Clare Everts

MIT, Sloan School of Management

“Practical, hopeful, and dedicated to working towards a just energy transition.”

Hometown: Madison, Wisconsin

Fun Fact About Yourself: I originally thought I wanted to work in politics after college and interned at the White House between my junior and senior years.

Undergraduate School and Major: The University of Chicago, Economics

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Charles River Associates, Consulting Associate

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the school’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you?  The energy ecosystem at MIT is what initially drew me to Sloan. As I learned more, I could tell that the MBA program really encourages Sloan students to engage with the rest of the university. I don’t think MBAs alone can solve the challenges facing the world, so a collaborative environment was very important to me. On top of that, some of the unique energy-related offerings, including Energy Ventures and the Sustainability Action Lab, along the annual MIT Energy Conference, made me excited about Sloan.

When you think of MIT, what are the first things that come to mind? How have your experiences with the Sloan program thus far reinforced or upended these early impressions? Research and Innovation. My experience getting to know Sloan has 100% reinforced this impression. There are so many opportunities for Sloan students to get involved with entrepreneurship, such as the delta V accelerator and the $100K Prize to the Sandbox, which provides smaller seed funding. The resources at the Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship show that Sloan puts a high value on student innovation.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Passionate. I was fortunate enough to go to adMIT weekend and meet some of my classmates and current students before the COVID lockdowns. Everybody I met had an underlying passion that motivated them to pursue an MBA, whether it was healthcare equality, financial literacy, or some other global challenge. I want to be inspired by my classmates and definitely felt that at adMIT weekend.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: A large part of my role at CRA involved developing and running models that evaluate the costs and risks associated with different electricity generators (coal, gas, solar, wind, etc.). Last year, I worked on an analysis for a utility in Wisconsin to achieve their carbon emissions reduction targets, leading to a planned $900 million investment in solar and the retirement of a coal plant. It was extremely rewarding to see my work having a tangible impact on carbon emissions and renewable energy development in my home state.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I went into economic consulting hoping to get exposure to a variety of aspects of the energy industry, build some solid background knowledge, and start to refine my interests. I felt like I had accomplished this goal and was ready to accelerate my career by returning to school.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Stanford and Wharton

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? I struggled most with the MIT video essay, which asked you to introduce yourself to your fellow classmates and explain why Sloan is the place for you in one minute. I filmed far too many takes and ended up sounding scripted. Fortunately, it worked out and I’ve had plenty of practice communicating on video since.

What was the most impact factor in choosing a business school? How did you evaluate fit according to that factor? The most important factors I looked for were cultural fit with the student body and strength in my area of interest, energy. In my research I found Sloanies described as friendly and non-competitive, and every interaction I had with Sloan students and Sloan alumni reaffirmed that. I also appreciated Sloan’s smaller class size. My impression of the student body combined with Sloan’s strength in energy made me confident that Sloan was a good fit.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? I spent a semester at a French university in Paris during my senior year of college. In my last month, there was a major terrorist attack and the country went into a state of emergency. The attacks happened on a Friday night and we were back in class on Monday. There was a lot of fear, uncertainty, and security involved in going to class and continuing life in Paris, and it was difficult being far from home. In a way, I think that experience has prepared me to start business school amidst the COVID-19 crisis.

What is your favorite company and what could business students learn from studying it? I just finished reading Superpower: One Man’s Quest to Transform American Energy by Russell Gold. It is about the founder of Clean Line Energy Partners, Michael Skelly, who tried to develop private transmission lines that would carry power from enormous wind farms in rural areas into urban areas with high electricity demand. I admire the vision, though (for the most part) the projects were unsuccessful. There are a lot of important lessons to learn from the company about the challenges facing the energy transition. It is tempting to think of renewable energy as “cleantech,” but it can also be major infrastructure that faces regulatory hurdles, local environmental concerns, and development risk.

DON’T MISS: Meet MIT Sloan’s MBA Class Of 2022