Perspectives: Careers & Connections
Cindy Ko
Director of International Expansion, Endeavor Global
MBA 2005
“My father was an acupuncturist who taught me to view my life more holistically, rather than compartmentalizing what I do for work from my values.”
Background
I worked at Goldman Sachs and at World Relief Kosovo before coming to HBS. Making a difference in the world is definitely part of what I want to dedicate my career to, but it's not as general as that—it's actually a very specific interest in emerging markets and international development. People were surprised when I took a job in investment banking out of college, but I saw it as a way to make the markets more efficient, which in turn helps the global economy. My father was an acupuncturist who taught me to view my life more holistically, rather than compartmentalizing what I do for work from my values.
Careers & Connections
I know some people aren't aware of social enterprise as an immediate opportunity out of business school—they think they'll postpone that until retirement. There's a dichotomy in their minds between the public and private sectors, but more and more you see a blending of the two, especially at a place like Endeavor, where everyone you work with is from the private sector.
Endeavor employs about 90 people worldwide, with 14 of us in the New York office. Shortly after joining the organization in 2005 as an HBS Leadership Fellow, I traveled to South Africa and spent over four months there, sourcing and screening entrepreneurs who could most benefit from Endeavor's support.
Impact
Right now we're focused on launching in India and Egypt and building a board of directors for each office, which involves meeting people across sectors and selling the idea of Endeavor to them. Because we work with so many business leaders from private equity and investment banking, my background in financial services has been important. And the HBS network has been invaluable. It's such an international group, and I've leveraged that quite a lot in my job. I really believe you need to be passionate about what you do. Being intimately involved in international business where innovation is happening really excites me.
