Zarah Mohamed

Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management & McCormick School of Engineering (MMM program)

“Empathetic, energetic, creative, and ambitious problem-solver (both in and out of the workplace).”

Hometown: Solon, Ohio

Fun fact about yourself: I’m terrified of heights, but when I was studying abroad in Australia, I traveled to New Zealand and bungy jumped at the world’s oldest bungy site.

Undergraduate School and Degree Boston University Questrom School of Business

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Prior to business school, I worked at Deloitte Digital as a Senior Consultant focused on Customer Experience (CX) Data, Analytics, and Technology.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2023? I interned in Intuit’s consumer group in San Diego, CA, where I worked on designing a new user onboarding experience test to drive personalization.

Where will you be working after graduation? I am very excited to be returning to Intuit as a Product Manager!

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Kellogg Section Experience Leader
• Kellogg Business of Healthcare Conference Director
• Kellogg IPG (Interview Prep Group) Leader, Product Management
• Dean’s List Recipient
• KBud (Kellogg Admitted Students Buddy)

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Living through the pandemic lit a fire in me to explore how technology could make healthcare more widely accessible to those who need it. It’s also what set the stage for a realization that I wanted to make a pivot in my career and translate my experience in CX data, analytics, and technology into a product management role focused on building products that make a positive, impactful difference in the lives of the people who use them.

During my first year at Kellogg, I co-led a panel for the Kellogg Business of Healthcare Conference alongside my amazing classmate Priyanka Toddywala on activating health equity to serve underserved populations. Together, we brought in experts in health equity to provide a perspective on how the industry could move from discussion to action, and the responsibilities that various stakeholders and businesses hold in enabling access to quality healthcare for all. Working to bring the panelists’ perspectives to an audience passionate about enabling health equity was an incredibly rewarding experience, and I learned so much along the way.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I am most proud of a project I worked on during my time as a consultant, where my team partnered with an organization that collected plasma and processed it for therapeutic treatments to help them increase their donor network.

I led a team of analysts and data scientists in understanding what types of promotions best incentivized different types of donors and, based on that information, building a predictive model to determine how best to target each type of donor and increase donations. I loved working on something so meaningful—the ultimate result of the project empowered the organization to collect more plasma and serve more patients who need it.

Why did you choose this business school? The MMM program is a dual-degree program from which graduates receive an MBA from Kellogg and an M.S. in Design Innovation from the McCormick School of Engineering. Between the deeply empathetic and collaborative culture that Kellogg is known for – and the rigorous education at the intersection of business, technology, and design that the MMM program offers – the choice to attend Kellogg was a no-brainer for me. During my application process, whenever friends or family asked me what I liked about the MMM program, my response was, “It feels like someone looked into the depths of my mind and designed a business school program around exactly what I want to do.”

All of the things that made me want to attend Kellogg have not only held true, but far exceeded my expectations. I’m so grateful to have had the chance to become friends with and learn from such wonderful people, and to have built a robust toolkit of business, technology, and design skills that will power my future career as a product manager.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? This is a very difficult question to answer! I’ve been lucky to learn from many brilliant professors—Paul Corona and Carter Cast from Kellogg, and Mike Edmonds from McCormick, just to name a few.

However, a professor who really stands out to me during my time at Kellogg is Tarek Abdallah. I took Professor Abdallah’s Decision Models & Prescriptive Analytics class and was blown away by the ease with which he communicated complex analytical concepts and taught in a way that created immense value for students both with and without analytics backgrounds. My class was a very diverse group of students, some of whom had no prior analytics experience and some of whom were former full-time analysts. That said, we all agreed that Professor Abdallah’s class was one of the best that we’ve taken at Kellogg because of how wonderful of a professor he is.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Another very difficult question! As a product manager fascinated by artificial intelligence and machine learning, and someone who is also committed to being the best leader that I can be, I’ve loved Human & Machine Intelligence, Leadership in Organizations, and Personal Leadership Insights on the Kellogg side and Research-Design-Build, Digital Design & Development, and Mindful Product Management on the McCormick side.

If I had to pick just one class, my favorite would have to be Launching & Leading Startups with Professor Carter Cast. Professor’s Cast’s energy, enthusiasm, and investment in his students is absolutely unparalleled. Launching & Leading Startups puts students in the shoes of an entrepreneurial CEO, teaching us how to think about challenges like de-risking a new business, determining the right go-to-market strategies, and leading entrepreneurial teams. What I particularly love about the class is that it’s not only valuable for those who want to create or work at a startup, but also for those who are interested in growth and innovation roles at larger corporations.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite tradition at Kellogg is KWEST (Kellogg Worldwide Exploration Student Trips). Before Kellogg classes start in September, incoming first-years have the opportunity to travel in a group of ~20 students, under the leadership of a second-year team, and get to know fellow classmates in an extremely unique way. You don’t know who is on your KWEST until the day before you leave for your trip, and for the first few days, you aren’t allowed to share things such as your last name, what program you’re in, or where you’re from. This allows you to skip the small talk and quickly form real relationships with others on your KWEST, which I think very much reflects the deeply caring natures of the people at Kellogg. One of the best parts of KWEST is “Big Reveal,” where everyone shares the things about themselves that have been secret, and everyone celebrates each other. I was extremely lucky to go to Croatia for my KWEST, where I met people who I know will be lifelong friends!

