Our Students

Matt Segneri MBA ‘10

Home region

Tampa, Florida

Undergraduate education

Harvard University

HBS Activities

Social Enterprise Club, Co-President

Post-HBS position

Advisor to the Mayor, City of Boston

Why was earning your MBA here important to you?

I wanted to grow as a leader and a manager at a critical juncture in my career, and there was no place better than HBS to do it. The case method aligned well with the way I learn — by reading, listening, advocating, challenging, and reflecting. Pursuing an MBA provided an invaluable opportunity to step back from four years of cross-sector work in strategy consulting, receive training in a variety of familiar and unfamiliar subjects, and meet an amazing new group of people.

How has your overall HBS experience shaped your goals and career path?

My two years at HBS offered more personal and professional growth than any other period in my life. It challenged me to reflect on what matters most to me and deliberate on how to plan a career and a life that fulfills my goals and sense of purpose.

How did your experience as Co-President of the Social Enterprise club shape your career goals within the social enterprise sector?

This work strongly informed my immediate career choices, especially through exposure to social sector leaders (classmates included) whose professional experiences provided great examples of career paths that I could see myself pursuing. In fact, at one panel I attended during Social Enterprise Industry Week in my RC Year, I met two HBS graduates who would later become colleagues at the FBI and the City of Boston Mayor's Office, respectively.

How has HBS prepared you for your current role and your long term career?

My experiences at HBS, inside and outside of the classroom, are foundational to my work at the Mayor's Office. The Mayor expressly brings HBS graduates into City Hall through the HBS Leadership Fellows Program because of their excellent training, leadership potential and capacity for immediate impact. The position draws on an array of skills cultivated at HBS, not least of which is the ability to work in a complex, highly political environment with a diverse set of stakeholders. This fellowship year enables me to pursue projects and implement initiatives that measurably improve the lives of Boston residents. It provides a deep understanding of the Mayor's priorities and allows me to see operational and management challenges from the senior executive's point of view. Longer-term, I aspire to a career combining service — which is foundational to who I am and aspire to be — with reform and innovation in large-scale organizations.