Anureet Kaur Mann

University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management

“Passionate strategist driven by empathy, curiosity, and impact.”

Hometown: Chandigarh, India

Fun fact about yourself: I am an avid animal lover though the feeling is not always mutual. I have been bitten by dogs thrice, stung by honeybees twice, nearly attacked by a cat, and even stung by a jellyfish

Undergraduate School and Degree: Shri Ram College of Commerce (University of Delhi), Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.)

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Dalberg Advisors, Senior Consultant

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? I interned as a Summer Associate at Bain & Company in Toronto

Where will you be working after graduation? I will be joining Bain & Company in Toronto as a Consultant

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

Honours and Awards:

Dean’s List Awardee & Andrew Alexander Kinghorn Fellow: Awarded to the top 10% academic performers of the cohort.

MBA Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurs: Awarded to a student demonstrating commitment to social entrepreneurship, creating positive community impact, and with experience in the public/nonprofit sector.

The International Student Fellowship: Awarded to international students for academic excellence and demonstrated leadership within the Rotman community.

Entrance Scholarships totaling $40,000.

3rd place overall (2nd in specific case study) – McGill University Retail Innovation Challenge: Awarded a $1,000 team prize for developing a growth and operations strategy for Microcommerce LIB, an SME bringing tech-enabled grocery stores to Quebec food deserts.

Top 4 (out of 28 teams) – Kearney Case Competition: Developed an operations strategy to boost profitability and growth for a retail healthcare firm.

Profiled by Clear Admit to showcase insights and to guide prospective students about the Rotman MBA experience.

Leadership and Extra-curriculars:

President of the Management Consulting Association (MCA), Rotman School of Management: Led a 12-person Executive Team to deliver networking, educational, and recruitment programming to 300+ student club members pursuing careers in consulting.

Teaching Assistant: Tutored and graded courses such as Managing Customer Value, Finance I: Global Capital Markets and Valuation, Operations Management, Financial Accounting, and Leading People in Organizations.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am most proud of my evolution as a leader as President of the Management Consulting Association. When I was elected, I felt honored that my peers trusted my skills and judgment to manage a club that plays a critical role in supporting consulting recruitment. Leading a 12-person Executive Team, I organized over 15 events for 300+ members, learning to balance competing priorities, delegate effectively, seek help when needed, and collaborate with peers to create programming that supports career development. This experience challenged me to step up as a leader, strengthened my ability to manage complex stakeholder challenges, and gave me the satisfaction of delivering tangible value to the student community. I will carry these learnings forward as I continue to develop my leadership skills in my career.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? The professional achievement I am most proud of is contributing to the Quality Education India Development Impact Bond, a USD 11M initiative that improved foundational literacy and numeracy for~ 200,000 students in India, delivering learning outcomes 1.5 times higher than control schools. The project ran from 2018 to 2022, and I worked on it during the period when COVID disrupted education nationwide and threatened to undo years of progress.

During this time, I partnered closely with our NGO teams to keep students engaged through remote learning and to design practical, student‑centered transition plans as schools reopened. The work required adaptability, clear problem solving, and a deep understanding of on‑the‑ground realities. I am proud of how we helped sustain continuity of learning at a moment when the world had come to a standstill.

On a lighter note, I also got to participate in the documentary shoot for the project after its completion, which was a unique experience. I now know what B-rolls and call sheets are!

Why did you choose this business school? I chose Rotman because of its emphasis on developing soft skills, which I see as essential for navigating the complexity of business. The Self Development Lab, in particular, stood out to me because it offers structured coaching that helps students grow as leaders and collaborators by strengthening communication, self-awareness, and teamwork skills. Rotman’s diverse cohort also plays an important role in this development. Working closely with classmates from different backgrounds and perspectives creates daily opportunities to practice listening, influencing, and collaborating across differences. For me, this combination of formal coaching and real-world interaction made Rotman the ideal environment to build the soft skills that matter most for effective leadership

Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favorite MBA professor was Professor Hong Luo, who taught Strategic Management. Her energy in the classroom made every lecture fly by, and she pushed us to think critically about each case by putting ourselves in the shoes of the decision-makers. She challenged our assumptions, encouraged us to defend our viewpoints, and broadened the way we approached strategic problems. What stood out even more was the empathy she brought to her teaching. She was always available for one-on-one conversations, whether to clarify concepts or to support students during the more stressful stretches of recruitment and academics. That combination of intellectual rigor and genuine care made her class one of the most meaningful parts of my program. I am grateful to have stayed in touch with her beyond the classroom, and she remains someone I look up to both as a teacher and as a person.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? I really enjoyed Operations Management, with a special shoutout to Professor Gonzalo Romero. Coming from a non-engineering background, I had always been wary of quantitative or math-heavy subjects and initially expected the course to be quite challenging. To my surprise, the way the material was taught made complex concepts approachable and even enjoyable. I found myself drawn to the logic behind operations and the course helped me understand the analytical dimensions of how businesses operate, beyond simply the top line and bottom line. Concepts like capacity planning, bottlenecks, and process efficiency showed me how closely strategy and execution are intertwined, and how operational data can inform better decision-making. What I thought would be a tough, numbers-heavy class ended up becoming one of my favorites in the MBA.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? One of my favorite MBA traditions is the annual handoff between the outgoing and incoming Presidents of the Management Consulting Association. The details are intentionally kept secret, but it always involves music and just enough chaos to bring the whole club together.

