Jabari Chiphe

Washington University in St. Louis, Olin Business School

“Others-focused leader, driven to leave people and places better than I found them.”

Hometown: Chicago, IL.

Fun fact about yourself: While an undergraduate student at WashU, I played on the Varsity Men’s Basketball Team.

Undergraduate School and Degree:

School: Washington University in St. Louis

Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Psychological & Brain Sciences (Minors: General Economics and Business of Sports)

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Before enrolling in business school, I last worked as a Road Warrior for Paragon Marketing Group’s Gatorade account. Paragon Marketing Group is a sports and entertainment marketing agency based in Chicago, IL.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? During the summer of 2025, I had two internships. One was as an associate with Encore Management Group, a private equity firm focused on services businesses in Clayton, MO. My other internship was as an MBA intern with Andiem, a startup basketball shoe and performance gear company, which I worked remotely. Andiem is based in New York, NY.

Where will you be working after graduation? After graduation, I will work as a management consulting analyst at World Wide Technology’s global headquarters in St. Louis, MO.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

* Impact Investing Symposium Chairperson (2025-26)

* Impact Investing Symposium Head of Marketing (2024-25)

* Clark-Fox Policy Institute Graduate Policy Scholar

* Consortium Fellow

* Management Consulted Case World Cup Semi-Finalist

* Community impact project with STL Neighborhood Foresters, an organization that puts on volunteer-based tree care events across nine St. Louis neighborhoods. With a team of classmates, I spent a day volunteering with STL Neighborhood Foresters planting trees throughout the Benton Park neighborhood.

* Consulting project for Hope Creates, a nonprofit whose mission is to empower adults and children in recovery from substance abuse to stay sober through the expressive arts.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? The extracurricular achievement that I’m most proud of from my time as an Olin MBA was serving as chairperson of the 2026 Impact Investing Symposium (IIS). Impact Investing Symposium is an annual conference organized by WashU Olin Business School and Brown School students. It gives attendees the opportunity to engage with, learn from, and network with like-minded individuals and leaders at the forefront of impact investing and social impact in the St. Louis area and broader Midwest region.

During my first year, I joined the 2025 IIS Planning & Leadership Team as head of marketing. I didn’t know much about responsible investing or the impact investing industry at the time, but I was drawn in by the idea of strategically deploying capital for both financial returns and social good. While our team that year organized several great speakers, strategic and operational missteps led to the conference having low attendance.

Inspired by the work of local investors and nonprofit leaders to “do well while doing good,” I stepped into the role of chairperson for the 2026 conference. In this role, my biggest goals for IIS were to host a valuable, well-attended event and create space for attendees to build connections with one another.

The 2026 Impact Investing Symposium was a success! The event brought together over 110 students, investors, nonprofit leaders, and industry professionals for an afternoon that included two panels and a networking happy hour. This year’s conference was very well received by attendees, many of whom spent time connecting and planning collaboration to achieve shared goals beyond the allotted networking period.

My role as chairperson of the 2026 Impact Investing Symposium was extremely rewarding, as it put the event back on the radar of St. Louis’ impact investing, community development, financial management, and nonprofit communities. On a personal note, bouncing back from 2025’s poorly attended conference served as a key source of identity capital and professional development. Through strategic planning, attention to detail, strong teamwork, and coalition-building, I was able to lead our Planning & Leadership Team in putting on a conference that provided attendees with a valuable experience.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? As a college basketball player at WashU, I served as the co-president of WashU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for two years. I was the first junior ever chosen as co-president of SAAC, which represents all 530+ WashU varsity student-athletes and provides volunteer service, professional development, and community-building opportunities. In this role, I developed management, leadership, financial planning, pitch creation, event planning, and negotiation skills that built a strong foundation for the financial endeavors that followed.

In this role, my co-president and I established Bears Supporting Bears—an initiative designed to improve connections between WashU sports teams and overall school spirit. To launch this initiative, I successfully negotiated $7,000 of additional funding to enhance the game day and student-athlete experience. The most rewarding part of successfully establishing and funding this initiative is seeing that it still lives on, years after my time as a WashU Bear. Creating a tradition and leaving a legacy that improves the overall experience and culture for students and athletes at WashU is what makes this my proudest professional achievement.

Why did you choose this business school? My decision to pursue an MBA was primarily driven by my desire to improve my business acumen, learn technical skills, and gain hands-on experience solving real-world business problems. Olin Business School provided me with the opportunity to achieve these goals, and the Center for Experiential Learning (CEL) played a key role. Olin’s CEL connects students with real-world challenges through which they can grow from applying the skills they’ve learned in classes.

As a student in Olin’s CEL Practicum course, I worked on a consulting project for a startup behavioral health clinic. My team and I created a go-to-market report for the client, focused on anxiety and OCD services in the greater St. Louis Area. We delivered insights on Missouri’s regulatory environment, state-of-the-market and positioning report, and financial projections.

This project was a great opportunity to apply all that I’d learned during my MBA studies to a real client engagement before graduating. This was especially important to me, as I entered business school immediately after receiving an undergraduate degree in a non-business field. It was the growth experience that I wanted in an MBA, and that I knew Olin would provide!

Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favorite MBA professor was Samuel Chun, who is a professor of practice in marketing. During my MBA, I took three courses with Sam: Marketing Management, Values-Based Decision-Making, and Business Marketing & Sales.

