Vanessa Sims

Stanford Graduate School of Business

“Compassionate and warm community builder, healer, and social justice champion who loves nature and music.”

Hometown: I moved every 2-3 years growing up and have lived in China, Australia, and the US so feel a piece of home in a lot of places. I went to high school outside of Atlanta, GA, so the South feels most like home in the US!

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’m a 500-hour trained yoga teacher and energy healer practicing reiki and shamanic healing.

Undergraduate School and Major: Stanford University, B.S. in Human Biology, Astrophysics and Astronomy Minor (Pre-Med)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Bain & Company, Consultant & Chief of Staff at FarmWorks Kenya

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Stanford GSB’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? My dream is to create a business at the intersection of racial equity, environmental justice, and spiritual health and wellness—areas that lack a clear roadmap but are deeply needed. I wanted a school that embraces outside-the-box thinking and supports bold, unconventional ideas, and the GSB is exactly that. The culture here is to build something that challenges the status quo and I really wanted an environment, peers, and professors who would push and support this style of thinking.

I’ve loved working with faculty at the Center for Social Innovation to design a unique path. I am excited to test and refine my ideas in classes like Startup Garage and joint courses with Stanford’s d.school, as well as the unique opportunity to take classes with the other schools at Stanford like the Doerr School of Sustainability. The GSB’s emphasis on interpersonal leadership also drew me in because I want to grow as a stronger communicator, leader, and storyteller to help bring my vision to life. The many communications classes here and GSB programs like Lowkeynotes and Arbuckle Fellows have been especially exciting to me to develop these skills!

 What has been the most important thing that you’ve learned at Stanford GSB so far? I’ve absolutely loved getting to deep-dive into my leadership style and learning ways to bolster it to run great teams. In Week 0 of fall, we take a course called Managing Groups and Teams where we get daily challenge scenarios to solve or navigate with a team. Through the process, we learn strategies and frameworks for how to organize groups and manage decision and implementation processes on teams from 4-5 to up to 50-60 people. Each challenge is set up as a learning game so getting to learn through play was something I also really enjoyed. I discovered the different roles you can play on a team to drive ideation sessions and process forward and got to analyze which strategies I used most and least frequently, helping me amplify my presence as a team member and group leader.

This course also has a complement course called Lead Labs that we take during Fall Quarter to dive into the way we show up as leaders on teams and analyze our strengths and weaknesses. If you really commit to the weekly roleplays, it’s an incredible opportunity to test different leadership styles in real-world scenarios. We share frequent feedback, and I appreciated learning more about my unique superpowers, growth areas, and ways to play on different traits of my leadership to best suit a situation.

What course, club, or activity have you enjoyed the most so far at Stanford GSB? I’ve absolutely loved being part of the GSB Show – every year students at the GSB write a musical that’s a parody about life at the GSB and perform it. I’ve never been in a musical. Getting to act, sing, and dance, alongside other first-year and second-year students and just be creative and goofy together has brought me a lot of laughter and energy!

What quality best describes your MBA classmates you’ve met so far? Give an example of why this is true. Full of richness. Every single person has such a deep and varied set of experiences, whether from different industries, cultures, or perspectives on life. It feels incredibly expansive to be surrounded by people who always have insights on anything you could imagine—whether it’s venture capital, social impact, or spirituality, and I’ve absolutely loved getting to know my classmates. When they raise their hands in class I always learn something new and I’m so grateful to have so many different areas of expertise in a room.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far. At Bain NY, I was part of the small team that built “Brave Spaces,” during the height of the pandemic. Brave Spaces are facilitated conversations on how systemic racism shows up in the industries we serve, held on case teams. Education on the inequities we risked propagating in our work with Fortune 500 companies was slim, and a group of us wanted to equip Bainies to work with systemic considerations every day. I stepped up as a leading voice in our office, mobilizing others to find theirs. I created discussion materials, recruited 30 colleagues for the facilitation team, and worked with office leadership to integrate these conversations into case-team kickoffs. The impact was incredible—our initiative reached hundreds of Bainies, generating energy and inspiration across the office. With access to educational resources and a supportive space, teams collaborated on real solutions to apply in their personal lives and casework industries. They felt safe learning from one another and empowered to drive change which meant so much to me. Bringing conversations about equity—and how it truly benefits all of us regardless of background—to the forefront of such an influential organization was deeply rewarding.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far. Joining student government as a Diversity Committee member has been a meaningful accomplishment for me. I’ve loved working with university leadership to ensure learning and conversations about equity and social justice aren’t just an afterthought, but a core part of our MBA journey and classroom experience. Students at the GSB will go on to be some of the most influential leaders in the world and helping equip our community with the awareness and tools to navigate the complex realities of this world—and drive meaningful change here—has been deeply rewarding. Because the GSB is so student-led, I’ve also appreciated the large amount of autonomy to brainstorm and launch pilots and initiatives as a team with faculty support.

In the same vein of community and well-being, another passion project has been founding the Black Yoga Collective! I offer on-campus yoga and breathwork classes for BIPOC students and allies — creating a space for healing, restoration, and community. Getting to bring wellness practices like cacao ceremonies, breathwork, and yoga to busy students has been something that’s been really beautiful to me. My dream is to see everyone deeply nourished, thriving, and connected to their bodies so getting to do that here has been incredible.

What has been your best memory as an MBA so far? My Global Study Trip to Argentina and Uruguay was incredible. All students have the opportunity to go on a 10-day immersion trip to study a business topic in another country. My trip focused on financial inclusion and economic mobility, topics I care about deeply.  We had the rare opportunity to explore this issue from multiple angles and sit down with industry leaders like top CEOS, start-up founders, and senior government officials in the Central Bank to hear their unfiltered insights on the challenges and opportunities in the space. It was such a rich learning experience and I left feeling more prepared to understand and tackle these types of challenges in the social justice work I do. I also really loved bonding with classmates and the second-year students who led the trip and immersing myself in a new culture — I learned to Tango and it was absolutely electric!

What advice would you give to a prospective applicant looking to join the Stanford GSB Class of 2026? Come as your whole self. The GSB isn’t just about credentials—it’s about impact, authenticity, and the energy you bring to a room. Lean into what makes you unique and the ways you’ve impacted the lives of others, and think about how you’ll build, create, and transform within this community. Highlight ways that you’re a voice that the business community needs, and how your unique perspective, because we all have one, can shape things for the better, helping the admissions team see that having you in the classroom will also benefit the community at large. Reflect on where you have been, where you want to go, and how an MBA from the GSB specifically will help you get there in ways other programs couldn’t.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE STANFORD GSB MBA CLASS OF 2026