What I love most is what it reflects about our community. It is a moment where responsibility and camaraderie sit comfortably side by side, and where leadership is celebrated. It is a small tradition, but it captures the spirit of our school: we take the work seriously but never lose the fun and connection that make the experience meaningful.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? The most impactful case I studied was the “Lehman Brothers: Rise of the Equity Research Department” case, which we analyzed in my Strategic Change and Implementation class. I will admit some recency bias, but this case stood out because it made the STAR model feel concrete. Seeing how Jack Rivkin transformed a fragmented, low‑credibility research department into a top‑ranked team showed how strategy, structure, systems, people, and culture must move in sync for real change to take hold.

The biggest lesson I took away was that successful change is rarely about one bold move. It is the accumulation of many aligned decisions like redesigning daily systems like morning meetings, setting clear expectations, hiring complementary leaders, and reinforcing culture through daily behaviors. This case made organizational alignment feel practical rather than theoretical, and it is a lesson I know I will carry into future leadership roles.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? I love Toronto for its diversity. It is one of the few places where you can meet people from all over the world and learn about so many different cultures through everyday conversations and friendships. When I first arrived, I immediately felt at home because of this inclusivity. This diversity also shapes the city’s incredible food scene. There’s always something new to try, and I enjoy exploring different neighborhoods to discover unique cuisines.

Another thing I really enjoy about the city is going for long walks. One of my favorite routes is walking from campus up to Casa Loma and back. During the summer, the streets, gardens, and architecture are especially beautiful, making the city feel even more vibrant.

What business leader do you admire most? Melanie Perkins is inspirational to me because of her resilience in the face of rejection and her focus on solving real problems for people. In interviews about building Canva, she often talks about how the idea for Canva was rejected by more than 100 investors, yet she continued refining the vision instead of abandoning it. She has said that entrepreneurs should focus on solving a problem that really bugs a lot of people. That’s because when the problem is meaningful, it becomes easier to rally a team and build something impactful. That perspective influenced how I approached leadership when I led MCA at Rotman. Rather than simply organizing consulting events, I tried to focus on the underlying problem we were solving for students, which was creating a stronger professional and social community around the club. Like Perkins, I found that when the mission was clear and meaningful, it became much easier to motivate members, align the team, and build initiatives that people genuinely cared about.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming?

One way my business school has integrated AI into its programming is through All Day TA, an AI agent developed by professors at the University of Toronto and trained directly on course materials to act as a conversational teaching assistant for students. Because it draws from specific readings, lecture slides, and assignments for each course, its responses are grounded in the curriculum rather than generic sources, significantly reducing the risk of hallucinations. We first had early access to the tool in our Strategy course, and its success in supporting student learning is now leading to broader adoption across other courses.

What insights did you gain from using AI? In practice, All Day TA made learning far more accessible and efficient. For example, while preparing for our Strategy exam, I used it to review my responses to practice questions. It was particularly helpful in highlighting additional dimensions or perspectives I could incorporate into my analysis, which helped broaden my thinking and refine my arguments. One insight I gained from this experience is that AI can be a powerful tool for expanding how we approach problems, especially when it is designed to complement structured academic material and encourage deeper analytical thinking.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? The MBA classmate I most admire is Luke Beelen. He was one of my first friends at school, as we were on the same academic team. From the start, he was warm and collaborative. Over multiple group assignments (and later while working with him on the Management Consulting Association Executive Team), I came to appreciate his calm, structured, methodical, and thoughtful approach to work. He is also exceptionally skilled at time management.

Beyond his admirable professional capabilities, I have often relied on Luke for advice and support. From providing honest constructive feedback to answering my many questions as I settled into this country, his guidance has been invaluable. Observing his calm demeanor in stressful situations has also taught me to approach challenges more thoughtfully and remain composed under pressure.

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

Gain exposure to consulting engagements in the private sector in North America at the intersection of strategy and ESG. This builds on my goal of continuing to work in the social impact space by helping organizations think more deliberately about how financial performance can align with long-term social and environmental outcomes. I also wish to understand how more developed markets approach sustainability, how sentiment shapes corporate priorities, and how operational and strategic decisions translate into measurable impact.

Build a social enterprise focused on improving access to quality education in underserved communities. This aspiration builds on my experience working in the education sector at Dalberg, where I saw firsthand how gaps in foundational learning shape long-term opportunity. I want to design scalable, outcome-driven programs that measurably improve learning outcomes and create lasting impact, potentially drawing on emerging tools like AI that are reshaping how knowledge is accessed and delivered.

What made Anureet such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“I had the pleasure of being Anureet’s career coach while she was at Rotman, and she distinguished herself from our first meeting through her intellectual rigor, curiosity, and genuine ability to connect with others. After she become President of the Management Consulting Association (MCA), the school’s largest student organization, I witnessed her people-focused leadership while meeting with her to plan how the club will integrate students from two new degree programs the school is launching. At each meeting, she was very prepared and focused on developing plans to ensure the club’s future leaders are positioned for success. Anureet also elevated the club’s career development programming to reflect evolving employer expectations and reinforcing Rotman’s reputation for producing top-tier talent. Beyond her formal leadership role, she consistently invested in her peers by organizing mock case interviews, mentoring classmates, and offering steady support during high-pressure moments, which I have heard from her classmates were instrumental to their growth and success.”

Robyn Behlke
Career Consultant
Rotman School of Management

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