. Additionally, the BBSA hosts a range of professional networking opportunities with prominent Black leaders such as Nas, Tristan Walker and many others

Why is Black History Month important to you? Black History Month is an occasion to reflect on the struggle of the past generations for freedom, give thanks to our ancestors for being brave and appreciate the inspiring progress people from the African diaspora have made. Without them, walls and barriers would not have been broken down. Looking forward, we can learn from this as we seek to make our future a better and more inclusive one for those who come after us.

What are your future career goals? I plan to drive product innovation in the future of work and education space either as an investor or operator.

What don’t your classmates know about you? I’ve travelled to almost 50 countries across 6 continents and plan to visit every country in the world.

Next page: Profiles of BBSA students James Brown and Meghan Hunter.

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