Sarane Caratan

University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business

“Curious builder drawn to complex problems, thoughtful leadership, and creating opportunities that create lasting impact.”

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Fun fact about yourself: I’m the fifth Sarane in my family. The name has been passed down through five generations.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Cornell University, Applied Economics and Management, Concentration: Finance

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Series A tech startups, Product Operations Manager

Telegraph, Product Operations Manager, 2022 – 2024

Subject, Strategy and Operations Manager, 2021 – 2022

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? Morgan Stanley, Investment Banking, Industrials Group, San Francisco

Where will you be working after graduation? Morgan Stanley, Investment Banking, Industrials Group, San Francisco

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: Marshall Finance Association (business school finance club); President, Dean’s List, Dean’s Scholarship Award; Morgan Stanley MBA Fellow; Bonnie Baha Memorial Scholarship Recipient

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Serving as President of the Marshall Finance Association. MFA is rooted in camaraderie and empowerment through shared knowledge, and one of my goals was to strengthen that culture across the finance community at Marshall. We expanded mentorship between first- and second-year students so that recruiting knowledge and experiences could be passed down more openly. I was especially proud to help create spaces where women pursuing careers in finance could connect, share advice, and support one another through the recruiting process. The most rewarding part was seeing those connections turn into real outcomes and knowing that the community we built helped classmates succeed. For me, the greatest impact was bringing people together and creating an environment where knowledge, mentorship, and opportunity could be shared.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Working at an education technology startup where our mission was to expand access to high quality curriculum and learning tools for students. I worked closely with students, educators, engineers, and designers to develop features that made the platform more engaging and accessible for students who might not otherwise have access to strong academic resources. Seeing those tools reach classrooms and knowing they helped students learn more effectively was incredibly meaningful. It reinforced for me that technology can be a powerful way to scale opportunity and impact.

Why did you choose this business school? As a Los Angeles native, returning home was an important part of my decision. After spending several years on the East Coast for college and work, I was excited to come back to LA, build my professional network in the city long-term, and be closer to family. USC Marshall offered the perfect combination of a collaborative culture and a powerful Trojan Network embedded across the Los Angeles business community.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Jessica Jackley. Professor Jackley brought a unique perspective to the classroom as both an entrepreneur and social innovator. Her courses challenge students to think not only about how businesses grow, but also about how to create human impact. She pushes us to think creatively and with empathy, which made her classes both intellectually challenging and personally meaningful.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Intentional Entrepreneurship with Jessica Jackley. The course challenged the typical startup narrative that prioritizes speed and scale above everything else. Instead, it focused on building companies and careers with purpose, thoughtful decision-making, and long-term impact in mind. Through conversations with founders and practical frameworks around values, systems thinking, and organizational design, the class pushed me to reflect not just on what I want to build, but how and why I want to build it. It was a powerful reminder that the most enduring ventures are often those created with clarity of purpose and intention.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? USC football game days were one of my favorite traditions. Going to the games with classmates was a great way to step away from classes and recruiting and simply enjoy time together. It is a tradition that will continue bringing us together long after we all graduate.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? If I could do one thing differently, I would have carved out more time to experiment with building a company or launching a small venture. The MBA environment brings together incredibly talented classmates, mentors, and resources, making it a rare opportunity to test ideas quickly and learn through experimentation. Starting a company is something I am excited to pursue in the future, as I continue exploring opportunities to build and support new ventures.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? One of the most impactful case studies I explored was about Kiva and its mission to expand financial access through peer-to-peer lending. The case challenged the traditional assumption that entrepreneurship must always follow a single for-profit structure. Instead, it showed how different organizational models, including nonprofits and mission-driven ventures, can be powerful vehicles for innovation and impact. The biggest lesson for me was recognizing that entrepreneurship comes in many forms, and that thoughtful organizational design can allow businesses to solve real human problems while still building sustainable systems.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Being back in Los Angeles meant being close to family again, which made the MBA experience even more meaningful. I also loved how much the city offered outside the classroom. Some of my favorite memories were simple ones like going to Dodgers games with classmates or taking walks along the beach in Santa Monica. LA has such a rich history and energy, and being able to experience it while building friendships and a professional network made the time at Marshall feel very special.

