Meet The Berkeley Haas MBA Class Of 2026

P&Q: What types of programs do you offer to sharpen your students’ soft skills? What areas do you emphasize and how do you instill these skills in your students?

Guild:

* “Leadership: We develop competencies in students that support their ability to lead through culture, innovation, inclusion, and sustainability. Students learn to be leaders themselves, as well as lead others on teams and within organizations, and they are guided on this journey by our Defining Leadership Principles. The Berkeley Haas MBA Program offers courses including Leadership Communication, Strategic Leadership, Extreme Leadership and Leading People, and Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, and Power & Politics in Organizations Negotiation skills are also woven into many of our courses and co-curricular activities. Through classroom discussions and hands-on learning, students gain skills to interpret the behaviors during negotiations, anticipate the negotiation styles you’re up against, learn about conflict resolution, and pinpoint diverse perspectives.

* Communication: Students learn a variety of communication approaches at Haas like public speaking, teaching, training, and peer motivation. They’ll also experience non-verbal components of communication like critical thinking, body language, and cross-cultural competence. Courses include Storytelling for Leadership, Building Trust-based Relationships, Business Communication in Diverse Work Environments, Audience-Focused Communication.

* Cross-cultural competency: Cross-cultural competency means thinking deeply, and strategically about new trends and issues. Classroom discussions at Haas focus on understanding global business topics ranging from supply chains to trading alliances, to borderless digital communities.”

P&Q: What types of programming – through classroom instruction, extracurriculars, and treks – does your school offer to expose students to country-specific and global business practices? What have students told you were the most educational and fun aspects of these activities?

Guild: “Berkeley Haas is committed to offering international opportunities to MBA students. One well- established program is International Business Development (IBD), a global management consulting program that connects MBA candidates to project clients located around the world.  Students work with clients to tackle strategic business problems. Students who complete the program say that they gain valuable hands-on international management consulting experience across a variety of industries; apply business principles learned in the classroom to “real world” consulting engagements overseas; and collaborate closely with team members across diverse cultures, economies, and business environments. They also find time to squeeze in fun things to do, such as experiencing local food and culture, meeting new people and local leaders, and sightseeing.

Here’s a blog post from students who traveled to Japan to work at Z-Works, a startup developing a sensor-based IoT monitoring solution for senior care facilities.”

From students:

“After our final presentation, the CEO surprised us by organizing a farewell depa-chika party, bringing us to a depa-chika (department store food court) to choose a sweet and savory food we wanted to try. We had a friendly competition to see who chose the “best” food by having everyone in the office taste test and vote on the 3 foods they liked the most (somehow the wine almost won, with 5 votes compared to the 7 votes of the winning shu mai!). As we laughed over cream cheese potato salad and red bean buns, we felt like we had truly bonded with the office community and people in Tokyo. Thank you to our wonderful Z-Works hosts for welcoming us so completely into the company and to IBD for facilitating this opportunity!”

P&Q: What are the most exciting new courses that your school is offering to MBAs this school year? What makes them so unique and valuable?

Guild: “These courses align with our priorities as an MBA program: to equip our students to lead in both climate and innovation.

Disruption Futures/Scenario Planning is taught by Olaf Groth, who focuses on AI and emerging tech-driven transformation of global organizations and economies. Tech is changing our lives in quite dramatic ways with synthetic biology, genetic engineering, renewable energy, electrified and connected transportation, smart cities, platform business models, big data, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, robotics and automation, cyber-security, the internet of things, and the 4th Industrial Revolution. This class helps students to make sense of the chaos and chart a path into the future. Students will be asked to come to the first session with one key strategic disruption question that they’re grappling with at work or within an organization. The instructor will select a handful of these questions, and form working groups.

Climate Solutions Fund, Professor Adair Morse (and others): SAIF@Berkeley Haas practices a unique model of teaching the management and raising of capital through a hands-on learning curriculum. The Climate Solutions Fund (CSF) is the newest offering. The Climate Solutions Fund places investments in domestic, for-profit opportunities for a fund-like horizon of 5-10 years. The CSF invests only in private market opportunities, including investments in debt or equity funds, in direct placement loans or equity, and as a part of capital stacks in special purpose vehicles (SPVs) including infrastructure packages, public-private partnerships, blue or green financing structures, royalty or income-based schemes, quasi-public facilities, and other appropriate and similar opportunities. The investment portfolio won’t include seed/early-stage opportunities, which is the purview of the Haas Impact Fund, or publicly traded securities, which is the purview of the Sustainable Investment Fund.

Climate Politics & Policy, taught by Kate Gordon, newly appointed CEO of CA Forward, and Libby Schaaf, former Mayor of Oakland, focuses on the critical intersection of climate, politics, finance, and infrastructure.”

P&Q: Who are two new professors who’ve joined your faculty in the past year? What do they teach and how will they be difference-makers in your MBA program?

Guild:

Associate Professor Kelsey Jack

Research Focus: Environmental and development economics

“Jack is joining Haas from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she was an associate professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management and the Department of Economics. She studies questions at the intersection of environmental and development economics. “I try to understand how low-income households use natural resources — land, water, energy — and the ways that policy can help align short-run economic needs with longer-run environmental and health concerns.” She is studying climate adaptation in Niger and clean energy adoption in Ghana and has other projects underway in India, South Africa, Malawi and Ivory Coast. Jack is creating a new course, tentatively titled “Sustainable Markets: Profit, Policy, and Corporate Responsibility.”

