MBA

Profiles

Tiera Brown, MBA 2010

Growing up, Tiera Brown wanted to become a doctor and have her own practice. She'd watched her father run his own legal practice. "I love the freedom and autonomy of running your own business, "Tiera says, "but I always told my dad I never wanted to be a lawyer." In college she realized that the business aspect of having her own practice was more appealing than practicing medicine. "I decided I didn't want to go into medicine — but there was no reason I couldn't work on my own, in business."

To gain more corporate experience, she entered Lockheed Martin's Leadership Development Program where she fulfilled two years of a three-year plan.

No half measures

"As much as I loved the Lockheed program, I left it to go to HBS," Tiera explains. "I could have participated in a part-time MBA, but I knew I wouldn't be able to give it my complete attention. I don't like to do anything half-way — I wanted to give this my all."

An event on Prospective Students Day reinforced her conviction. "I was amazed by the H. Naylor Fitzhugh Conference," says Tiera, "that it was run and led by student members of AASU and that it attracted such a high caliber of speakers and panelists." One of the speakers, in fact, was accomplishing something similar to Tiera's ambitions. "I met Earl Phalen, the co-founder of an after-school program, Building Educated Leaders for Life, that works in conjunction with public systems. We continue to stay in touch."

About HBS, Tiera says that, "I've never been in a place where you could select someone at random and get an amazing story. And the faculty are top-class. They're not afraid to lean into their personal lives to share insights that will help us prepare our futures. They understand the need to balance work and life — the faculty want to help build the whole person."

Spreading seeds

Tiera has already demonstrated leadership in her RC year. As a participant in the Board Fellows Program, she has been collaborating with another HBS student, Sridhar Prasad, to help a social justice organization, Appleseed, grow its Massachusetts office. In the New Orleans immersion, she led a team of six that consulted with Neighborhood Housing Services. "They had been in the city for over thirty years and should have been booming after Katrina, but weren't," says Tiera. "We helped them formalize their word of mouth program and reinvigorate their brand."

For her summer internship, Tiera will work with New Sector Alliance in Boston, a nonprofit consulting firm. Part of her summer project will be helping New Sector to partner with UNCF (formerly known as United Negro College Fund) to recruit more students from historically black colleges into nonprofit careers.

Beyond HBS, "I'm determined to open a school," says Tiera. "Education is the way I learned to advance myself, and I'd like to make it work for others." Tiera will use her EC year to put together a business plan for "Brown Academy," and will apply her first few years after graduation to "exploring the nonprofit environment and expanding my network in the field."