In all of Sam’s courses, I felt that I grew the most as a business mind and a professional person. His commitment to pushing students to identify key quantitative information in case studies and synthesize them into qualitative findings spurred a lot of the skill development that I wanted to experience as an MBA. Most importantly, Sam always reminded us to practice empathy (for clients, customers, and competitors) and remember our values as we advance in the professional world.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Leading Across Differences, taught by Gisele Marcus, was my favorite course as an MBA. This course focused on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, and provided students with the skills to lead teams made up of people with a variety of backgrounds and identities.

As someone who values others-focused leadership, my learnings from this course’s cases, discussions, and projects will help me create a productive and harmonious environment for the teams I lead throughout my career.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite MBA tradition was Thursdays After Class, which were monthly student-organized events that brought Olin MBAs together to strengthen our relationships in informal and, sometimes, community service settings.

This event, along with Olin’s smaller cohort sizes, emphasized the school’s commitment to creating an environment for students to truly connect with one another. These genuine relationships improved the collaborative culture of the MBA program, lead to lifelong friendships, and will pay professional dividends in the future.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? If I could go back and do one think differently during my MBA experience, it would be spending more time in WashU’s Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship and taking Olin’s MBA entrepreneurship courses. Skandalaris and Olin have an incredible reputation for entrepreneurship. In a world where ownership grows ever more important, I wish I took more advantage of such a prestigious program and network of innovators.

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 study I had in business school was Chateau Margaux: Launching the 3rd Wine. It discussed the challenges that Chateau Margaux, a prestigious wine estate, faced when deciding to launch an additional wine product that would be priced below their two existing offerings.

Initially, I viewed this case as a lesson in branding. I thought that introducing an additional product would dilute Chateau Margaux’s premium brand. However, once we discussed this case in class, I realized that the bigger takeaway was about managing distribution channels. Once Chateau Margaux launched their new product, the distribution channel’s price markups led to it being priced too high to capture the intended consumer segment.

This case was so impactful because it taught me to look beyond the producer and end-consumer relationship. In business, there are several less obvious players whose goals and incentives need to be considered when creating a strategy.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? St. Louis, the place I’ve called home for the last six years, has a special place in my heart. My favorite thing about it is the community-oriented culture that exists throughout the city. Many St. Louis residents are either originally from there, have family in the area, or moved there and never left. Whether it’s rooted in the city’s rich history or vastly underrated restaurant scene, St. Louisans have a pride for their city that you don’t often find in comparable metropolitan areas.

What business leader do you admire most? The business leader I admire most is John Rogers Jr., founder of Ariel Capital Management (Now Ariel Investments). Ariel was the first African American investment firm to develop a mutual fund and is currently the largest minority-run mutual fund firm in the United States.

What I admire most about Rogers, beyond his status as a changemaker and visionary, is his work as a civic leader. He has dedicated decades of his career to promoting financial literacy, patient wealth-building, and opportunities for Black business leaders to manage and receive investment capital. His work serves as an inspiration to me as I begin my post-MBA career.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? As AI has become an integral part of professional life, particularly in the business world, Olin has moved quickly to provide students with exposure to the technology’s potential to enhance our productivity. Olin has done this primarily through courses, like AI for Managers and AI for Executives, and the launch of a new MS in AI for Business.

As a student, some of my professors encouraged me to use AI as a tool to enhance my data analysis. The biggest insight I gained from this was that using AI will empower me to do more of the strategic and impact-focused work that I’m passionate about, because it allows me to aggregate and analyze large datasets more efficiently. The time I save by using such a high-powered tool can be put towards higher-level business thinking.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Bonnie Wall is the MBA classmate whom I admire most. Prior to Olin, Bonnie worked in a Harvard University neuroscience research lab and as an associate scientist at a VC-backed biotech startup focused on innovative therapeutics.

I was blessed with the opportunity to work closely with Bonnie, as we were core team members during the first year of our MBA journey. Her thorough, detail-oriented work was integral to our team’s successful year. She is a leader and team member who strives for outcomes that meet a standard of excellence.

While Bonnie’s professional background and qualities are spectacular, what I admire most about her is her ability to perform at such a high level while balancing her responsibilities as a mother.

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

1. Own my mind: Establish myself as a thought leader across American business, policy, and culture. I want to build a platform of channels to share my thoughts and facilitate meaningful conversations that improve the quality of life for everyone in this country.

2. Generate real impact: Lead an investment, operations, or nonprofit firm that focuses on economic development for underserved communities in the United States. The goal of this organization will be to leave people and places better than we found them.

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

“In the classroom, Jabari Chiphe is an intelligent student with a strong, self-starter work ethic. He enlivens in-class discussion with his incisive comments, and would be a remarkable member of the Class of 2026 on this basis alone. Still, Jabari’s greatest contributions have been outside the classroom, where as Chairperson of the Impact Investing Symposium, he assembled and managed a team of students to execute the entire conference. Jabari clearly articulated a vision for the conference from day one, and then led by example, always doing more than his fair share of the work. Jabari also embedded recent alumni into the planning of the conference, which improved the roster of panelists, drove increased attendance, and enhanced sponsorship. Overall, Jabari’s efforts directly resulted in a symposium that delivered engaging, relevant, and value-added content for approximately 100 student and professional attendees – a touchstone experience for the Class of 2026.”

Jeremy Degenhart
Professor of Practice in Finance

 

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