Harnessing The Power Of Harvard’s Global MBA Classroom

LAUNCHING EARLY STEPS ACADEMY

Biswas’ interest in people from all walks of life — paired with her love of HBS’s case method, which is an interactive, experiential learning model that looks at real-world organizational challenges — led her to launch her own business following graduation in 2020: Early Steps Academy.

While Biswas had a mother that encouraged her to look outside of the box early on in life, many people who grow up in small towns with limited exposure don’t have this same privilege. Built on the premise of providing students all over the world — no matter which nationality they are or where they live — with ‘modern, essential subjects,’ Early Steps Academy teaches kids aged 8-18 topics like cryptocurrency, communication, NFTs, entrepreneurship, climate change, space tech, empathy, and cultural etiquette. “The world is changing rapidly,” she says. “We’re constantly needing to uplevel our skills.”

As the only online teaching program which uses HBS’ case method in the K-12 space, Biswas believes that cases written for kids will help them to develop critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving skills. With each subject related to what’s up-and-coming in the world, the academy’s R&D team — as well as their HBS professor advisers — help to create the cases. “We speak to corporate people, economists, and educators to understand where the biggest opportunities will be in the next 10 years,” she says.

THE POWER OF A GLOBAL CLASSROOM

Plus, with the strong belief in the power of a global classroom, the academy welcomes people from all over the world to its online classes. This, Biswas believes, helps to prepare students for the real world. “Today, the professional world is global,” she says. “It’s a rich experience to interact with diverse people in a classroom.”

“For the first fourteen years of life, we’re very isolated in the school or city that we’re in,” continues Biswas. “But Early Steps Academy allows children from different countries to learn together.”

Biswas’ goal is to create a multi-year curriculum that prepares students for the real world once they leave school. “There are two billion kids going to school today,” she says. “We want to touch the lives of these two billion kids and make a meaningful difference – no matter which city, town, state, or country that kid lives in.”

CONNECTING WITH DIVERSE STUDENTS

Biswas says her friendship with her Pakistani classmate — and her passion for bringing together people from across the world — shows prospective and current MBA students the power of an increasingly globalized world.

“Everybody at HBS wants to make a difference, and wants to do big things in life,” she says. “I found the high energy inspiring, motivating, and I got even more than what I expected.”

Her friendship with the woman from Pakistan taught Biswas that on an individual level, all of us are similar. “The kinds of conversations you can have, personal ambitions, and your value system is what brings people together,” she says.

“There are plenty of opportunities at HBS to mingle with students. By the end of the program, out of 900 students you should be able to meaningfully interact with at least 300 of them through the different experiences that the school creates.”

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