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? As a lover of the Harry Potter series, it’s hard not to reference the time-turner when thinking about my answer to this question. Reflecting on my MBA experience, I don’t think there’s anything that I could trade for something else—but with more time, I would have loved to dive into some of the unique social experiences offered by the clubs on campus (for example, one of my friends recently went on the Wilderness Club’s ice climbing trip and it sounded like so much fun!).

What is the biggest myth about your school? I didn’t hear any myths about Kellogg before I got to school, but if I was a younger version of myself listening to me talk about Kellogg, I would wonder, “Are the people at Kellogg really as awesome as you say they are?”

The answer is—resoundingly—yes! I could not be more grateful to be surrounded by such kind, caring, brilliant, and ambitious people who support each other to be the best versions of ourselves every day.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? I think that since Evanston is a smaller, unique town, Kellogg students find ways to spend time with each other that are conducive to building deep, lasting relationships. Whether it’s going for a walk along the lake, holing up in a local coffee shop, or attending a small group dinner at someone’s apartment, I love how homey Evanston feels.

What surprised you the most about business school?: I thought that I was busy as a working professional—business school is a completely different ballgame! It’s easy to quadruple-book yourself because there are so many opportunities to lean into across academics, recruiting, extracurriculars, and social activities.

I received a great piece of advice from a Kellogg alum before I came to school that I like to pass along whenever I have a chance. Every quarter, define your two or three “anchor points”—what you want to get out of that quarter—and spend your time in service of those anchor points. I took this approach throughout my time at Kellogg, and believe that it greatly helped me manage my time and make the most of my experience.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Leigh Engel. I met Leigh during the first week of MMM and was immediately impressed by her drive, curiosity, and compassion. As I’ve gotten to know Leigh over the past year-and-a-half or so, I can confidently say that her work ethic is second to none. In everything she does—from her work in the classroom, to her mentorship as a Career Peer and IPG leader, to her leadership in Special K! (Kellogg’s musical comedy show)—she shatters the status quo, coming up with deeply thoughtful and creative solutions that make everyone’s jaws drop. She makes every team and classroom that she is a part of better, constantly asking thoughtful questions that further everyone’s learning and development. I know that she’s going to do big things.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?: I mentioned that the pivot that I wanted to make in my career was driven by a desire to build products that made a positive impact on the lives of people that use them—that’s certainly one of my professional bucket list items. My goal is to build a product from the ground up that makes a positive difference in society and advances a social mission.

In addition, wherever my career takes me, I hope to serve as a go-to mentor for women in technology. One of the things that makes me happiest, both personally and professionally, is when I can use the learnings I’ve gleaned through my own experiences to help others. I feel extremely lucky to have learned from some amazing mentors throughout my career, and absolutely want to be that for many other young women in the future.

What made Zarah such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2024?

“Innovation is hard to come by – ultimately requiring innovative approaches, thinking, and action by a new mode of business leadership. Zarah Mohamed is just that person.

Zarah is a passionate human-centered leader who exemplifies and amplifies the creative explorer mindset of the MBA + MS in Design Innovation (MMM) program at the Kellogg School of Management and the Segal Design Institute at Northwestern University. While earning two graduate degrees as part of MMM, Zarah has been a curious learner (specifically getting outside her comfort zone), a thoughtful collaborator with peers, faculty, and outside education challenge partners (Intuit and Signet), and ultimately leading by example through both creative and critical thinking to solve complex and interconnected business challenges that are front and center to the experiential learning experience of MMM. Her passion for product design and innovation is clear – as she was a driving, positive force on both her Research-Design-Build and Business Innovation Lab teams.

As a hybrid business innovator, Zarah believes in and lives the power of co-creation and seeks connections across domain boundaries – in the service of authentically understanding the problem space and solving it well.

Specifically, Zarah excels at the following:

Interconnectedness: She thrives at the intersection of diverse fields, knowing that complexity and the interconnectedness of modern problems demand a holistic understanding and utilization of diverse perspectives, skills, and technologies.

Empathy: She authentically utilizes contextual understanding to frame the problem correctly while also recognizing that human actions and choices have ecological, social, and economic impacts.

A Bias Toward Action: She celebrates the power of making things, bringing ideas to life so that we can learn from, iterate upon, and ultimately shape solutions that resonate. Zarah brings out the best in her teams and is always looking for ways to make her teammates’ experiences better. Her teammates have expressed how much they love working with her and how she makes every team that she is a part of better.

Leading by Example: She is a strong mentor at Kellogg and in the MMM community, having accomplished a difficult career pivot from consulting to technology product management. Zarah frequently speaks on panels to share career advice with first—and second-year students. She is also a go-to person for one-on-one coffee chats because she will always try to use what she’s learned to help others, guide them, and raise them up.

Zarah Mohamed is indeed an invaluable member of the MMM class of 2024 and is well-positioned to shape and lead a future we can all be proud of.”

Dr. Greg Holderfield
Pentair – D. Eugene and Bonnie L. Nugent Clinical Professor of Design Innovation
Executive Director, Segal Design Institute – McCormick School of Engineering
Co – Director, MBA + MS in Design Innovation (MMM) Program
Northwestern University 

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