Sherezade Chipana Alayo

SDA Bocconi

“From Peru’s Amazon to global markets, engineer driving competitiveness, innovation, and impact.”

Hometown: Lima, Peru

Fun fact about yourself: I’m a climber. I love hiking and high-altitude climbing, and one of my long-term goals is to become the first Peruvian to summit all fourteen mountains above 8,000 meters. I’m still far from that goal, but I’ve already climbed several peaks over 5,000 meters in the Andes of Peru. It’s a sport that teaches patience, focus, stamina, teamwork, and respect for limits.

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of Lima – Bachelor of Industrial Engineering

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Red Fox Coffee Merchants – Supply Chain & Commercial Coordinator

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? Red Fox Coffee Merchants – Supply Chain & Commercial Coordinator

Where will you be working after graduation? Kraft Heinz – MBA Associate Manager, GCOE Procurement.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: I founded ALBA in 2011, a Peru-based animal welfare organization that has sterilized over 3,000 animals to date, helping address overpopulation and directly improving the lives of thousands of families. The organization remains active today, continuing to scale its impact in underserved communities.

As President of the Sustainable Industry & Energy Club (MBA 2026), I have led initiatives that bring together companies and leaders across sectors, organizing events on energy with firms like Octopus, sustainable fashion with Italian and Peruvian designers, and corporate visits to companies such as Damiani, creating a platform for dialogue between industry and sustainability.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am most proud of being elected President of the Sustainable Industry & Energy Club, where I led the engagement with global companies such as Patagonia, Lavazza, and Hyundai, bringing industry leaders to share real-world perspectives with our cohort.

At the same time, I continued working as an external consultant for Red Fox Coffee Merchants while maintaining strong academic performance. Balancing these responsibilities required discipline and focus, and ultimately strengthened my ability to lead under pressure and deliver across multiple fronts.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? At 26, I joined Volcafe, a Swiss agricultural commodities trading firm, with no prior experience in the sector. Within five months, I was entrusted with leading one of the company’s most complex projects: designing a performance evaluation system for over 3,000 coffee farmers.

The system integrated key metrics such as yield, quality, reliability, and adoption of agricultural practices. After six months of fieldwork, cross-functional coordination, and a pilot phase, I successfully launched the company’s first farmer evaluation framework.

It delivered strong results, was used in commercial negotiations with global clients, and later became a benchmark replicated in other countries.

Building and scaling this system early in my career, in a completely new industry, is what I am most proud of achieving.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose SDA Bocconi to accelerate my transition from executing across global markets to leading within them. Throughout my career in supply chain, trading, and international operations across Latin America, the U.S., and Africa, I developed strong exposure to complex markets, but I wanted to deepen my financial expertise and sharpen my management skills to operate at a higher strategic level. Bocconi stood out for its strength in finance, its global perspective, and its ability to connect theory with real market dynamics. Just as importantly, its diverse and high-performing environment challenges me to grow alongside peers with different backgrounds and ambitions. For me, SDA Bocconi is not just an MBA; it is the platform to expand into new markets, strengthen my leadership, and position myself to drive impact on a global scale.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favorite professor was Marco Tortoriello in Competitive Strategy. His work on how firms build advantage through relationships and knowledge flows reshaped how I understand competition.

What stood out was his ability to push us beyond frameworks into real strategic thinking, challenging us to analyze how companies create, capture, and sustain value in dynamic environments through rigorous case discussions.

The most valuable insight I took from his class was the power of consistency: ensuring a company’s actions, messaging, and values remain aligned over time. When what a company does internally matches how it presents itself externally, it builds trust, strengthens its brand, and operates with greater clarity and effectiveness.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite course was Banks and Capital Markets because it gave me a clear, practical understanding of how the financial system truly works. It connected the roles of commercial and investment banks with real transactions, helping me understand not just concepts, but how deals like IPOs, equity offerings, and bond issuances are actually structured and executed.

What I valued most was how the course bridged theory and practice, allowing me to see finance from both the perspective of companies raising capital and the institutions advising them.

It transformed finance from something abstract into a set of tools I can confidently use to make strategic decisions.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite MBA tradition was the Leadership Series. I learned directly from leaders such as Michael Nyman, CEO of Acceleration, who is redefining traditional business models through speed, client-centricity, and innovation, and Philipp Navratil, CEO of Nestlé, with over 20 years of global experience leading complex markets. In both cases, their insights were incredibly valuable.

What made these sessions stand out was hearing how leaders operating at the highest level navigate real challenges, market volatility, shifting consumer behavior, and constant pressure to adapt. In Navratil’s case, leading a global organization through transformation and uncertainty made those lessons even more tangible.

These conversations went beyond theory. They showed how leadership actually works in practice. They fundamentally shaped how I think about decision-making, resilience, and leading in uncertain environments.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? Looking back, I would have been more intentional about engaging with my cohort, both inside and outside the classroom. While the MBA is an incredible academic and professional experience, its true value lies in the people around you.

Building relationships with such a diverse and talented group goes beyond networking; it is about understanding different perspectives, cultures, and ways of thinking. Those deeper connections are what truly enrich the experience and stay with you long after the program ends.

