Black History Month: Harvard’s Inaugural RISE Fellowship MBAs Speak Out On Inclusion In Business

Adan Acevedo, MBA ’23

Adan Acevedo, the son of first-generation Salvadoran immigrants, was the first Latino president of the Harvard College Democrats, an intern in the White House Office of Public Engagement, and a Teach for America educator. He is an aspiring entertainment executive and wants to amplify Black, Indigenous, and Latinx voices through his work.

“There are few industries where you get to set the tone for how the world dreams,” Acevedo tells HBS of his plans to work in entertainment. “The fact that you can do that for people in LA, Rio, Abuja, and Tokyo, all at the same time, is incredible. The choices made at the very top of the industry to work with diverse creators, actors, and crew members are not only at the crux of a diverse and equitable Hollywood but are also setting the tone for the next 30-40 years globally for what representation looks like. I can’t act, sing, or dance, but I am a problem solver who’s passionate about diversity and equity and telling the stories I’ve seen all my life.

“I’m passionate about making sure that my students, future children, and grandchildren get to see a world that continues to evolve at a pace that we can all be proud of.”

Lanita Patton, MBA ’23

A lifelong dancer, Lanita Patton is founder of First Impressions, a dance company empowering women and girls through movement. She is a first generation college student, and as treasurer of her university’s Black student union, worked to connect minority business students with resources and mentorship to help navigate industries that are traditionally not very diverse. She continued those efforts in her professional work as a management consultant. At HBS, she is on the African American Student Union’s H. Naylor Fitzhugh conference committee.

“I applied to business school because I wanted to elevate my executive presence and business acumen in a way that allowed me to break barriers in my future career and build new tables for others to join – to amplify those voices that seem more silent. I know that I can do this in any role – it’s aligned with my passion and purpose,” she says.

“I wanted to provide the support and advice that is essential for people of color to not only succeed but thrive in the corporate environment. Advocacy from others is very important in your career, but self-advocacy is even more valuable.

“If you don’t believe in yourself and aren’t able to speak up when no one else can speak for you, how do you progress?”

Nashae Roundtree, MBA ’23

Growing up in a low-income household, Nashae Roundtree developed a passion for serving marginalized communities through education. As an undergraduate, she founded Connect, a student organization that mentored more than 300 African American and Hispanic high school students without college networks. She later served as the membership chair of the Chicago Urban League.

As a first-year MBA student at HBS, she serves on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, is co-president of the First-Gen Club, is member of the socioeconomic task force, and is working part-time for CitySwing – a start-up aiming to make golf accessible and inclusive.

“My mother always says, ‘To whom much is given, much will be required.’ I plan to always be active in organizations inside and outside of work to support marginalized communities,” Roundtree says.

“I’m always looking for ways to redistribute resources to create access and opportunities, whether it’s improving existing organizations that support racial equity, improving career recruitment and promotion pipelines within companies, or leveraging corporate social responsibility to improve the communities that often get overlooked.

“My vision is that if everyone who cares about social equity takes one step to make some component better, then our collective efforts will create a better world, so I just strive to always move the needle one step further myself.”

Diego Salas, MBA ’22

After leaving Venezuela at age 18, as an undergraduate Diego Salas was struck by the difference in something as simple as the amount of choice in an American supermarket compared to his home country. L

ooking for a career that could help lift Latin American communities out of poverty, he became an investment banker and then a software engineer at IBM, developing technology that could transform the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of people he wanted to help. He applied to HBS after noticing the lack of financial investment in Latin America, and he created a venture capital firm focused on Latin American founders.

“My passion for the Latin American community is central to my mission,” says Salas. “Coming out of IBM I realized I saw things differently – I had learned about scaling and building, the nuances of tech in the real world, and legal and accountability problems. I thought a lot about how I could create more change now that I had this increased capability and capacity.

“I knew that I could create a niche for funding startups in Latin America and invest in companies making a difference in their communities.”

Xonana Scrubb, MBA ’22

Shortly after she graduated college, Xonana Scrubb’s landlord decided to sell the home she and her mother were renting. The experience with her own housing crisis led Scrubb to take a position that financed affordable housing at her investment bank, and she was soon managing a billion-dollar affordable housing portfolio. She also founded Black and Latinx Leaders in Community Development for up-and-coming leaders in housing, government, finance and nonprofit work.

At HBS, she is a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council as well as the Cross-Harvard Study Group on the Future of Work.

“It was shocking to see that a lot of the leaders in an industry that disproportionately affects people of color were not people of color themselves. I was nervous about raising it as a problem at first, but it hit me that we were going to lose diverse talent if we didn’t start to make sure that the people at the top look like the people they’re serving,” she says.

“As a first-generation college graduate, MBA candidate, and representative in corporate America, I am proud of my success, but want to be more intentional in my next role. I’m interested in exploring the intersection between fashion and social impact–growing and scaling Black owned fashion brands with the intention of doing it myself at some point.”

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