Melody Ward

University of California-Berkeley, Haas School of Business

“An adventurous, brave learner driven by community, embracing challenges, and championing equitable access to education.”

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Fun Fact About Yourself: Although I am afraid of heights, I swung off the Moses Mabhida Stadium in South Africa, which is the world’s tallest swing according to Guinness World Records.

Undergraduate School and Major: Duke University: Political Science

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Google: Senior Communications Measurement & Insights Analyst

Berkeley Haas is founded on four Defining Leadership Principles: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Which principle resonates most with you and why? While I feel driven by all the Defining Leadership Principles, Students Always resonates with me most. It reflects my passion for expanding access to education and my own commitment to lifelong learning.

In my professional role, this shows up through my openness to every learning opportunity. I began on the Measurement & Insights team through a rotation program, initially confused by my placement since I wanted to focus more on writing. Determined to make the most of it, I dove in by learning SQL, seeking resources from my manager, completing Coursera courses, and volunteering to debug whenever teammates needed help. By the end of the six-month rotation, I was not only proficient in SQL, but had also discovered a passion for data-driven work.

In my personal life, I pursue growth by pushing myself outside my comfort zone. Last year, I completed Iceland’s 35-mile Laugavegur Trail, a multiday hike, despite never having camped, hating the cold, and disliking carrying heavy loads. I prepared for months, but learned the most from fellow hikers I met along the way. Through that experience, I uncovered yet another passion.

For me, Students Always also fuels my long-term vision: earning my MBA not only to deepen my own knowledge, but to one day build a community program that provides under-resourced students exceptional opportunities to learn and grow as individuals.

What excites you about earning your MBA in the Bay Area? Working at Google for the past four years has shown me how dynamic and rapidly evolving the tech industry is. I’m excited to immerse myself in the Bay Area’s wealth of opportunities to engage with technology from new perspectives. While my expertise lies in Marketing & Communications, I’m eager to deepen my understanding of products, explore smaller tech companies, and witness their growth firsthand. I’m especially drawn to technology for good, particularly in education. While much of the conversation around AI in education focuses on its risks, I want to partner with edtech companies that harness AI to help all students excel.

Beyond the professional possibilities, the Bay Area excites me because it represents a completely new chapter in my life. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, I’ve always identified as a fast-paced city person. Over the years, though, I’ve found myself craving a slower, quieter lifestyle with greater access to nature. I love the Bay Area’s weather, its abundance of hikes, and the breathtaking views just minutes away. Most of all, I look forward to seeing how Berkeley and the Bay will shape me, as a business leader and as an individual.

What was the key part of Berkeley Haas’ MBA curriculum or programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? The community, support, and small class size are what drew me to Berkeley Haas’ MBA program. Beyond the unique and exceptional offerings of this top-ranked program, I believe its greatest strength lies in its people. I wanted to be in an environment where I am both challenged and supported by those around me. Even before starting at Haas, I’ve connected with students and staff who have generously offered guidance and helped me prepare for this next chapter. I’m excited to build on those connections and take advantage of every opportunity to grow closer to my classmates.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Berkeley Haas? What excites me most about Haas is its emphasis on learning by doing, especially through the Applied Innovation requirement. I’m eager to dive into real-world projects where I can test ideas, solve complex problems, and immediately apply what I’m learning in the classroom. The Social Lean LaunchPad course, in particular, excites me because it offers practical frameworks for building a social venture, allowing me to start shaping my vision for a venture that expands educational access to under-resourced students. These opportunities will not only strengthen my analytical and problem-solving skills, but also give me the tools and confidence to turn my entrepreneurial goals into reality.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest career accomplishment so far has been transforming my role on Sundar Pichai’s communications team from one where I felt out of place to one where I made a lasting, measurable impact. After a little over a year at Google, I joined Sundar’s high-visibility, fast-moving communications team as the youngest member. At first, I struggled to find where I could contribute meaningfully. My manager encouraged me to identify how I could uniquely add value, so I approached the challenge like any problem: I listened. Through one-on-one conversations with teammates, I discovered that while the team excelled at execution; its strategies relied heavily on precedent and weren’t fully leveraging data, an opportunity I was well positioned to address.

Drawing on my background as a communications analyst, I built a series of social media analyses to identify which types of content drove the most engagement, which communities we were reaching effectively, and which needed more focus. This work directly informed Sundar’s external communications strategy. One example was my idea to create and pitch a blog post about how technology was empowering young girls and women in India for International Women’s Day. It became one of Sundar’s most engaged posts on X that quarter, aligning with Google’s broader commitment to helpful technology. For me, this accomplishment wasn’t just about the tangible outcomes but the journey. I proved to myself that resilience, adaptability, and a data-driven mindset could turn a challenging start into an opportunity to make an enduring impact on one of the most impactful teams in the company.

At this point, what do you hope to do after graduation? After I graduate from Haas, I hope to explore opportunities with startups or smaller tech companies, particularly those focused on edtech, or consulting firms. I’m especially interested in gaining a deeper understanding of strategy in fast-paced, innovation-driven environments, where I can contribute meaningfully while continuing to develop my own skills. These types of organizations often provide exposure to a wide range of strategic challenges, and I see them as ideal settings to bridge my academic learning with practical, high-impact work and ultimately prepare me for my entrepreneurial goals.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Berkeley Haas’ MBA program? What helped me the most during my application process to Haas was taking the time to connect with the admissions team, current students, and alumni. One of the standout aspects of Haas is its community and culture, and there’s no better way to understand that than by speaking with people who are already immersed in it. These conversations allowed me to truly see myself at Haas and understand how its environment could help me grow into the leader I aspire to be. Gaining that clarity not only gave me confidence but also allowed me to craft a more compelling application that reflected my authentic self and why Haas was the perfect fit for me.

DON’T MISS: STUDENTS TODAY, LEADERS TOMORROW, INNOVATORS ALWAYS

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