Professor James Sallee

Research Focus: Energy, the environment, climate, and public economics, with a focus on public policy

“My career has drifted more and more towards the biggest environmental problems of the day. I now study topics ranging from retail electricity pricing reforms in California to the design of public policies to ensure equity in the energy transition. For the last several years, I’ve worked with collaborators in the Rausser College of Natural Resources and at Haas to launch a brand-new master’s program called the Master of Climate Solutions, which will be an interdisciplinary professional program that equips students to help become change agents for the climate across industries and sectors.” Sallee will teach microeconomics.”

P&Q: What types of support does your career center provide to MBA students? How have these services and relationships made your graduates more competitive in the marketplace?

Guild: “The Berkeley Haas Career Management Group (CMG) guides students through a personalized career journey that helps them identify and communicate the unique strengths and skill sets that they will bring to their next role as a leader. CMG partners with students early during their first year to help them access all the resources at Haas and within the Berkeley campus community, including alumni, staff, and faculty. CMG helps students build a roadmap for those two years and beyond. The breadth of academic and experiential learning courses, student leadership opportunities, and the prime Bay Area location provides a learning lab and helps position graduates for future career success. Berkeley Haas also has lifelong relationships with MBAs complete with coaching, programming, and job opportunities, and offers many ways to stay connected through alumni networking events and online tools.

Through the CMG BEARS portal, MBAs can access a self-serve job board, connect with an advisor who knows the current job market and can help customize a strategy for a next career move, build self-marketing skills with tools and workshops that help prepare for interviews, and negotiate a salary.”

BENEFITS OF THE HAAS MBA

1) Social Justice: “Haas’ unwavering commitment to addressing systemic inequities by integrating diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging (DEIJB) in its core curriculum was a pivotal factor in my decision. The program actively confronts how historical racial transgressions contribute to modern healthcare disparities, quantifies gender pay gaps among female CEOs, and cultivates tenacious, equity-fluent leaders through the Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership (EGAL). Additionally, Haas amplifies student-led initiatives like the Gender Equity Initiative (GEI) and Race Inclusion Initiative (RII), which have institutionalized pathways for underrepresented groups, fostering a more diverse and inclusive campus culture.

At Haas, DEIJB is more than a buzzword—it’s a cornerstone of preparing graduates to drive meaningful change in the broader business community. Beyond building a strong foundation in business and finance, I am confident that I will sharpen my skills to tackle critical societal challenges through an equity-focused lens.”
Imaobong “Ïma” Essien (’26)

2) Haas Drag Show: “I’ve performed both in drag and as a backup dancer for other drag queens in West Hollywood. Not only do I miss the stage, but I miss the camaraderie of bringing a show together. Those hours practicing fostered some of my strongest relationships. I’m excited to share that experience with my future classmates and, admittedly, show off my performance skills a bit! “
Julian Turner (’26)

3) Haasemite: “One of my favorite traditions at Haas is Haasemite, the annual camping trip to Yosemite National Park. This was my first exposure to national parks in the United States and an opportunity to camp and hike with 250 people from my class. I was truly amazed by the grandeur and beautiful landscape of Yosemite. I cherish the fun times of both years in Haasemite.”
Shubham Singhal (’24)

ADVICE TO APPLICANTS

“I think the best advice to help potential applicants is the same advice someone gave me—be yourself. Know and celebrate your strengths while being able to confront and accept your shortcomings. You are more competent than you think. Allow your authentic self to shine through your application and be your greatest advocate. Business school is not about pride or ego, but acknowledging where you are in your journey and where you want to be. Find the balance between confidence and humility. Celebrate your individual achievements while allowing yourself to be a part of something greater.”
Christian Letsinger (’26)

“Berkeley Haas values students who embody its four Defining Leadership Principles: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. I encourage students who are interested in attending Haas to find instances in their personal and professional lives that exemplify each of these values. Because of this, many Haas admits are driven and accomplished, but the school maintains a unique culture where everyone is considerate of the impact they are having on the world around them.”
Dominik Gorecki (’26)

 Click on the links below to access in-depth profiles for members of the Class of 2026

MBA Student	Hometown	Undergraduate Alma Mater	Last Employer
Effie Angus	Ridgewood, NJ	Princeton University	McKinsey & Company
Imaobong “Ima” Essien	Oakland, CA	Carnegie Mellon University	VU Venture Partners
Vicky Fam	Utica, NY	Cornell University	United States Navy
Dominik Gorecki	Vancouver, WA	University of Washington	Monitor Deloitte
Michael “KP” Kidd-Phillips	Lawrenceville, NJ	Williams College	The Walt Disney Company
Chen-Hsin Lee	Taipei City, Taiwan	National Taiwan Normal University	KKBOX
Christian Letsinger	Philadelphia, PA	United States Military Academy	United States Army
Jorge G. Rodriguez	Berkeley, CA	UC Riverside	City and County of San Francisco Office of Cannabis
Tianie Scott	Minneapolis, MN	University of California Santa Cruz	U.S. Army
Volodymyr Silchenko	Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine	Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv	Capital Food
Julian Turner	Paradis, LA	University of Southern California	Canvas
Jenny Linger	Cincinnati, OH	University of Cincinnati	Hudson Valley Farm Hub