Meet the 2015 Harvard Business School Leadership Fellows
A lot can be accomplished in a year. Just ask any of the Harvard Business School (HBS) Leadership Fellows and the organizations that host them. The Leadership Fellows program is based on Professor Michael Porter’s vision of developing a network of HBS graduates with cross-sector experience who are committed to addressing societal issues throughout their careers. The Fellowship is a two-way commitment in which graduating students are offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience high-impact management positions in nonprofit and public sector organizations for one year at a competitive salary. At the same time, those organizations leverage the experience, energy, and strategic and analytical skills of MBAs in roles that produce immediate results and build long-term capacity. Since its inception in 2001, the Leadership Fellows program has placed 157 Fellows at institutions like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Harlem Children’s Zone, World Wildlife Fund, and the U.S. Department of Education. Below, three 2015 Leadership Fellows reflect on their experiences so far: 
 “Our Leadership Fellows have taken on some of our most important and strategic projects, and made a lasting impact on our organization,” said Gerald Chertavian, Founder and CEO of Year Up, one of the more than 60 partner organizations to host a Fellow since the program began. “At its best, having a Fellow is catalytic,” added Sasha Dichter, Chief Innovation Officer at Acumen. View VideoThe experience is often catalytic for Fellows, as well, as they are afforded a high degree of responsibility in a short time frame, and a chance to develop and refine their leadership skills within complex and dynamic environments. Whether Fellows stay on with their sponsoring organizations, move to another social enterprise, or enter the private sector, past participants agree that the Leadership Fellows program is critical to their ongoing development as leaders who make a difference in the world. 2015–16 HBS LEADERSHIP FELLOWS
Harvard Business School is grateful for the generosity of our donors who have been vital to the HBS Leadership Fellows program: the James A. Attwood, Jr. Fellowship Fund, Richard and Helen Bibbero Fund, David J. Dunn Fund, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation/Richard L. Menschel Endowment, Jorge Paulo Lemann Fund at Harvard Business School, Richard Lumpkin Dean's Discretionary Fund, Margaret T. Morris Foundation Endowment, Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Fellowship, Michael E. Porter Leadership Fellowship and John C. Whitehead Fund for Not-for-Profit Management. About the Social Enterprise Initiative: |
About Harvard Business School
Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 250 offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and PhD degrees, as well as more than 175 Executive Education programs, and Harvard Business School Online, the School’s digital learning platform. For more than a century, faculty have drawn on their research, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and their passion for teaching, to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. The School and its curriculum attract the boldest thinkers and the most collaborative learners who will go on to shape the practice of business and entrepreneurship around the globe.