What business leader do you admire most? Jessica Jackley. As the co-founder of Kiva, she reimagined how capital could empower people who are often excluded from traditional financial systems. What I admire most is her belief that entrepreneurship and finance can be tools to expand opportunity and improve people’s lives, not just generate profit. Her work demonstrates that businesses can be built intentionally to solve real human problems while creating sustainable and lasting impact.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? In my Adaptive Leadership course, we were required to build different AI tools as part of our assignments. The goal was not just to discuss AI conceptually, but to gain hands-on experience designing tools that could improve efficiency and decision-making. Creating these tools helped me become much more comfortable experimenting with AI and understanding where it can meaningfully enhance productivity. The biggest insight I gained is that AI is most powerful when used as a collaborative tool that augments human judgment rather than replacing it.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Melissa Soong. As President of the Marshall Strategy and Consulting Club, Melissa is an incredible leader who consistently shows up for others. I admire her ability to lead with both confidence and humility while creating an environment where people feel supported and motivated to succeed. She approaches leadership with thoughtfulness, clarity, and a genuine commitment to helping her peers grow. Watching how she balances high standards with empathy has made a lasting impression on me and has shaped how I think about leadership in my own career.

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

1. One day build a company of my own that reflects the same intentional approach to entrepreneurship I studied at Marshall.
2. Teach entrepreneurship as a university professor and mentor the next generation of founders as they build purposeful companies.

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

“Sarane Caratan has distinguished herself as a thoughtful leader and an important presence within the Class of 2026. She is disciplined, highly capable, and deeply committed to helping others succeed. What stands out most about Sarane is that she combines strong leadership and professional ambition with a genuine commitment to supporting her classmates.

As President of the Marshall Finance Association (MFA), Sarane played a major role in strengthening Marshall’s finance community. Because MFA supports students pursuing careers in investment banking, investment management, and corporate finance, her leadership carried significance well beyond the club itself. She worked closely with Marshall Career Services, employers, alumni, and student leaders to ensure that MFA programming aligned with recruiting cycles and industry expectations. Under her leadership, the organization became more structured and outcome-oriented, with stronger technical preparation, expanded student support, and meaningful placement success in investment banking. Sarane led this important student organization with impressive professionalism and helped shape an important part of the student experience for many of her peers.

Sarane’s impact went well beyond the scale of programming. She introduced thoughtful improvements that strengthened both recruiting preparation and the long-term infrastructure of the club. She helped make a demanding and often uncertain recruiting process more accessible, better organized, and more transparent for a broader range of students. She is the kind of student who consistently shows up for others, and that has made a real difference in our community.

Professionally, Sarane has had an outstanding MBA journey. Before business school, she built a strong foundation across finance, strategy, and operations roles at ExxonMobil, Subject, and Telegraph, and during her MBA she earned a highly competitive investment banking internship with Morgan Stanley. She will return to Morgan Stanley full-time after graduation, an outcome that reflects both her analytical ability and her willingness to take on new challenges in demanding environments. Her academic and professional accomplishments are equally impressive, and her recognition as a Morgan Stanley MBA Fellow, Forté Fellow, and scholarship recipient further reflects the strength of her profile. She has approached business school with real purpose, and the results speak for themselves.

Sarane brings steadiness, integrity, and professionalism to everything she does. She has been an invaluable part of the Marshall community, and I am confident she will continue to make an impact in her career and beyond.”

Scott Abrams
Academic Director, Full-Time MBA Program
Professor of Clinical Finance and Business Economics
USC Marshall School of Business

 

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