If I could do it again, I would invest even more time in those interactions, knowing they are just as important as any class or project.

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 in my MBA was Patagonia in the Competitive Strategy course. What stood out was how the company aligns three goals that typically conflict: “Cause no unnecessary harm,” be profitable, and achieve growth.

Patagonia achieves this by fully integrating its environmental mission into its strategy, turning sustainability into a source of differentiation rather than a constraint. Initiatives like discouraging overconsumption actually strengthen brand loyalty and long-term performance.

The biggest lesson I took away is that strategy is about internal consistency. When purpose, operations, and positioning are aligned, companies can overcome traditional trade-offs and build a more durable competitive advantage.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? What I loved most about Milan is its truly international character. It is a city where global business, culture, and innovation naturally intersect, creating an environment that constantly exposes you to new ideas and perspectives.

At the same time, Milan offers a unique balance between tradition and modernity. This combination makes it an inspiring place to study business, as you can see how industries evolve while staying rooted in strong identities.

Beyond that, Milan is incredibly dynamic and well-connected, which made it easy to engage with companies, attend events, and experience different cultures on a daily basis.

It is not just a place to study, it is a place that broadens your worldview.

What business leader do you admire most? One business leader I admire most is Gian Francesco Galanzino, CEO of Entsorga, whom I met during a visit organized by my club in Italy.

What stood out to me is his entrepreneurial journey—he founded his company from scratch and built it into an international player in waste-to-energy solutions. He shared how he has learned through trial-and- error, constantly experimenting and improving, which made his leadership feel very real and grounded.

During the visit, he was also very honest about the company’s mission, challenges, and future. I especially admire how he balances purpose and profitability, using sustainability as a business opportunity rather than a constraint.

The biggest takeaway from him was simple but powerful: never stop trying to achieve what you want.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? One way my business school has integrated AI into the program is through the Innovation Bootcamp, where the final project consists of developing an AI-based tool around an innovative business idea.

The course is designed as a hands-on, entrepreneurial experience where we identify real problems, generate ideas, and build solutions powered by AI. This approach pushes us to think creatively about how AI can be applied across different industries and real-world challenges.

The main insight I gained is that AI is not just a technical tool, but a driver of innovation and entrepreneurship. It encourages experimentation, creativity, and a problem-solving mindset, teaching us to explore multiple ways to create value and turn ideas into viable solutions.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? The MBA classmate I most admire is Martina Carafa. I first noticed her through the presentations she delivered with different teams, consistently among the most structured, insightful, and well-executed in the class.

What stands out is her ability to perform at a high-level while being deeply involved in her family’s company, Carafa S.r.l. Società Benefit. She balances near full-time responsibilities, participating in key meetings and operations, while excelling academically and elevating the quality of every project she is part of.

Having balanced work and the MBA myself, I understand how demanding that is. Martina’s discipline, efficiency, and ability to deliver under pressure truly set her apart.

To me, that level of execution and focus is what defines the next generation of leaders.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? The first item on my professional bucket list is to lead operations in a geography different from my own. I want to apply my experience managing across cultures and markets, while continuing to develop the ability to align diverse teams, perspectives, and ways of working toward a common goal.

The second is to become CEO of an international company. I aspire to lead with a holistic understanding of the business, connecting strategy, operations, and finance, while placing strong emphasis on people. I believe that organizations become truly competitive when they are able to unlock the full potential of their talent.

What made Sherezade such an invaluable member of the Class of 2026?

“At SDA Bocconi School of Management, we admit students who bring not only strong professional credentials but a quality of perspective that enriches the learning community around them. Sherezade is a clear example of that.

Her professional background is both rare and substantive. As Trade and Supply Coordinator at Red Fox Coffee Merchants, she worked at the origin point of global commodity chains, designing and implementing sustainability projects in the Peruvian Amazon, where sourcing decisions carry direct consequences for communities, land, and livelihoods. That proximity to the operational reality of business gave her a vantage point that few MBA students arrive with, and she brought it into the classroom and into peer discussions with focus and generosity.

Her capacity for leadership under pressure is well established. When a family health emergency forced her to defer admission by a year, she did not step back professionally. She was asked to cover for the General Manager of the American company she worked for during a period of maternity leave, leading the full Peruvian operation and reporting results directly to senior directors. She delivered. That experience speaks to a quality that is harder to teach than most: resilience that translates into accountability.

Within the program, Sherezade has been a steady and constructive presence. As President of the Sustainable Industry and Energy Club, she has channeled her field experience into a leadership role that extends beyond individual coursework, creating space for the cohort to engage seriously with sustainability in emerging markets and global supply chains.

She is also a meaningful reference point for our Latin American community. At SDA Bocconi, geographic and cultural diversity inside the classroom shapes how students learn to think across contexts and collaborate across differences. Sherezade has contributed to that in a concrete and consistent way.

The combination of hands-on professional depth demonstrated resilience, and commitment to the community makes her one of the strongest profiles in the Class of 2026. I support her candidacy with confidence.”

Vincenzo Baglieri
Associate Dean for Master Division
SDA Bocconi School of Management

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2026

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