Mallika Patkar

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania & The Lauder Institute

“I grew up practicing archery—it taught me to stay focused and aim with purpose.”

Hometown: Fairfax, VA

Fun fact about yourself: When I was working in Paris, I started a food blog, and ended up on the French radio talking about my favorite restaurants—it was my Emily in Paris moment, minus the Netflix deal.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Columbia University, BA in Economics-Political Science

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? AXA, Strategy & Performance Manager (Financial Inclusion Division)

Where did you intern during the summer of 2024? Circle, Impact Intern

Where will you be working after graduation? Actively recruiting within financial services and fintech—looking for a role at the intersection of business and impact!

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Co-President of Wharton’s Social Impact Club – We are fostering a community for students interested in impact at Wharton. As a podcast host, I also have the opportunity to interview inspiring impact-driven professionals worldwide!
• Board Member of Wharton’s Impact Investing Partners – This is Wharton’s student-led impact investing training program. As a second-year student, I am helping develop our first Donor-Advised Fund and leading career-focused treks to connect students with top investors and changemakers in the impact space.
• Student Fellow for Wharton’s Institute on Financial Policy & Regulation – I am exploring how policy shapes financial access and outcomes, bridging my interests in fintech and regulation.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? One of my proudest achievements at Wharton has been working on my Capstone, an opportunity to conduct original research through the dual degree program between the Wharton School and the Lauder Institute. I chose to explore a topic that has fascinated me for years: cultural preservation and its role in economic development.

To conduct my research, I traveled to Egypt, where I studied how museums serve national development goals through tourism, education, and even soft power. Visiting sites like the Grand Egyptian Museum and speaking with experts gave me a firsthand perspective on how cultural institutions can create a sustainable economic impact.

Beyond the research itself, this project has been meaningful because it reflects what drew me to Lauder in the first place—a chance to explore global issues through both business and cultural lenses.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I am proud of my work at AXA, where I helped design and scale inclusive insurance solutions for populations in the informal sector, gig economy, and low-income communities across 15 markets. These solutions challenged traditional insurance models and sought to make financial protection more accessible for those historically excluded from coverage.

Towards the end of my time at AXA, I helped organize our global seminar, bringing together over 100 AXA employees and partners across geographies. This group was not just passionate about social inclusion and economic mobility, but actively developing programs to achieve it. Seeing a room full of individuals dedicated to tangible change, alongside the programs I had contributed to, was an incredibly rewarding moment.

Why did you choose this business school?
I chose Wharton because of the unparalleled community and global opportunities it offers. From day one, I have been surrounded by brilliant peers who challenge my thinking, push me to explore new perspectives, and bring a global outlook to every discussion. The Lauder Institute has amplified this experience, allowing me to engage deeply with topics at the intersection of business, culture, politics, and economics (not only in the classroom but also through immersive experiences abroad!).

Who was your favorite MBA professor? I took Valuations with Professor David Wessels. While I thought the course would be very technical, Professor Wessels has an ability to make valuation concepts engaging using memorable stories, real-world applications, and hands-on workbook exercises that forced us to put theory into practice right away. His teaching style made even the most complex topics feel accessible.

What was your favorite course as an MBA?
My favorite course was Venture Capital and the Finance of Innovation, taught by Professor Luke Taylor. It provided a deep dive into the financial mechanics behind venture capital. What made it truly special was the hands-on approach—we didn’t just study VC; we sourced a company, wrote an investment memo, and structured a term sheet, making it a true experiential learning opportunity. It was the perfect blend of theory and real-world application, giving me a much deeper appreciation for how investors evaluate and support innovation.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? The Wharton Dance Studio Showcase last year was definitely a highlight of my MBA experience. I participated as a dancer—in the bellydancing performance, no less, which was completely new to me! It was quite the learning curve, but the energy of my fellow dancers and choreographers leading up to the show kept me motivated. On the day of the event, seeing hundreds of students come together to perform everything from traditional Chinese dance to street style (all choreographed and led by my peers) was incredible. It’s the perfect reflection of what the MBA is all about: stepping out of your comfort zone, trying new things, and supporting each other. While I won’t be dancing this year, I’m excited to (loudly) cheer on my friends who are choreographing and performing—I know they’ll crush it!

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why?
If I could do it all again, I would engage more with Penn’s other graduate schools. This year, I took a City Planning class at the Weitzman School of Design, and I appreciated being in a room with people from different professional backgrounds and distinct ambitions. One of the unique things about a university campus is the opportunity for cross-disciplinary collaboration. If I had another two years, I would make even more of an effort to step outside the Wharton bubble and explore the full breadth of Penn’s academic community.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Philadelphia is a big city, but with nearly all Wharton students living in Rittenhouse Square, it feels like a small town. All of your friends are within walking distance (or often in the same building!), making spontaneous meetups effortless. You can’t walk 5 minutes without seeing a friendly face. At the same time, Philly offers big-city perks—amazing restaurants, arts, and culture!

What movie or television show (e.g. The Big Short, The Founder, Mad Men, House of Lies) best reflects the realities of business and what did you learn from it? Even if it’s listed in the question, I want to highlight Mad Men. It’s one of my favorite shows in general. What I love about it is how, across multiple seasons, you see the characters navigating key historical moments and shifting social dynamics, especially in the workplace. Each character moves through the 1960s, choosing completely different paths. The show captures how individuals and businesses had to adapt to changing norms around gender, race, power, and consumer behavior—with some embracing change and others resisting it.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? Wharton has integrated AI into the curriculum through courses that encourage hands-on experimentation with AI tools, as well as courses that explore its regulatory and ethical considerations. The latter has been especially valuable in helping me develop a mental framework for assessing emerging technologies more broadly, allowing me to better evaluate their opportunities, risks, and long-term impact.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? During a school-sponsored trip to Ghana last year, I had the luck of rooming with my dear friend Doris Xu—a true modern Renaissance woman and an incredible intellectual sparring partner. She can debate anything from Chinese history to food diplomacy with effortless depth, making every conversation a learning experience. Beyond her academic brilliance, she’s also an expert dancer, a polyglot (I’ve lost track of how many languages she speaks!), a baker, and even a drummer. Most of all, she is a kind and compassionate friend, always ready to support those around her. Wharton is full of people with fascinating and diverse interests, and getting to be part of this community—and to learn from peers like Doris—has been one of the greatest privileges of the past two years.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

• Build and lead a high-performing team—shaping its culture, mission, and vision to drive meaningful impact.
• Sit on the board of a major financial or cultural institution, influencing strategy and governance at the intersection of finance, culture, and development.

What made Mallika such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?

“As a joint-degree MBA/MA candidate at the Lauder Institute, Mallika Patkar has pursued her passion for impact investing and social enterprise through a truly international lens. A student in the Lauder Africa Program with a focus on French, Mallika has actively contributed to the Wharton Social Impact Club and Impact Investing Partners. During her Lauder-funded internship at Circle Impact, she developed blockchain use cases that advance financial inclusion, humanitarian aid, and disaster relief in emerging markets. Mallika has shown leadership in the Lauder community, serving as a student leader for intercultural ventures to Ghana and Mongolia, where she helped to foster cross-cultural exchange and deepened her understanding of global development challenges.

A key component of the Lauder Program is the MA Capstone research project. Mallika’s Capstone project, “Cultural Capital: Leveraging Culture to Drive National Development Goals,” explores Egypt’s investment in monumental museum projects like the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization and the Grand Egyptian Museum. It examines how these institutions shift from artifact repositories to dynamic spaces that drive national consciousness and economic growth. It also considers how this model could be applied in other African nations, particularly Senegal and Nigeria, as they work to reclaim their histories, repatriate artifacts, and build sustainable cultural institutions.

Mallika’s global outlook has been shaped by a career that spans 15 countries across four continents, working to create financial solutions for underserved populations. Prior to Wharton, she played a pivotal role at AXA Emerging Customers, developing insurance products that empowered smallholder farmers, migrant workers, and independent laborers in emerging markets. Her work not only helped expand financial resilience but also ensured companies remained accountable to their social missions through impact measurement. At Wharton and Lauder, she has continued this trajectory, leveraging her expertise to explore the intersection of economic development and climate change in Africa. With a sharp strategic mind and a relentless drive to create meaningful change, Mallika is a standout in the Class of 2025.”

Michael Alexo
Lauder Institute
Director Admissions, Marketing & Financial Aid

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